Alfa Romeo 4C Review

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The Alfa Romeo 4C is the first car produced by the Italian brand in decades that sticks out as something truly special. This flashy motor may well revive and redefine the Alfa brand as a manufacturer we can expect great things from like the glory days of old.

Taking its name and soul from the classic Alfa racers of the 1930’s – the 6C and the 8C; The Alfa Romeo 4C is a super lightweight, mid-engined sports car that is pioneering a supercar style carbon fibre build into a more affordable, large batch form. In short – this seems like a modern interpretation of the kind of car that Alfa used to make before being taken over by Fiat.

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Alfa Romeo 4C Body and Style

The Alfa Romeo 4C is certainly striking to look at with an exotic looking organically shaped body, tightly wrapped around a lightweight (925kg) McLaren-esque carbon fibre chassis which was developed alongside single-seater racing manufacturer, Dallara. The huge amount of carbon fibre used in making this vehicle is one of its defining characteristics, replacing anything that could be with something a little bit lighter, including taking away anything that was deemed unnecessary. While this might sound a bit ‘no-frills’ we can assure you that it is certainly not ‘no-thrills’. The Alfa Romeo 4C is also assembled by Maserati so it’s fair to say they know a couple of things about putting together desirable motors. It’s certainly not a dainty machine (being longer than a Lotus Elise and about as wide as a Mercedes SL) and there is something about the bodywork that has distinct elements of contemporary Ferrari and invokes thoughts of the more distinctive Alfa sports cars of the classic era like the Alfa 33 Stradale.

It’s distinctive – the way the back envelopes the rear lights to the distinctive cluster LED headlights. It still retains the familiar Alfa Romeo triangular style front grill, but one thing is certain – this Alfa Romeo 4C looks mean, beautiful and sporty all at the same time! One thing that could potentially mar the look of the front end is the number plate placement – obviously much better suited for Italian style registration plates (pinned to the side rather than the lower centre) so if you’re picky about it, you might consider getting your Alfa Romeo 4C registered in Italy. Problem solved.

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Inside the Alfa Romeo 4C

Inside, as you lower yourself into the supportive bucket seats of the Alfa Romeo 4C, you’ll see that it’s like your very own little cockpit, but also a fairly sparse one. The weight saving design has ensured that there is nothing too frivolous about the interior, which is part understandable due to function but also mildly disappointing because you’d expect something a little more elaborate from an Italian sports car of this level. You are surrounded by carbon fibre and lightweight plastic, but one thing that really sticks out is another weight saving device – the clever in-dash screen which displays all your driving readouts in digital form. When you switch the mode on the DNA driving mode selector, the screen also changes colour. Not that you’ll need reminding, but more on that later. The steering wheel is a bit thick and oddly shaped, but is somewhat reminiscent of an F1 steering wheel.

Practical cabin space and compartments might be a bugbear to some – it doesn’t have a glove box or much general storage room but it does have an under-dash mounted slot (handy for storing speeding tickets) and a couple of cup holders. The practicality blitz continues to general storage space where you’ll notice that the front bonnet is fastened shut, meaning there is no front storage room as with other mid-engined cars. The back boot has a small maximum capacity of 110ltrs which isn’t great for much more than a holdall. The rear visibility isn’t very good either so investing in the rear parking sensors is a must if you don’t want to be investing in bodywork repairs. This being said, this car was never aiming to be an all-rounder. It’s actually very admirable to see Alfa Romeo uncompromisingly going the whole hog and giving you something that is every inch a sporty drivers car! The kind of people who would buy or lease an Alfa Romeo 4C probably won’t care about such details.

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Alfa Romeo 4C Test Drive

So the Alfa Romeo 4C might be pretty and light, but what’s really important about a car such as this is how it actually drives. Interestingly, it has a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine which gives out 240bhp. Same priced rivals tend to offer 6 cylinder engines at about 300bhp mark. What’s with that? Well before you put this car down as a sporty wannabe, let us consider that those rivals have heavier engines and frames to lug around so they really need all that power to get places. In contrast, this comparatively small engine is lighter and propelling a featherweight carbon fibre frame so it doesn’t have any problem rocketing with race car acceleration to 62mph in 4.5 seconds on the way to a whopping 160mph. Zesty! The throttle is light and you get a distinct feeling of being thrown back with G-force as you fly towards the horizon. The ride quality is remarkably good – the low profile, rigid chassis and suspension combo plus the wide track and McLaren style electronic limited slip differential all amount to surprisingly supple ride with astonishing grip and cornering. Another interesting note is that the breaking is wonderfully tight – claiming a stop from 62mph at only 35 metres (the highway code suggesting that you should need 55 metres for this).

You can add more to the Alfa Romeo 4C’s racey appeal by using your pocket change to purchase the racing pack option which adds thick front and rear anti-roll bars, sports suspension, grippy racing tyres and a more noteful exhaust. Launch control is standard and you can shift the throttle response with the DNA driving mode selector. This works between Dynamic or Race mode (for top performance) or the slightly softer All Weather or Natural modes for an easier going ride. Well I say easier going… One thing that might get people about this is that there are no real comfort mode settings – all of them instead suggesting different levels of racing mode so the Alfa Romeo 4C is always spry, sporty and loud so It might not be the best car to take your Grandmother to bridge club in… or maybe it is. Who knows – the old dear might get a real kick out of it! The driving is all unassisted, which might be intimidating at first considering the acute fingertip response allows you to feel every single bump as you power through the roadways, but once you get used to it you’ll have a great amount of fun. Driving the Alfa Romeo 4C is definitely an experience. And a good one at that.

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Alfa Romeo 4C Running Cost

Another bonus to being so light and having a smaller engine is that the running costs are amazing for a car of this level of performance as it pumps out 157g/pk and does an impressive 41.5mpg. It’s clear to see that the Alfa Romeo 4C isn’t the most obvious company car, but if you were to select it as yours, then the balance sheet figures really speak for themselves. Residual values are also high due to lengthy waiting lists so getting an Alfa Romeo 4C on finance, lease or buying will always sell back well, making it a very good investment.

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Alfa Romeo 4C Verdict

All in all, what have we got here with the Alfa Romeo 4C? The release of the Alfa Romeo 4C is truly a rebirth for the Alfa brand. After 30 years of so-so vehicle manufacturing, they have finally thrown away the underperforming Fiat formulas and put everything into creating something distinctive, sexy and fast. Something that stands up as an identifying hallmark for the brand and also proves in a wider sense that carbon fibre underpinnings and exotic coiffure can be built into the affordable sports cars rather than just being limited to McLarens, Lamborghinis and and Ferraris. The Alfa Romeo 4C is a real drivers car that might lack in day to day practicality, but will certainly make up for it in uncompromising fun. Hopefully this is more of the kind of thing we will see from Alfa Romeo from now on.

If you want to get hold of the Alfa Romeo 4C then don’t hesitate to leave us a message on our contact us page or give us a call on 01903 538835 to find out about our Alfa Romeo lease deals.

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