ttrodrigues
New member
Espero que a versão europeia venha a ter no futuro um interior em pele como esta versão tem. Ficava muito bem.
Alfa 4c
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- Data de início
]reckoner00
Well-known member
Alfa Romeo 4C ( versão E.U.A.) - Autoblog teste
The dissonance between first look and first wheel turn was jarring.
Alfa Romeo had chosen a suitably hip venue in which to showcase the coupe that will mark the brand's honest-to-God return to the US market – a graffiti-festooned warehouse housing a boutique furniture company in San Francisco's Mission District. The curvilinear sports car proved a lovely stylistic counterpoint to its concrete and metal backdrop while feeling perfectly synced with the eye-watering square-footage prices of the environs. Where the young, rich, beautiful people gather, the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C will be a star.
And wherever they drive, expect things to get pretty loud. No sooner had I doubled over, dropped into the driver's seat, and fired to life the Alfa's utterly raucous little 1.7-liter engine, did the 'symphony' of the 4C begin. An introductory note of an inevitable chin scrape as I pulled out of the hipster parking lot and into the street was quickly followed by the uncivilized racket of the engine warming up, with only wafer-thin glass to filter the hubbub just behind my head. At a cold idle, the sound isn't unlike what I'd imagine it would be like to live inside of a Volkswagen TDI engine bay.
Thankfully, as traffic cleared and The City's streets turned swiftly into undulating coastal roads, the experiential delta between heartthrob looks and project-car manners started to shrink. Unlike the last Alfas to be sold en masse on our shores, this is no beautiful boulevardier. What the 4C is, however, is hot hell's own driver's car.
Last year, newly minted Infiniti PR maestro (and former Autoblog European editor) Matt Davis had the cheek to call the 4C a "baby 458." That's an awfully powerful endorsement for a $55k featherweight rocking a mid-mounted turbo four, but the setting of the bar so high wasn't without just cause. Despite gaining a few hundred pounds worth of thicker carbon fiber, heavier US-spec airbags, standard AC and audio equipment and the like, the handsome Alfa coupe really does live up to its Italian sports car roots.
With respect to the punchy engine, it's that carbon fiber tub that really sets the stage for this coupe to handle and perform so brilliantly. Added weight noted, let us pause for a moment to note that the 4C still tips the scales at an improbable 2,465 pounds. That number makes it about 50 pounds lighter than a soft-topMazda MX-5 Miata, more than 400 lbs down on a Porsche Cayman and a tremendous 600 lbs below the awesome (non-supercharged) Lotus Evora. It's light enough that my driving experience – at roughly 235 lbs – may be significantly different than someone closer to an average size and weight. That both blows my mind and makes me want to cut out carbs.
The CF superstructure, bookended with aluminum subframes front and rear, also allows the 4C to be exceptionally stiff and flex-free when flung with increasing madness along California's golden coast. Taking "the long way" from downtown Frisco to Sonoma Raceway (called Infineon in a previous life, and still referred to as Sears Point by the graybeards in our group), means mile after mile of mountainous, coastal switchbacks connected by graceful lengths of wide-open two-lane blacktop. Save for the Italian Alps, it's pretty much the place in which the Alfa feels most at home. Carving precise lines from corner to corner was a matter of course with the 4C, its impressive underpinnings deleting any hint of roll and its brief, 93.7-inch wheelbase allowing for terse changes of direction.
Despite enough space between Prius drivers and work vans to take many of the Highway 1 corners with speed, I can't say that I was ever able to upset the rear end of the 41/59-weight-split 4C. The wide tarmac and soft-looking runoffs of the racetrack gave me enough confidence (eventually) to find the grip limits of the piquant coupe – as well as a dose of throttle-off oversteer if you're silly enough to lift when you shouldn't – but on public backroads, the Alfa is nothing short of a scalpel.
