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NEWS
UK pricing announced for Alfa Romeo 4C
Alfa's mid-engined sportster will cost more than a Porsche Cayman in the UK, but less than its German rival in our marketAlfa Romeo’s thrilling lightweight 4C coupe is set to go on sale in the UK next month, with pricing in that market starting from £45,000 ($75,960 in our currency).
Although this price point would position it well above the Porsche Cayman in the UK, the same won’t apply to our market as the 4C is expected to be priced between $80-100k when it launches here in the second quarter of next year.
It will be a strictly low-volume proposition in our market, as just 500 cars annually have been allocated to the Asia Pacific region. This is largely down to the fact that the Maserati plant that builds the 4C can only turn out 3500 cars per year.
To quickly recap, the 4C is a lightweight carbonfibre-chassis coupe that weighs only 895kg without fluids.
Propulsion for the Lotus-esque tearaway comes from a derivative of the 1.75-litre turbo four-pot that powers the Giulietta Green Cloverleaf, mated to a six-speed TCT dual-clutch sequential gearbox.
Although outputs of 177kW and 350Nm may not seem earth-shattering, they add up to sprightly performance in the waiflike 4C, which is claimed to be capable of a 4.5sec 0-100km/h sprint.
Befitting its overtly sporting orientation, the 4C’s DNA driver select system has been beefed up with a ‘race’ mode that raises the thresholds before the electronics rein in the action.
The 4C is a techno tour de force that’s extremely labour-intensive to build, which is why it commands such a seemingly high price.
It was a vital car for Alfa Romeo to get right, as it’s tasked with spearheading the venerable brand’s return to the US market after an absence of two decades.
The 4C’s full carbon-fibre tub weighs just 65kg, and carbonfibre components make up 10 per cent of the 4C’s overall weight, but account for 25 per cent of its volume. The car also makes extensive use of aluminium to keep weight as low as possible.
The alloy engine and TCT twin-clutch transmission weigh just 135kg – a saving of over 24kg compared to the iron-block 1.75-litre engine in the Giulietta hatchback. The brake discs are also largely aluminium, saving 2kg per corner over standard cast-iron discs.
Even the 4C’s glass is thinner, by an average of 10mm, which means it’s 15 per cent lighter than conventional glass.
Alfa says the 4C is “more extreme than a Porsche Cayman”, but the company adds that it’s still a useable day-to-day proposition. The car’s weight is split in a 40:60 ratio over front and rear axles, and Alfa claims the 4C is capable of generating 1.1g of lateral acceleration and in excess of 1.2g of deceleration force.
There will no doubt be harder-core versions of the 4C down the track, and rumours persist of a V6-powered version in the future.
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Written byGautam Sharma
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