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carguy123
carguy123 UltimaDork
9/24/13 7:01 p.m.

I'm surprised no one has posted about this here.

Top Gear investigates the 4C Car Scoops article. 2000 lb Alfa 240 hp with 258 pounds of torque - 2039# WET!

Small, lightweight and (relatively) powerful. Sounds like what we talk about a lot on here.

"Does the 4C have a competitor?' Louis-Carl Vignon says. 'Honestly, no. There is simply nothing else on the market as innovative or that uses this technology and that is available at this price [approx £50k]. This is a laboratory car for us, andthere is no doubt that we will see an extension of what we learn here into other Alfa Romeos. The best part of driving is finding a series of curves. I respect the Bugatti Veyron, but I doubt that a Veyron driver would be able to keep pace with the 4C on a good mountain road."

"it's arguably twice as clever as its older brother, a suspicion Alfa was keen to ram home as it threw open the doors of the 4C production line and let TopGear.com have a good poke around. If, like us, you sometimes wish fast cars could be smaller and lighter rather than bigger and more powerful, then this one's definitely for you. Alfa claims a total dry weight of just 895kg for the 4C, which is seriously impressive for a modern car in the modern world of full-on safety legislation, lardy air con units and hefty multi-media systems. Yes, the romance of a V6 - especially in an Alfa - is undeniable, but stick the 4C's 240bhp and 895kg in a mathematical blender and you'll get 268bhp-per-tonne, and that'll do for starters."

"The big selling point, naturally, is the 4C's 'pre-preg' carbon tub, and checking it out in the flesh suggests that this little Alfa really could be the tipping point for this vaunted technology. 'We plan to make up to 3500 cars per year,' Alfa Romeo's boss Louis-Carl Vignon tells me, 'which will make us the biggest manufacturer of a carbon chassis-ed car.' That said, the 4C is actually 38 per cent aluminium, 23 per cent steel and 10 per cent carbon fibre, although the latter makes up a quarter of the car's total volume."

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KnuNv77rB0Q

BAMF
BAMF HalfDork
9/24/13 7:16 p.m.

Basically it's an Italian Lotus Elise.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/24/13 7:24 p.m.

It's as light as the previous-gen Elise though...too bad about the price though, needs lots of depreciation.

SlickDizzy
SlickDizzy GRM+ Memberand UberDork
9/24/13 8:05 p.m.

Their pricing is right in line with the Porsche Boxster/Cayman. I don't think that is unreasonable at all given the specs.

carguy123
carguy123 UltimaDork
9/24/13 8:16 p.m.

It says it's between the Lotus & Porsche in feel, fit & finish which to me is a good place to be.

kanaric
kanaric HalfDork
9/25/13 1:13 a.m.

It's too expensive for me and I assume most people here, probably why lol.

I wish Toyota would just hurry up and make a $30k turbo Mr2 already. Or make a better looking MRS.

DrBoost
DrBoost PowerDork
9/25/13 6:57 a.m.

I spent a good amount of time crawling in and under one a few months ago. I came away impressed. This is a serious car.

93EXCivic
93EXCivic MegaDork
9/25/13 7:05 a.m.

I wonder how much a liver is worth and I have some extra fingers....

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/25/13 7:54 a.m.

An Elise or Cayman with Italian flair and passion? Hmmmmmmmm

mazdeuce
mazdeuce SuperDork
9/25/13 7:57 a.m.

Word on the street is that the US version will gain over 200lbs in crash/impact nonsense. If that ends up being true, it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.

kanaric
kanaric Reader
9/25/13 8:17 a.m.
mazdeuce wrote: Word on the street is that the US version will gain over 200lbs in crash/impact nonsense. If that ends up being true, it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.

you could always undo that damage in all likelihood

JoeyM
JoeyM Mod Squad
9/25/13 8:26 a.m.
pinchvalve wrote: An Elise or Cayman with Italian flair and passion? Hmmmmmmmm

So even if it is not ordered with a flamed paint job, it will eventually have one?

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/25/13 8:37 a.m.

oh, sign me up!

carguy123
carguy123 UltimaDork
9/25/13 9:22 a.m.
mazdeuce wrote: Word on the street is that the US version will gain over 200lbs in crash/impact nonsense. If that ends up being true, it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.

That still only puts the weight at just under 2250 lbs.

z31maniac
z31maniac UltimaDork
9/25/13 9:44 a.m.
carguy123 wrote:
mazdeuce wrote: Word on the street is that the US version will gain over 200lbs in crash/impact nonsense. If that ends up being true, it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.
That still only puts the weight at just under 2250 lbs.

An early Miata with 2x the power, sounds good to me.

Vigo
Vigo UberDork
9/25/13 9:48 a.m.
lardy air con units

I hate this crap. Anyone who thinks AC systems are a weight problem is an idiot. ESPECIALLY if they tear out their ac system and still have a front mounted battery. They really deserve ridicule at that point.

it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.

It also gets 10% heavier when you sit in it. I deal with this daily with my 1800lb Insight.

mazdeuce
mazdeuce SuperDork
9/25/13 9:50 a.m.

It would bug me if an extra Vigo was in the car every day.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/25/13 9:54 a.m.
mazdeuce wrote: Word on the street is that the US version will gain over 200lbs in crash/impact nonsense. If that ends up being true, it would always bug me as an owner that the car was 10% heavier than it's design.

What street is that, exactly? They have crash/impact "nonsense" in all markets.

yamaha
yamaha PowerDork
9/25/13 9:54 a.m.

In reply to Vigo:

Power steering is heavier than the a/c system, get rid of it instead.

mazdeuce
mazdeuce SuperDork
9/25/13 9:58 a.m.

Here for one.

dbgrubbs
dbgrubbs New Reader
9/25/13 11:11 a.m.

Alfa is now saying 2nd quarter of next year for the US. Yet another delay.

kreb
kreb GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
9/25/13 11:30 a.m.

That crash/impact "nonsense" might save your life. Alternately, it might keep that expensive carbon-fiber chasis from being totaled.

If you want a race car, get a race car. Everyone else needs to follow the same rules.

BTW - I find this car eminently droolworthy.

NOHOME
NOHOME Dork
9/25/13 11:35 a.m.

I thought the next gen Miata was being done with Alfa? Where did this come from? Why do I not want one?

dbgrubbs
dbgrubbs New Reader
9/25/13 11:42 a.m.

In reply to NOHOME:

It is, but it has nothing to do with the 4C. That will be the Spider and Miata twins.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/25/13 11:44 a.m.
mazdeuce wrote: Here for one.

Again, no sources. I'll wait for an official announcement before the rending of garments begins.

Alfa is going to do quite a bit for the average level of attractiveness of cars for sale in the US. Can't wait to see one of these in person.

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