It must be said, too, that the desire to toss the 4C from bend to bend is enflamed by its throwback, no-power-assist, 15.7:1-ratioed steering. Back in San Francisco, the unassisted steering would doubtless become thorny – and quick – for anyone that didn't practice regular upper-body resistance training. This isn't a car setup to cosset the stylish-coupe driver with the demands of an urban/suburban driving route. In stark contrast to ever more livable models from Porsche and the Chevrolet Corvette, for instance, the 4C seems to turn up its shield-emblazoned nose at compromise for comfort. The upside is a steering experience that's jaw dropping for those who care about things like tactility and weight mid-corner, while still avoiding the almost too-chatty character of things like Elise and Evora.
In short, the 4C has the best-judged steering for the enthusiast driver this side of an F1 car. It's f------ brilliant.
The power unit amidships is a pretty entertaining thing as well. Afla keeps calling the direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder a "1.75-liter" engine, but the truth is that it displaces 1,742cc. Normally those 42cc of cylinder would get rounded out to 1.7-liters, but Alfa claims a history of 1.75L engines is powerful enough to keep the tradition going... fine. The important bit is the way the engine delivers its 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, anyway, not its exact displacement.
With the single-turbo engine making its peak power at a fairly high 6,000 rpm, and its max torque starting at 2,200 rpm, the accelerative experience is slightly more linear than most current turbo engines I've driven. Lag isn't a particular issue for the 4C, as the quick-spinning four is up to speed in almost no time at all when given a solid bootful of accelerator. Alfa claims a 0 to 60 sprint of 4.4 seconds, which feels very accurate. (The 4C also offers launch control when its DNA drive mode has been toggled into Race, making a real, mid-four-second starting sprint very doable.) The ample torque also allows for excellent response at speeds over 60 miles per hour, an area in which other, higher-strung small displacement engines don't always shine.
Back in the city, the clatter of this direct-injected mill was rather grinding, as I mentioned, but out on the open road (or on the track) and fitted with the optional racing exhaust ($500), the 4C sounds like a thoroughbred. At least from the outside. Listening to cars start, run, accelerate and downshift out at Sonoma was enough to raise the hairs on my arms at some points; so stirring was the deep, Italianate resonance of their exhausts. And, to be fair, the overall sonic vibe was pretty stirring when I was behind the wheel of one, as well. Still, the audio experience when doing something as mundane as highway driving could be charitably described as "droning."
The six-speed dual-clutch transmission has a similar kind of bipolarity. Yes, I found the trans remarkably adept at snapping off every shift I asked for as I caned the Alfa up and down the hills of the racetrack, and have no complaints about the quickness with which it executes on its own when left in automatic modes. But the compact packaging of the pushbutton gear selector wasn't enough to make up for its clunkiness in mundane operations like, say, finding reverse. The buttons take a solid depression before they'll activate the desired gear (probably by design) and even then the response time seems glacial compared with a traditional shift lever. I'll admit that I've always loathed button-activated transmissions, and this Alfa setup does squat for changing my mind on the subject.
There's no question that the small confines of the 4C cabin are also a compromise to the kind of motive comfort we all now expect, but I was ecstatic to find that there's more than enough room in the driver's chair for a big Dutchman like me. (There was a lot of chatter among the Autoblog staff about whether or not my six-foot, five-inch frame would find a home in the slinky Alfa... haters all of them.) With an inch more headroom (38 inches) than is offered by a hardtop-raised Mazda Miata, not only could I swing in and out of the 4C cabin with relative ease (see video below), I could even wear a helmet while doing so. The only issue my above-average height posed for driving was my ability to see the top 10-percent of the central, digital speedometer and information display (which is pretty small, really), and a reduction in visibility from a low roof.
The story from the passenger side is totally different. Infringed upon by the hugely wide carbon-fiber sill on my right and a super-low dashboard above, it was all I could do to straighten my legs and hang on tightly while I rode shotgun. The posture that I (and any larger person) had to adopt to even fit in the right chair, was roughly analogous to that of a woman who's just discovered her skirt is way too short and tight while sitting down to a dinner in a public place. Ladies, beware your clothing choices when faced with a ride in a 4C; egress in anything but pants or a maxi dress is best performed in a concealed spot. I'll say no more.
