RE: Alfa Romeo 4C: Review
Discussion
ewand said:
A stiff, (somewhat compromised), mid-engine, turbo 4-banger, 2 seat, lightweight, low, coupe with no PAS...
Alfa seems to have come up with a recipe that Lotus tried with the 2006 Europa S ;-) Only 100kgs lighter and only 15 bhp more than the 225 versions ... yet quite a lot more expensive.
An Italian VX220 Turbo with a hard top. I wonder if a mag will compare the two in a sort of new vs used testAlfa seems to have come up with a recipe that Lotus tried with the 2006 Europa S ;-) Only 100kgs lighter and only 15 bhp more than the 225 versions ... yet quite a lot more expensive.
s m said:
ewand said:
A stiff, (somewhat compromised), mid-engine, turbo 4-banger, 2 seat, lightweight, low, coupe with no PAS...
Alfa seems to have come up with a recipe that Lotus tried with the 2006 Europa S ;-) Only 100kgs lighter and only 15 bhp more than the 225 versions ... yet quite a lot more expensive.
An Italian VX220 Turbo with a hard top. I wonder if a mag will compare the two in a sort of new vs used testAlfa seems to have come up with a recipe that Lotus tried with the 2006 Europa S ;-) Only 100kgs lighter and only 15 bhp more than the 225 versions ... yet quite a lot more expensive.
- access will be better in the Alfa (though maybe not by much)
- there is more space between the seats so it will feel less cramped with 2 people on board
- refinement levels will be a long way above Elise deriatives.
As others have said, this car seems to bridge the gap between Elise and Cayman.
kambites said:
s m said:
An Italian VX220 Turbo with a hard top. I wonder if a mag will compare the two in a sort of new vs used test
An Italian Lotus Europa SE, then. The 4C is slightly more powerful and probably slightly lighter, though. gonzales_turbo said:
errek72 said:
To further the "V6" debate, for those that think the current figures would be only be possible for a light (?) turbo four pot and could not be achieved by an N/A V6 because of weight issues : these are the performance figures for the Diva on its wikipedia page : "The car has top speed of 270 km/h (168 mph) and can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in five seconds." So near-identical. No mention of weight though.
It's the CO2 figures that could not by any means be achieved without a turbo four pot. Not enough margin to trick the EC testing without a turbo or hybrid system.And new car buyers pay dearly for those extra CO2. In France, you're looking at more than 10% of the list price in additional taxes alone (about 5k£), in Belgium, half that and I'm sure it's the same more or less anywhere. You can only ignore these taxes in the >100k£ market, maybe even more.
I can see now where they see the room for a Maserati version.
OutOfSync said:
Ignorant question coming up - what is the difference between "dry" and "wet" weight?
Wet (aka "kerb weight") includes fluids (engine oil, engine coolant, gearbox oil if applicable, PAS pump if applicable and windscreen washer if applicable) and battery. Dry is without any of those things.errek72 said:
Correct. For Belgium the sum is : Exige V6 S is 10 000 Euro more expensive
Hm, German prices look a bit different. The Exige (no options except AC) costs € 68.300, the Elise S (with "comfort" pack) goes for € 48.910. Alfa 4C is €50.500. In comparison that's pretty good value for money. BTW, looking a the 4C price list I noticed that the audio/sat nav system, the AC and the heated and leccy mirrors are no cost options. Anyone care to guess what that weighs? 70 kg? So they just declare the heavy stuff optional and bingo, target weight reached
. Still a very interesting car though.Kolbenkopp said:
BTW, looking a the 4C price list I noticed that the audio/sat nav system, the AC and the heated and leccy mirrors are no cost options. Anyone care to guess what that weighs? 70 kg? So they just declare the heavy stuff optional and bingo, target weight reached . Still a very interesting car though.
They have a thing or two to learn from the Germans, who would offer a special lightweight edition (at a premium price) with these items stripped out and then charge you to put them back in again.. Still a very interesting car though.Edited by otolith on Monday 23 September 18:04
DuckAvenger said:
What a dull selection of colours. s m said:
Yes, just watched this... and now it has become private. 
Esseesse said:
s m said:
Yes, just watched this... and now it has become private. http://youtu.be/U-Z-bQNluD4
braddo said:
As others have said, this car seems to bridge the gap between Elise and Cayman.
Whilst it may bridge the gap I suspect that there are quite a few buyers who no longer consider Lotus a serious OEM, so will disregard the Elise all together. I hope Lotus' fortunes will improve, but until then, I see that the 4C will take quite a few sales off past/present Lotus owners.Kolbenkopp said:
Hm, German prices look a bit different. The Exige (no options except AC) costs € 68.300, the Elise S (with "comfort" pack) goes for € 48.910. Alfa 4C is €50.500. In comparison that's pretty good value for money.
BTW, looking a the 4C price list I noticed that the audio/sat nav system, the AC and the heated and leccy mirrors are no cost options. Anyone care to guess what that weighs? 70 kg? So they just declare the heavy stuff optional and bingo, target weight reached. Still a very interesting car though.
I was factoring in a few extra's on the 4C, mind ;-)BTW, looking a the 4C price list I noticed that the audio/sat nav system, the AC and the heated and leccy mirrors are no cost options. Anyone care to guess what that weighs? 70 kg? So they just declare the heavy stuff optional and bingo, target weight reached
. Still a very interesting car though.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff