RE: Alfa Romeo 4C - first official pictures

[jonby]

An awful lot of the posts would be more meaningful if ALfa had plans to sell a lot of these. IIRC, the sales ambitions are pretty modest, so all the comparisons to other cars and in particular the Cayman are much less important

Yes lots of people buy caymans as a poor man's 911, or because of low monthly payments, or cheshire housewives who are comparing it to much less driver orientated cars (relatively speaking) such as SLKs. I imagine only a small minority of buyers choose the cayman because it's such a great handling car, arguably with a purer driving experience than a base 911

But look at how many caymans are sold p.a. and then consider talk of alfa only looking to sell 1k 4Cs p.a. - they will sell all of them very easily

[nickfrog]

Interesting post spoilt by an unnecessary array of obsolete/absurd stereotypes.

[Kolbenkopp]

Beautiful, can't wait to see one in real. Really like that it's going to be compact.

From Quattroruote [1]: 200 cm wide, 118 cm height, 240 cm wheelbase and just under 400 cm long. Nice! Price is said as starting at 50k €. That's not so nice, but still fair. Can't afford one, but it will sell. Sure of that if it stays within the given parameters.

[1] http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=auto&t...

[RichB]

AyBee said:

Looks gorgeous, but rivalling the Porsche Cayman at £50k is brave...especially since all the reviews of the Cayman that I've read have it down as a superb steer.

Ironically the one aspect of the 981 Boxster/Cayman which was mildly criticised was the steering

[Alfahorn]

DJRC said:

kambites said:

DJRC said:

Dear Alfa...the £50k Exige? ITS GOT 350 fkING PONIES YOU BRAINDEAD HALFWITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im livid Kam. They have fked it again.

How can you make 2 of the most traffic stopping, attention grabbing cars of the last 10 yrs and fk them both up?

How??????

You know as much about the 4C as the rest of us. I.E fk all, because all we've got are a couple of pics and some speculation about the available power.

So, how the fk can you come on here slagging Alfa off and saying they've fked up when you know fk all about it?

[jonby]

nickfrog said:

Interesting post spoilt by an unnecessary array of obsolete/absurd stereotypes.

Looking back I guess it was. But I was only repeating what has been mentioned throughout the thread. I agree they are both obselete & absurd but they have been mentioned in this thread supposedly in connection with possible reasons the cayman will outsell the 4C :-)

[Craikeybaby]

I like it, especially the carbon fibre chassis, although I'm less keen on turbo/DSG only. It looks like the next few years will be interesting for lightweight RWD sports cars, this the Alpine/Caterham cars and Lotus is still on the scene.

[Alfahorn]

Craikeybaby said:

I like it, especially the carbon fibre chassis, although I'm less keen on turbo/DSG only. It looks like the next few years will be interesting for lightweight RWD sports cars, this the Alpine/Caterham cars and Lotus is still on the scene.

The TCT gearbox is fantastic don't knock it, I've got it in my Giulietta and it's brilliant.

[marcosgt]

Thoughts?

a) It looks like a render.
b) It looks exactly like a render of the car they showed at Goodwood in 2011

What is it with all these 'teaser' press releases these days? Just show us a whole, proper car and stop pissing about car manufacturers...

M.

[soad]

RacingBlue said:

Still looks like an Auto Express rendering to me...

Yes, hardly what you would call photos...let alone official ones

[AFC1886]

DJRC said:

kambites said:

DJRC said:

Dear Alfa...the £50k Exige? ITS GOT 350 fkING PONIES YOU BRAINDEAD HALFWITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im livid Kam. They have fked it again.

How can you make 2 of the most traffic stopping, attention grabbing cars of the last 10 yrs and fk them both up?

How??????

What's it like to drive?

[Alfahorn]

AFC1886 said:

DJRC said:

kambites said:

DJRC said:

Dear Alfa...the £50k Exige? ITS GOT 350 fkING PONIES YOU BRAINDEAD HALFWITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im livid Kam. They have fked it again.

How can you make 2 of the most traffic stopping, attention grabbing cars of the last 10 yrs and fk them both up?

How??????

What's it like to drive?

Yeah, what he said!

[redroadster]

Its lovely looking like most alfas but will it hold together...............