None of that, nor the slightly underwhelming cabin decorations, would keep me from owning this Alfa, I should add. It's just too good a steer and too stunning to look at for me to summon up the effort to care about mildly unsatisfactory in-cabin plastics. The heart wants what the heart wants.
And that axiom basically holds true for the 4C value proposition as a whole. I'd stake my bottom dollar on the fact that, with one glance at the $65,945 as-tested price and the 237-hp output, some Autoblog reader is going to sound off, "that's Corvette money!" They will, of course, be correct and be utterly missing the point all at the same time. The mid-sixties pricing that Alfa Romeo believes the 4C will sell at, will of course buy any manner of sports car that is 'better' than this Italian coupe in some regard. Clearly cars like the BMW M4, or Porsche Cayman S, or Jaguar F-Type Coupe or the beloved C7 offer advantages of power, practicality, price, poshness or some combination therein. The 4C will never win with numbers crunchers.
It will win with those that want something pure, complex and beautiful, however. Drivers who value handling and touch more than top-speed figures and rank in the horsepower wars. At just 500 units, the Launch Edition of the 4C – and its all-options-in $69,695-price tag – will also help seduce those buyers seeking something rare, and possibly iconic, depending on how well Alfa's larger American resurrection plan takes hold. For those of particular, discerning and idiosyncratic driving tastes, this car and its impressive subdermal technology will be a bargain. Everyone else will unblinkingly buy the 'Vette.
As my first downtown stint behind the wheel proved, the 4C is not a car that will suit as a daily driver for anyone but the deeply masochistic. Yet driving it as intended is so magical – perhaps even improved thanks to the character of its most obvious flaws – that I think it deserves a rank among the very best sports cars one can buy today. Welcome back to the neighborhood, Alfa; now, show us more like this one, please.
reckoner00
Well-known member
* Continuação
reckoner00
Well-known member
* Continuação
reckoner00
Well-known member
starcraft2
New member
Este carro tem uma personalidade fantastica. Imagino qo vivo.
v7
Banido
Personalidade ? ou presença ?
Isto é como olhar para as fotografias de uma pessoa bonita e falar sobre a sua personalidade. Faz sentido
starcraft2
New member
Personalidade sim. Se para ti nao faz sentido lamento. A mim parece me plausivel olhar para alguem, mesmo que em foto e inferir sobre a sua personalidade. Nao e ao a falar que se comunica. A imagem e tao ou mais importante, como neste 4c.Personalidade ? ou presença ?
Isto é como olhar para as fotografias de uma pessoa bonita e falar sobre a sua personalidade. Faz sentido
v7
Banido
O que faz sentido é comparar uma pessoa com um automóvel. []
A estética de um automóvel é parte intrínseca da sua personalidade.
Na minha opinião "personalidade" quando se fala num automóvel, tem mais a ver com a forma como se "deixa" conduzir.
Essa é para mim a essência de um carro. [
]reckoner00
Well-known member
TSG
Banido
Na minha opinião "personalidade" quando se fala num automóvel, tem mais a ver com a forma como se "deixa" conduzir.
Essa é para mim a essência de um carro. [
Personalidade ou carácter são as características que definem uma pessoa, ou neste caso um automóvel. A estética é uma dessas características, e uma das mais marcantes, agora cabe a cada um decidir se dá mais importância à estética ou à técnica. No caso do 4C ambas são de tal forma marcantes que se pode perfeitamente considerar o 4C como um automóvel com bastantes personalidade.
Iuri
Well-known member
Shame!
Estes americanos "estão todos comprados" pela Alfa Romeo!
