I Shouldn't Love the Alfa Romeo 4C, But I Do: Review

[Evidence]

I found this an interesting read, not sure I agree, Thoughts?

I Shouldn't Love the Alfa Romeo 4C, But I Do





So it's a track toy then, right? Meh.

It only comes in automatic; which is strike one for any hardcore track enthusiast. And that's not even the worst part. It's skittish at speeds over 60 mph. The body is too light — yes, too light — and the steering feels unresponsive. I'd go as far to say it's even scary to drive at some points— and I've driven COTA in a sedan.

If you push it past 100 — which is illegal; don't do that — you seriously have to keep your hands on the wheel. There is no room for mistakes. Lose track of where you are for a second and that car will throw you into a wall.

You also get a trio of driving modes: Dynamic, Normal and All-Weather. If you didn't catch it, that reads "DNA" on the console. Cute Alfa. Cute. And all three do provide some variations in performance.

Dynamic mode is, well, more dynamic. Throttle holds longer, as do revs, and it feels slightly more refined in the handling department. Normal is pretty normal, which for an Alfa, is still aggressive. And All-Weather softens things up so the car doesn't kill you in rough weather.

Four-Liter Speed

The ironic part about it's sub-par handling is that it's not even that quick. It gets to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds, which is respectable, and has 237 horsepower on tap. But unless you put it in launch mode, pushing your foot on the gas is like waiting in line at the DMV. Any second now...almost...almost there...and there's the power. The turbo lag is immense, and it puts that tiny 1.7-liter engine into perspective.

In typical Alfa Romeo fashion, the 1.75-liter engine is the smallest in the segment. It's direct-injected and turbocharged giving you plenty of reason to think it's a performer. It's not terrible at speed— the power-to-weight ratio is 10.4:1, which is about as good as a Porsche Cayman. But in the larger scope of things, it could have done better with a slightly bigger engine and a much less laggy turbo.




Its Bark Is Bigger Than Its Bite

Probably its only saving grace (aside from the way it looks) is the way it sounds. Sort of like a lawn mower making love to a wind turbine. Ok, maybe that's not the best way to describe it. But it's one of those unexplainably great noises that seemingly only Italian cars make. Similar to the Fiat 500 Abarth, the 4C sounds like a little bulldog trying to show all the bigger dogs (and in this case, jungle cats) how big and mean it can be.



The Alfa Romeo 4C is a difficult car then. It doesn't perform all that great, and it's a ridiculously hard sell for the U.S. market. It just doesn't fit the typical "American" standard that most buyers are looking for. The interior feels unfinished, there's wires hanging from the passenger seat, and the wind noise is almost unbearable. When you're paying $65,845 (as tested), those aren't qualities you're looking for.

The great thing about this car, though, is that — even with its many faults — you just want to love it to pieces. Sort of like that yappy little bulldog. It's a feeling you can't really put your finger on. You're not going to out-corner any Porsche Caymans, or outgun any Jaguar F-Types— but hell, i'd be lying if I told you I didn't want to drive the Alfa every day over those two. It absolutely won over my heart as wonderfully imperfect as it was.

It's that classic Alfa Romeo engineering strategy (I'm paraphrasing of course): 'We don't have to build a great car, we just have to build a car that people are going to fall in love with.' And it works— those crafty Italians.

Specs:

Engine: 1.75-liter 4-Cylinder Turbo
Horsepower: 237
MPG: 24/34
Price (as tested): $65,845

Positives:

Supermodel looks
Amazing sound

Negatives:

Handles like a pig
Interior feels unfinished
Skittish at speed

[Duk]

The first 2 lines, amoungst others, of the article tells me that it's written by a moron! 

Automatic??? A dual clutch paddle shift manual gearbox is an automatic?

I've certainly not driven a 4C, but in what seams to be typical Alfa fashon, to me that they put in a lot of effort, only to just have too much wine at lunch and proceed to call it a day.................
By that I mean, they've created an impressive little chassis, but then proceeded to hobble it with McPherson (Chapman) strut rear suspension. With the excuse that they couldn't fit proper suspension (unequal length wishbone) in there. Funny that the much older Lotus Elise/Exige has proper rear suspension and is a bit narrower............. 

[aggie57]

Automatic??? A dual clutch paddle shift manual gearbox is an automatic

To this old dinosaur, yep it is.  I mean, Netfflix and HBO are still Telly  right?  Theyre delivered over the Internet but look the same, sound the same, as far as the end user is concerned they are to all intents and purposes the same. What happens under the covers matters not a jot.