RE: Chris Harris video: Alfa Romeo 4C

[underphil]

darth_pies said:

Yeah i get it thanks. My point is they COULD HAVE designed it with a V6 and then COULD HAVE called it 6C or whatever. That they ultimately called it the 4C is entirely irrelevant to the merits of the motor.

Hopefully they will make a 6C in a few years time

[angry jock]

RoverP6B said:

Will have to revisit this thread tomorrow, but to the last poster, the reason the 159/Brera has a GM engine is that it has a GM platform. Cheaper to engineer. Never mind that the engine blocks are iron and built in Australia!

Nope 159/Brera/Spider were on a bespoke ALFA platform that no GM cars used. It was supposed to be used by SAAB and the platform worked out to be very expensive for ALFA to use, owing to the fact that it was standalone. You are correct that the blocks were build by Holden. The V6 internals heads and pretty much everything else were all unique to ALFA and were built in a FPT factory.

[kambites]

angry jock said:

The V6 internals heads and pretty much everything else were all unique to ALFA and were built in a FPT factory.

Odd that it sounded so decidedly rubbish, then (at least compared to the Busso).

[bobberz]

darth_pies said:

bobberz said:

darth_pies said:

underphil said:

Can people stop saying 'the 4C should have a six cylinder engine' !!

(or 3 cylinder or 5 for that matter)

- Why do you recon it's called the 4C ?? Something to do with cylinders and number of them you say ??

Next you'll be asking Maserati to start making a 3 door quattroporte

Weird argument. Since when does the name dictate the spec? Suspect that they picked the engine before announcing the name, no??

People are saying it should be 6-cylinder because the Busso V6 and its spine-tinglingly awesome noise is an absolutely key part of Alfa's heritage.

Hotted-up 4-pot turbo borrowed from poverty-spec hatchback hire car....not so much.

Umm, Alfa Romeo's history? 6C= straight six, 8C= straight eight (V8 on the modern one), so 4C would seem to mean four cylinders.

Yeah i get it thanks. My point is they COULD HAVE designed it with a V6 and then COULD HAVE called it 6C or whatever. That they ultimately called it the 4C is entirely irrelevant to the merits of the motor.

That's a fair point.

[otolith]

kambites said:

Odd that it sounded so decidedly rubbish, then (at least compared to the Busso).

Not sure why a new and presumably clean sheet Alfa engine should sound good just because one they designed forty years previously did!

[underphil]

angry jock said:

Nope 159/Brera/Spider were on a bespoke ALFA platform that no GM cars used. It was supposed to be used by SAAB and the platform worked out to be very expensive for ALFA to use, owing to the fact that it was standalone. You are correct that the blocks were build by Holden. The V6 internals heads and pretty much everything else were all unique to ALFA and were built in a FPT factory.

true, but the engine changes were designed in Australia and by Holden's engine people..

[carinaman]

Is there a thin rimmed Ferrari steering wheel that fits, is compatible with the electronics and has nicer paddles?

[angry jock]

kambites said:

Odd that it sounded so decidedly rubbish, then (at least compared to the Busso).

Compared to the Busso it did, but then again the Busso V6 is one of the finest sounding, and best looking, propulsion devices known to man! I didn't mind the noise of the newer V6, especially with a Larini or a Regazzon exhaust on

[rallycross]

Interesting little car shame it's such a high price.

Where did they get the gearbox from? Not sure that will be a long term safe bet if built by Alfa.

[Fantuzzi]

rallycross said:

Interesting little car shame it's such a high price.

Where did they get the gearbox from? Not sure that will be a long term safe bet if built by Alfa.

FIAT TCT box,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Twin_Clutch_Tran...

[shoestring7]

bobberz said:

darth_pies said:

bobberz said:

darth_pies said:

underphil said:

Can people stop saying 'the 4C should have a six cylinder engine' !!

(or 3 cylinder or 5 for that matter)

- Why do you recon it's called the 4C ?? Something to do with cylinders and number of them you say ??

Next you'll be asking Maserati to start making a 3 door quattroporte

Weird argument. Since when does the name dictate the spec? Suspect that they picked the engine before announcing the name, no??

People are saying it should be 6-cylinder because the Busso V6 and its spine-tinglingly awesome noise is an absolutely key part of Alfa's heritage.

Hotted-up 4-pot turbo borrowed from poverty-spec hatchback hire car....not so much.

Umm, Alfa Romeo's history? 6C= straight six, 8C= straight eight (V8 on the modern one), so 4C would seem to mean four cylinders.

Yeah i get it thanks. My point is they COULD HAVE designed it with a V6 and then COULD HAVE called it 6C or whatever. That they ultimately called it the 4C is entirely irrelevant to the merits of the motor.

That's a fair point.

The 'C' stands for Compressor (supercharger), not cylinder.

• sigh*

SS7

[loudlashadjuster]

shoestring7 said:

The 'C' stands for Compressor (supercharger), not cylinder.

• sigh*

SS7

If that's true then it doesn't make the name of the 8C (either one) very logical. Plus, the 6C seemed to come in a few versions of which only a couple were supercharged.

All evidence I can see across the 'net points to all these names referring solely to the cylinder configuration.

[shoestring7]

loudlashadjuster said:

shoestring7 said:

The 'C' stands for Compressor (supercharger), not cylinder.

• sigh*

SS7

If that's true then it doesn't make the name of the 8C (either one) very logical. Plus, the 6C seemed to come in a few versions of which only a couple were supercharged.

All evidence I can see across the 'net points to all these names referring solely to the cylinder configuration.

You'll find Alfa's heritage goes back more than 5 years.

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20929/lot/327/

Maserati used the same naming convention.

SS7

Edited by shoestring7 on Friday 27th September 14:26

[kambites]

No sillier than "M" standing for "Motorsport" with respect to BMWs, when you think about it.

[underphil]

Fantuzzi said:

FIAT TCT box,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Twin_Clutch_Tran...

I thought ZF and Sachs were heavily involved in the development ??

[Fantuzzi]

underphil said:

Fantuzzi said:

FIAT TCT box,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Twin_Clutch_Tran...

I thought ZF and Sachs were heavily involved in the development ??

No idea that's the extent of y knowledge!

[TA14]

shoestring7 said:

loudlashadjuster said:

shoestring7 said:

The 'C' stands for Compressor (supercharger), not cylinder.

• sigh*

SS7

If that's true then it doesn't make the name of the 8C (either one) very logical. Plus, the 6C seemed to come in a few versions of which only a couple were supercharged.

All evidence I can see across the 'net points to all these names referring solely to the cylinder configuration.

You'll find Alfa's heritage goes back more than 5 years.

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20929/lot/327/

Maserati used the same naming convention.

SS7

Edited by shoestring7 on Friday 27th September 14:26

If you read loads reply carefully you'll see that he did refer to the 30's cars. You're the only one that I've heard that thinks that C stands for Turbocharger or Turbocompressore if you like.

[otolith]

Does it actually matter what the 'C' represents, given that it's pretty obvious what the '4' is for?

[braddo]

otolith said:

Does it actually matter what the 'C' represents, given that it's pretty obvious what the '4' is for?

4 turbocompressores?

[kambites]

Does it matter what either stands for? It's only a name. The could call it the "Alfa Turnip" as far as I'm concerned.