More often than not, the most driving enjoyment comes not from those brutishly-powerful hypercars at the far reaches of the automotive spectrum but those from simpler origins. Such vehicles such as the Mazda MX5, Honda S2000 and Porsche Cayman have made strong cases for themselves in this regard, but this realm of “affordable” thrills will soon not be only inhabited by the Japanese and Germans. Enter Alfa Romeo and the 4C.
That’s right, the Italians (those responsible for launching the modern-day supercar to the giddy heights it exists at today) want a piece of the cheap performance pie. The Fiat subsidiary made headlines a few years ago with the 8C Competizione, a drop-dead gorgeous coupe blessed with a Maserati-derived V8. At last year’s Geneva Motor Show the famed company unveiled a concept sibling to the 8C, dubbed 4C.
If recent reports are to be believed, Alfa Romeo executives and Fiat’s bean counters have been hard at work determining the success of such a venture – and it seems it’s received the go-ahead. The pricing of such a venture has long been the subject of speculation, but the latest mumblings are that the baby supercar would be placed around the R550 000 mark.
It’s certainly (relatively) miniscule in terms of its dimensions – being not much larger than Alfa’s current baby, the Mito. The shape is maximised by the 4C’s driver-and-passenger- only seating arrangement and mid-engined layout. The engine itself will be lifted from the range-topping Giulietta QV, a 1,75-litre turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 173 kW and 340 N.m of torque.
Co-developed with legendary Italian chassis engineers Dallara, the 4C will use carbon fibre and aluminium in its construction to keep its mass under a ton. With the KTM X-Bow as the latest in Dallara’s long line of successes, we expect the 4C’s 40:60 front/rear weight distribution to yield fantastic handling through the use of high-tech suspension too. Using a dual-clutch transmission, the 4C should turn in zero-to 100 km/h sprints under the five second barrier.
The 4C is expected to go on sale abroad early in 2013.
