Alfa Romeo 4C test drive: make sure to check these features out.
Alfa Romeo never intended to sell huge numbers of their little 4C sports car, and very few of them found homes in South Africa. It’s no longer being imported to local shores, either, but some examples can be found in the used-car listing pages. If you’re interested in an exotic fun machine and decide to take a 4C for a test drive, be sure to check out these features!
Call it a “Supercar Lite”
With its limited-volume production run at Maserati’s Modena factory having ended in 2019, we can no longer buy a new Alfa Romeo 4C on local shores. That shouldn’t keep you from considering one as a plaything (and guaranteed future classic), though, because the diminutive sportster has plenty of virtues of its own.
Contrary to our normal approach of highlighting some cool gadgets and marvellous tech items, we’ve decided to rather focus on the “under the skin” features of the 4C, because those features define the 4C’s essence. These aren’t really seen on a showroom floor as much as appreciated while driving – as befits a real driver’s car!
The most prominent of these virtues is the driving experience: the 4C was arguably the most engaging driving tool to emerge in many years. It all hinged around its light weight: with less car to move around, the handling could be made so much sharper, and the engineers could get away with using a less-powerful engine without compromising on performance. But how did they accomplish that light weight and thrilling driving dynamics? Let’s take a look.
1. Supercar construction.
The pieces you see when looking at a 4C from the outside are mostly plastic: the outer body panels are literally just there to cover a proper supercar skeleton. The central “tub” (which contains the cabin and attachment points for the front- and rear subframes) is made of carbon fibre, and those bolt-on subframes carrying the suspension, steering, and drivetrain are made of aluminium.
Opening a door soon reveals the Alfa 4C’s core value, as there’s exposed carbon fibre on display all over. This gives the central structure immense stiffness, improves crash protection, provides stable mounting points for the subframes to work as best they could, and saves a lot of weight. It’s also the same construction method used by “grown-up” supercars, such as a Ferrari 488 or a Lamborghini Aventador. As a result, the little 4C weighs in below the 900 kg mark in coupé form, and even pulls the scales below 950 kg as a drop-top Spider.
Related: For more details about the Alfa Romeo 4C Coupé, check out our launch review.
2. Giant-killing performance from a little engine.
The engine itself isn’t really a source of wonder in terms of power- and torque outputs, with figures that are decidedly ordinary these days: 177 kW and 350 Nm isn’t a lot in modern terms, and an inline 4-cylinder turbo engine is hardly the stuff to take your breath away. Alfa Romeo nonetheless did their best to make it sound as mean as possible, which basically meant routing the turbo mill’s plumbing right behind the passenger compartment and keeping the exhaust on the raucous side.
As a result, it gulps air behind your right shoulder, whooshes through the boost pipes behind you, and chirrups through both the short exhaust and the air intake with every gearchange. The noises aren’t particularly melodious, but they sure give a direct sensory input, indicating what the engine is doing at any given moment.
But, while the engine’s nothing remarkable on paper, it works a treat in the featherweight 4C, partly thanks to its 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox between the engine and the rear (driven) wheels. The 0 – 100 km/h sprint is dispatched in a rapid 4.5 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 250-ish km/h. Just be aware that anything more than about 170 km/h will require intense concentration and perfect surface conditions, as front-end aerodynamic lift and severe tramlining at high speeds make even 180 km/h feel like 300. See that as an advantage: the 4C gives all the sensations of serious speed without really going very fast...
3. Steering feedback.
This is another area where the 4C’s emphasis on weight reduction plays an important part. It only weighs 895 kg as a coupé, and only 38% of that rests on the front tyres (thanks to its mid-engined configuration). As a result of this light front tyre loading, the engineers could do away with power steering in its entirety – yet again shaving off another few kilograms at the scales.
On the road, the effect is profound. Yes, the steering is pretty heavy at parking speeds, but once on the move, the steering wheel begins to act as part of the driver itself. Every road surface irregularity gets relayed to the driver’s fingertips, and the subtlest changes in road grip are clearly telegraphed directly into the driver’s cortex. It’s quite literally like running your fingers along the road surface. These characteristics won’t suit the majority of potential buyers’ preferences, who will prefer something requiring less effort and that mutes most of the road information up till the point of traction loss, but those buyers would be ill-advised to consider a 4C anyway.
This is as raw as modern motoring can get, and it’s bound to be shocking to most pampered luxury-car buyers. But, for those who prefer visceral interaction with a thoroughbred sports machine, it just doesn’t get better than this. Just be prepared to put up with a punishing ride quality, deafening cabin noise levels, and slap-dash interior trimmings.
Related: Our review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider noted its immersive driving experience.
4. It’s all about the DNA.
Alfa Romeo pulled off a clever marketing trick when they named their drive mode selector “DNA” – a nifty play on the “brand DNA” hype which had all manufacturers re-imagining their future brand images a few years ago. In Alfa’s case, the letters denote “Dynamic”, “Natural” and “All Weather”, in descending order of aggression. But, should you push the DNA selector switch to the “D” setting for a few seconds, a hidden drive mode presents itself: Race mode.
And that should really be the default mode in the Alfa 4C: the brake-based Q2 torque vectoring system gives a very convincing impression of a real limited-slip diff, the gearbox switches to its sharpest-shifting manual setting (instructed by paddles mounted on the steering wheel), and the engine goes into maximum-attack mode. The power output remains the same, obviously, but throttle- and boost curves are made more aggressive, making the 4C really wake up to its role as provider of thrills and smiles.
With used prices ranging from about R 600 000 to R 830 000, depending on age and mileage, a used Alfa Romeo 4C presents a compelling case for keen drivers. It’s about as quick as a new hyper-hatchback, boasts responsive and predictable mid-engined driving dynamics, and plays perfectly into the hands of carbon fibre fetishists. And, at those prices, the 4C is also the least-expensive way to get into a new-ish road car that can legitimately point towards its race car design philosophy. For everyone else, though, a used Porsche Boxster or Cayman will probably be rather more suitable...