RE: Alfa 4C: The Comeback
Discussion
kambites said:
Stiffness and lack of weight should both help the steering. It's probably caused by compromised suspension geometry at one or both ends (it's surprisingly how much changes in rear suspension geometry can effect steering). From what I've read I also get the impression it's too stiffly sprung. h
Agreed. From the description of how the car drives, my gut feeling is there's far too much static, negative camber on the front for UK roads. This tends to make the front end incredibly sensitive to ruts, crests and dips in the road surface and causes a huge amount of 'tramlining'. It can also be responsible for that feeling of the steering being pulled away from centre once you've got some angle in. This behaviour can be further exacerbated by toe-out on the front.Edited by kambites on Wednesday 6th May 14:26
My guess would be that reducing the static camber and adding a little more toe-in on the front would make a big difference.
That's all assuming, of course, that the basic damper calibration is anywhere near what the car needs....!
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Its very wide, and very low. The roofline is somewhere around the bottom of the mirrors on my XC90.
A chap at work had one about 6 months ago, and then sold it because he couldnt fit in it properly (the risk with buying cars unseen with no test drive etc)!
He was gutted!
He should be, he bought it second hand...
A chap at work had one about 6 months ago, and then sold it because he couldnt fit in it properly (the risk with buying cars unseen with no test drive etc)!
He was gutted!
kapiteinlangzaam said:
errek72 said:
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Its very wide, and very low. The roofline is somewhere around the bottom of the mirrors on my XC90.
A chap at work had one about 6 months ago, and then sold it because he couldnt fit in it properly (the risk with buying cars unseen with no test drive etc)!
He was gutted!
He should be, he bought it second hand...A chap at work had one about 6 months ago, and then sold it because he couldnt fit in it properly (the risk with buying cars unseen with no test drive etc)!
He was gutted!
Fire99 said:
Flawed but I could grow to love it... I'm sure with a little fettling the quirks could be dialled out.. 
Certainly to an extent. The rear suspension is always going to be a bit limited because struts simply aren't as good for wheel control as double wishbone or multi-link setups. It should be possible to make it at least as good as the Cayman (which also uses struts) though. The 4C is basically a Ferrari for the people. Ok not everybody has £54k to spend on a toy, but you get the stunning design, Italian quirks and all the attention a Ferrari would get for much less money.
Lots of people saying they would have the Exige V6 instead. In my opinion the Exige is the car to get you there, the Alfa is the car to arrive in (and the Cayman is the one that does both equally well).
Lots of people saying they would have the Exige V6 instead. In my opinion the Exige is the car to get you there, the Alfa is the car to arrive in (and the Cayman is the one that does both equally well).
Oz83 said:
Lots of people saying they would have the Exige V6 instead. In my opinion the Exige is the car to get you there, the Alfa is the car to arrive in (and the Cayman is the one that does both equally well).
A car for drivers, a car for posers, and a jack of all trades. Seems like a good spread to have in the market. To be fair to Ferrari, their cars tend to be pretty damned good to drive these days.
cheddar said:
daveco said:
895kg dry!
Has anyone independently weighed one? There are rumors that with fluids but no driver it's more like 1050kg.
Claimed weight for test 4C car was 920kg - Actual weight 1021 kg
The Elise was claimed 905kg - actual 931 kg
ETA - US cars are about 50kg heavier because of extra tub stiffening and airbags according to C&D instrumented test ( although their test car weighed 1117kg )
Edited by s m on Thursday 7th May 09:18
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