Wednesday 15th June 2011

Alfa 4C Gets UK Debut At FoS

Mid-engined Alfa will show its face at Goodwood

---

The Alfa Romeo 4C Concept that was one of the stars of the Geneva show in March will make its public UK debut at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, Alfa Romeo has revealed.

The mid-engined, two-seat rear-wheel-drive coupe concept will be the star of the 101-year-old marque's contemporary line-up representing (says Alfa) "the true essence of an Alfa Romeo sports car: performance, Italian style and technical excellence.

It's certainly technically interesting, with extensive use of carbon-fibre and aluminium throughout, a 200bhp 1.75-litre turbocharged engine and a twin-clutch transmission.

But if modern Alfas aren't your thing, you'll be able to take a gander at such luscious offerings as Fangio's Alfa 6C 3000CM, the Alfa 750 Competizione and the Alfa 33 TT 12.

And of course there are plenty of other UK debuts being made, including the Ferrari FF, Marussia B1 and many more...

 

[louiebaby]

I really liked this at Geneva earlier in the year. I like to see it painted in a proper colour though, instead of the slightly odd, kind of matt pearlescent stuff they had it in...

[George H]

Looks good except for the colour imo. I think the use of carbon fibre is a bit unnecessary in a car of this price range though.

Would rather see it come with the 3.2 V6 too

[Driller]

Quite. It looks very interesting but a "200bhp 1.75-litre turbocharged engine" is just

[jakesmith]

If they keep their (impossible) weight of 900kg it will have the same power to weight of the present Boxster S 3.4, in a more nimble chassis

[JuniorJet]

fkyeah!!

omg I can't wait!! 18 days!!

[Oddball RS]

I really don't think its the best it could be, it aint that pretty is it?

I am having trouble with the following thought?

'I really want one of these because............'

I can't really finish it off.

[kambites]

jakesmith said:

If they keep their (impossible) weight of 900kg it will have the same power to weight of the present Boxster S 3.4, in a more nimble chassis

I don't think it's impossible, although perhaps unlikely. That's about what a current Elise weighs before you start adding heavy options.

[jakesmith]

The present Elise doesn't have the kind of trim level that I'd require for a daily driver. This car needs to have a bit of luxury as noone would pick it over the Elise as a weekend car

[johnaachen]

Anyone else think that it looks like a porky Mk1 Elise?

[kambites]

jakesmith said:

The present Elise doesn't have the kind of trim level that I'd require for a daily driver. This car needs to have a bit of luxury as noone would pick it over the Elise as a weekend car

True, but they're talking about using CF instead of GRP, which could give them a bit of weight to play with.

I agree that the weight target is unlikely and will be at the expense of NVH and/or price, but I don't think it's impossible.

What exactly does an Elise lack that you'd consider a requirement, though and how much would it weigh?

[James Dean]

kambites said:

jakesmith said:

If they keep their (impossible) weight of 900kg it will have the same power to weight of the present Boxster S 3.4, in a more nimble chassis

I don't think it's impossible, although perhaps unlikely. That's about what a current Elise weighs before you start adding heavy options.

And the VX220/Speedster which is based on the Elise as well. Can perfectly see this being below 1000 kg.

[kambites]

johnaachen said:

Anyone else think that it looks like a porky Mk1 Elise?

More like an S2 to me, but yes.

[alock]

JuniorJet said:

fkyeah!!

omg I can't wait!! 18 days!!

I have Friday tickets..... only 16 days!!

[Johnboy Mac]

johnaachen said:

Anyone else think that it looks like a porky Mk1 Elise?

Yep.

There's nothing Alfa about it at all, bar the grille. Fiat should let Ferrari run Alfa as they did with Maserati or flog Alfa to VW.

[Chris-R]

Oddball RS said:

I really don't think its the best it could be, it aint that pretty is it?

I am having trouble with the following thought?

'I really want one of these because............'

I can't really finish it off.

That's what I thought at Geneva when I saw it.

It doesn't represent 'the true essence of an Alfa Romeo sports car' for me at all. It's insufficiently glamorous, and unremarkably styled. And when did 'technical excellence' become an Alfa brand value?

Give us a stunning roadster that drips with sex appeal, and paint it a nice shiny red. Job done.

[Andrew[MG]]

What's the difference in cost between this and the new Toyota FT-86? They will be competition quite closely I would imagine.

[Johnboy Mac]

Chris-R said:

Give us a stunning roadster that drips with sex appeal, and paint it a nice shiny red. Job done.

That's more like.

[glendon]

Its a great to see Alfa to be getting back into this niche, It's a shame its such a generic, fussy design. We needs something classic looking, cleaner lines, something along the lines of the old 916 GTV.
To me, the only part that says 'Alfa' is the teledials.

[glendon]

Johnboy Mac said:

That's more like.

Yep, thats exactly what an Alfa should look like!

[johnycarrera]

I think it looks like a great package however the Abarth version will be exactly the same (slightly less pretty) for a lot less money so I think I'd put my money there instead. I'm also sure that the engine will be safely tuneable to a lot more than 200 hp.