Alfa Romeo 4C review - Auto Express

When a car comes along that sounds this good and looks this stunning, it doesn't really matter how it drives, you just want one.

But the 4C promises to be more than just a pretty face. Unlike rivals like the Lotus Elise and the Porsche Cayman, under this amazing bodywork, is a carbon-fibre monocoque, a bit like the one you get in the McLaren 12C or Porsche 918 Spyder. That, and other strict weight saving measures, mean the 4C weighs just 895kg without passengers or fluids, which isn't very much at all. And as we all know, less weight means better fuel economy, sharper handling, and more fun!

The styling and mid-engined layout all scream junior supercar, but the engine is a humble four cylinder turbo, taken from the Giulietta hatch, recast in aluminium and tuned up to 240bhp, which feels like plenty. 0-62mph takes 4.5 seconds and top speed is 160mph, and as you can hear, fitted with the optional sports exhaust it sounds like an old race car from the fifties, especially from the outside, and you can hear the intake sucking away in here. But what's it like on the road?

unfortunately it's not perfect. On the track where you can really thrash it performance is ballistic, but here on the road, with slower corners, throttle response soggy at best, and the engine feels laggy and doesn't rev freely enough. Fortunately a good gearbox can cover up an engine's shortfalls, and this TCT twin-clutch is lightning fast on up shifts but occasionally a little reluctant to change down. Once the turbo lights up it's fast and loud, make no mistake, but the powertrain's responses need to be sharper.

Powertrain aside, this chassis is a work of art. It feels incredibly stiff, the turn in is brilliant grip is monumental, the brakes are incredible and this unassisted steering buzzes with feedback, plus the ride isn't too firm for a car of this type, it's just such a shame there's no manual gearbox!!

There's no stereo or air-con either, if you ask Alfa to delete then for free that is, but There are four driving modes to choose from too, dynamic, natural, all-weather and race. Unlike some supercars, race isn't too aggressive for the road, and sharpens up the gearbox nicely. And as for interior quality, well it can't match the Cayman, but the 4Cs driving position is spot on and the TFT instrument screen and exposed carbon fibre looks fantastic. But have Alfa done enough?"

"Yes and no. You see the 4C is a car you want to love, for it's boldness, for it's stunning looks and for it's engineering purity. It delivers big
time with it's handling, and 40mpg fuel economy, too, but it's as if Alfa ran short on funds when it came to the engine, gearbox and interior
fittings. Ultimately the 4C has a big Porsche Cayman shaped problem, and with prices for the Alfa starting at £45,000 it's
going to be tough convincing 3,500 customers a year to walk past the Porsche.

[petersente]

Post-war Alfas are about beauty, small engines with relatively strong power output and wonderful handling. Not about absolute performance. As far as I can see, they have delivered! I love it, headlights and all!!! :)

[HugoElders]

I'd take this over a Cayman any time. It's so much more emotional and that's what cars are about after all. Manual gearbox is something i'd really want though

[alessiovigna]

Well, since you can actually get them for free, but you can save weight without them, I think it is a great opt configuration. For instance I would get the A/C (got an elise without it, and it was umbearable in some days), but would not get the stereo.

[RFreigeldorff]

nothing wrong with that. a marque with great history, having also ferrari and maserati in their portfolio.

[NYJALB]

Comparing an Alfa to a Porsche is like comparing Pavarotti to is all about soul and passion, the other about functionality and technical give me an Alfa (and Luciano) any day of the week!

[wparo]

now do a comparison review with this and fiat 500

[jamiep]

The New Alfa Romeo 4C is my favourite Italian Supercar

[atomicorang]

I dont understand Italian...except I do understand Alfa language. Too awesome!

[HENRYHOBBS]

great little car, respect to alfa for making it

[NorboHitman]

How much of the footage was shot by you guys? Most of them are Alfa beauty shots right? No judgement, just wondering :)!

[mohammadfiruzmustapha]

The headlights reminds me of a character in Monster Inc. Otherwise, what a beauty!

[aec]

it would be interesting to know what driving mode he was in when he complained of the gearbox and engine response.... later in the review he did mention that in race mode it improved...

[RFreigeldorff]

some truth in that. alfas v6 sounded spectacular in comparison, some sonic complexity goes missing with straight-4. but so do a few kilograms. how did you do the conversion? tough job?

[puffrooster]

What's with the headlights!? Was Alfa Romeo purchased by a French company?

[errorcode]

this as a manual and with normal headlights would be pretty much perfect!!

[FedericoLucchi]

If I had the money, I'd definitely buy one, but with standard headlights. These carbon HL don't look too good in my opinion...

[writesanchit]

Did anyone else notice that the closed captions are the exact opposite of the audio at the end?

[kcirreb]

how do you know that..I was debating if I should get this or the cayman

[desmosnob]

On which roads did you shoot this review?

[alessiovigna]

I do agree with mieguistumas. Beside performances (you need to get the Cayman S to reach something close to this), the typical Cayman would not actually consider this as an alternative. I have never seen that type of consumer buying an exige for instance. Or at least, the ones that bought it, simply sold it a few months later.