[DeltaEvo2]

Brilliant car!
But even better is the people attacking each other on this forum
Absolutely entertaining...
You know what forums (fora) are good for? Absolutely nothing...

[Alfahorn]

DeltaEvo2 said:

Brilliant car!
But even better is the people attacking each other on this forum
Absolutely entertaining...
You know what forums (fora) are good for? Absolutely nothing...

Say it again......

[DJRC]

Alfahorn said:

DJRC said:

kambites said:

DJRC said:

Dear Alfa...the £50k Exige? ITS GOT 350 fkING PONIES YOU BRAINDEAD HALFWITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im livid Kam. They have fked it again.

How can you make 2 of the most traffic stopping, attention grabbing cars of the last 10 yrs and fk them both up?

How??????

You know as much about the 4C as the rest of us. I.E fk all, because all we've got are a couple of pics and some speculation about the available power.

So, how the fk can you come on here slagging Alfa off and saying they've fked up when you know fk all about it?

Because I know a lot more about the 4C than most and have done since Geneva 2011, just as I know/knew a lot more about the 8C. I have done for a long time and regularly reported what Ive known/been told by Alfa. My 8C experiences, optimism and pessimism about both the 8C and 4C are all on PH, inc. the conversations Ive had with Alfa's Chef de Mission at Geneva and chaps like DD in the UK. My cheque was the first UK cheque Alfa was offered (turned down flat on the stand in '11). Im terribly sorry if you want some kind of pissing contest about *knowledge* or some such I dont. I just want a car. In both instances Alfa have not delivered to the open goal presented. £50k, 240PS and little practicality isnt going to cut it against the alternatives, which in this case are the Cayman and the Exige Roadster, against the Exige especially because that has the looks to match the Alfa. I buy British and Italian GTs and sportcars, they are pretty much what I live for. There is no argument the 4C has against the Exige. None. It is marginally better looking in the flesh, but only marginally against the Exige roadster (the coupe track thing doesnt count, the Roadster is the road car). The Exige has a superbly practical boot, this doesnt...and yes I do know it doesnt have a superb boot. The Lotus will ride and handle better than the 4C and frankly they will be just as rare anyway. To compete against this the car needed 280PS out of the box. Or it needs to be £10k lower, but right now its writing cheques its specs cant cash.

Its doing a Lotus when Lotus have already spent a lifetime demonstrating it doesnt work.

Bottom line...at £50k you arent fking about. Alfa have produced a compromise product but at top dollar money. The 8C was aswell, but that better looking than anything else going and was extremely rare. This is neither.

Im not a Cayman lover, I have no interest in it. This was and for last 2 yrs always has been a straight for my cash between the Exige Roadster and the 4C and trust me, its been bloody depressing watching both try to cock up.

[kambites]

DonkeyApple said:

Companies always fail to take on Porsche because they either arrive slower, uglier or more expensive.

If they were the only criteria, it wouldn't be so bad. The problem is the car seems to have to be better in every way - cheaper, faster, better handling, better controls, better looking, better sounding, better quality interior, more reliable, more comfortable,... I think unless someone can manage all of that, which is nigh on impossible, the badge snobs will continue to flock to Porsche showrooms.

[scholesy]

I'm sad this can't have a v engine like a sporty Alfa should, looks OK but it needs an engine that suits the Alfa badge to really command anywhere near £50,000!

[Grovsie26]

AML said:

Got fed up waiting for one of these and ended up with a Cayman R. The 4C will have to be some car to compete with that let alone the new Cayman.
I really, really hope it does...... but remain to be convinced. £50k plus for a 1.8 turbo four pot- it better handle and have a build quality that you wouldn't believe.
Good luck Alfa!

Thats exactly how i see it as well.

It does look fantastic and 250bhp/tonne sounds great, but it's not always about raw power figures and stats. I hope the engine is good, but it could just produce decent numbers, and be dreary and crap, kinda like the older VAG 1.8 that was in the TT and Cupra lol.

It's to expensive IMO. If it weighed a bit more but was 30-40k i think it would sell better. 1.8 Turbo or a Flat 6 from porker?

[otolith]

There is already loads of choice of heavy, powerful sportscars in the 30-40k area. Just buy a Z4 or a TT or a Boxster or an SLK or a 370Z instead.

The collaboration with Mazda is going to be more that sort of affordable roadster thing.