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now you don't normally see me reposed
like this but we're in Italy for a very
special occasion it's the launch of the
Alpha Romeo 4C a car I've waited to
drive for years but tonight we're going
to have dinner drink some prco enjoy
ourselves and then tomorrow we get to
drive it at last
Planet Alpha hasn't been a happy place
for some time now look back at the
company's stunning history and the past
20 years have been a sorry Saga of
bodged fat platforms and horrible
front-wheel drive sheds okay there's
been the odd ray of light but not much
so you can understand why Alpha is
making some noise about the 4C it even
built a building that goes over its test
track to launch it at bco this isn't
just a new sports car it's a new
beginning for alfha Romeo the car itself
is a two- seat coupet using a carbon tub
for massive rigidity the dry weight of
the car is 895 kg 925 kg with fluids for
reasons of space and budget the motor is
effectively a hot version of the
julieta's 1750cc turbocharged 4cylinder
power is 240 horsepower torque is 258
ftlb of torque so it actually has a
superior power to weight ratio to a
Cayman S Alpha claims 0 to 60 in 4.5
seconds and 160 mph flat out
the transmission is a six-speed double
clutch developed and built by Alpha it's
claimed to shift in 130 milliseconds the
chassis is a little unconventional not
at the front where you find double
wishbones you expected but at the rear
which uses a strap design because the
powertrain package is so tight you see
it seems strange to me to be so
uncompromising on the carbon tub and
then not have the optimum suspension
design on the car so what
it's a dinky little thing the 4C 39 CM
shorter than a Cayman but still longer
than elas it's wide though 6 cm wider
than the Porsche the packaging is pretty
tight with the motor slapped right into
the rear belad leaving a smallish boot
behind which has no gas struts for
reasons of weight in fact the whole car
is about not being heavy the cabin
carries no unnecessary trim the seats
are very thinly padded and the whole
thing feels much more least in Cayman
you can specify a radio and air
conditioning and a set of Runners for
the passenger seat as standard it's
fixed but I just love the exposed carbon
in that cabin the dash is especially
funky and much like an Aventador txt
screen the steering wheel isn't funky
but more of that in a minute this isn't
a car just to jump in and master after 2
minutes the control take time the motor
is so turbocharged you have to measure
the Boost and at first the unassisted
steering feels very light off center and
in very heavy under load but the sense
of immense strength in the chassis and
suspension that's allowed to work
independently from that base is really
addictive it's Supple very agile and
great fun at ordinary speeds the motor
pulls very hard from well under 3,000
RPM and it makes some decent poy noises
on upshifts and Under full load but it's
still not as crisp as a cayman's boxer
six but the more I drove the car on the
road you know what the more I liked it
people respond so well to the shape the
talk means it's effortlessly fast and
the gear shift with the DNA switch
thingy in race mode is damn good what I
didn't like was the seat which was
uncomfortable and unsupportive but that
might just be my weird shape and I
didn't like the steering wheel you have
an amazing uncorrupted steering rack and
then fit some over padded stupid shaped
wheel it's a crying shame refinement is
pretty good too like so much of what it
does the forc kind of splits the
difference between the Cayman and Elise
and I think that's quite a good place
for an alpha to be so what's it like
when you throw it around a
bit here we are then at bco uh Proving
Ground or should I say playground like
all these things it feels like a
playground to me the 4C has two very
different personalities on circuit and I
want to talk you through them this is
the accurate one okay this is the car
that's mid-engined balanced and has
mechanical grip I'm using just a section
of the track here turn the car in the
front end is fantastic lift the throtle
you can feel it just neutralize for you
the brakes are just Stellar absolutely
Stellar gear changes are fast enough but
on part throttle they're not brilliant
when you're flat out that's when you get
the 130 milliseconds traction superb
little bit of under steer at times but
you can again you can neutralize it on
the
throttle I'm driving the car accurately
and I'm really enjoying it and with that
unassisted steering it's lovely really
lovely
it's grip it's agile it's everything
you'd want the car to be I have to say
everything and it rides the curves
absolutely superbly we'll smack up on
one now look at that just
excellent what else is notable about the
car well the power
train I think they've done all they
could with four cylinders and a
Turbocharger I really do I don't know
what more they could have done the
torque is immense I mean from 3,000 RPM
Less in uh in sixth gear it just holds
absolutely holded but that does make the
top end feel a little bit lacking at
times which is a bit of a
shame but there's no doubting that it's
a fast car I believe the N 60 time and
further more on the road because the
toret feels even
quicker just there's something about a
light mid-engined car that just feels
right doesn't there it is right it's the
perfect
layout I really like it and once more
I'm probably being a bit kind as well
because it's an Alpha Romeo and I've
wanted to drive an Alp Romeo that could
do this well since I could drive a
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car that other personality the one I
didn't quite expect I thought this would
be all about accuracy this car but if
you go into race
mode and you back it
in um um um yes please yes please an
Alpa Romeo that can do that
[Applause]
it's a
honey short wheel base and yet it'll do
that all day
long just feels absolutely fantastic to
me it's well balanced the unassisted
steering weights up beautifully when
you're cocking about
it's lovely it's really lovely I would
say one thing about the steering off
center it's quite light and the car
moves around a bit and when you get into
the Met of the lock the weight really
comes I presume that's Caster effect I
found it a bit disconcerting but the
more time I've spent in the car the more
I've loved it the more you really grab
it by the Scruff no this is a special
little car
and so that's the Alpha Romeo 4C it is
so many things and so many of them are
positive for a resurgent Alfa Romeo but
let me leave you with one thought this
car is really special and significant
because it's not a Porsche Cayman and
that's what the marketplace really needs
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