Como é que é possível afirmar, relativamente ao motor, que "Lag isn't a particular issue for the 4C, as the quick-spinning four is up to speed in almost no time at all when given a solid bootful of accelerator." ou "and hard acceleration is immediate, with turbo lag never an issue.", depois de ter lido vários testes de (reputados) jornalistas do velho continente que o apodaram de too laggy?
E, mais grave, como é possível afirmar que "the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C will draw inevitable comparisons to the high-end Audi TT RS, the Porsche Cayman, and even the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, yet the 4C is nothing like any of those cars. It’s easy to roll your eyes when some carmaker tells you that its car is unique and has no direct rivals, and yet it’s worth considering that the departure of the Lotus Elise and Lotus Exige from the American market leaves the Alfa 4C in a special spot.", depois de várias comparações feitas em território europeu, em flagrante prejuízo do 4C?
Nunca imaginei que o jornalismo americano fosse assim... tão vendido. []
Estes americanos "estão todos comprados" pela Alfa Romeo!
Como é que é possível afirmar, relativamente ao motor, que "Lag isn't a particular issue for the 4C, as the quick-spinning four is up to speed in almost no time at all when given a solid bootful of accelerator." ou "and hard acceleration is immediate, with turbo lag never an issue.", depois de ter lido vários testes de (reputados) jornalistas do velho continente que o apodaram de too laggy?
E, mais grave, como é possível afirmar que "the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C will draw inevitable comparisons to the high-end Audi TT RS, the Porsche Cayman, and even the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, yet the 4C is nothing like any of those cars. It’s easy to roll your eyes when some carmaker tells you that its car is unique and has no direct rivals, and yet it’s worth considering that the departure of the Lotus Elise and Lotus Exige from the American market leaves the Alfa 4C in a special spot.", depois de várias comparações feitas em território europeu, em flagrante prejuízo do 4C?
Nunca imaginei que o jornalismo americano fosse assim... tão vendido. [
]
Última edição:
reckoner00
Well-known member
Alfa Romeo 4C (versão E.U.A.) - Autoweek teste
"Colin Chapman,” says Fiat Chrysler design boss Lorenzo Ramaciotti on the eve of -- finally -- the U.S. introduction of Alfa Romeo's 2015 4C, “was one of my heroes … ”
This, and the Italian's fondness for the bygone-era sexiness of the racing-derived 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, is explanation enough for the lightweight, mid-engined 4C's conception, though of course less romantic business considerations apply, such as returning the marque to the states with combustible flash ahead of more pedestrian future offerings.
You'll excuse us for worrying about those future cars in the coming months; for now, the present is enough following the carbon-monocoqued 4C's seemingly never-going-to-get-here gestation. But after technical delays and arrival-date resets, Alfa's new two-seater lands in 82 U.S. dealerships -- three of them Maserati stores, the rest Fiat outlets -- in the third quarter of this year. (Editor's note: With approximately only 1,000 examples, give or take, headed our way in the next 12 months, prospective buyers should stop reading now and hit up dealers immediately, as exact allocations are unclear.)
Is it worth the wait? And then some. The 4C's ethos remains unchanged since the last time we sampled it, in Europe, and came away smiling and impressed. Well, unchanged mostly … so let's get this out of the way: 342 pounds.
That's the U.S. version's additional weight compared to European-spec 4Cs, bringing its curb weight to 2,465. Before you hurl expletives and your Lavazza at government regulations and whatever screen you're reading this on, you might look at this from another perspective: Alfa wasn't so much forced to add weight to U.S. cars (297 pounds comes from monocoque crash-zone reinforcements, side airbags and a fore-aft passenger seat adjustment necessary to meet crash-certification mandates, with the remaining 45 pounds from standard air conditioning and radio); rather, a European regulation exception for hyper-low-volume production cars allowed it to strip down the car. Then again, the difference represents a 16 percent weight gain. Hurl away.
Still, without back-to-back drives of U.S. and Euro cars, complaints about the American-spec 4C's dynamics are, in our experience so far, almost non-existent. The 1.8-liter, direct-injected, turbocharged four-cylinder's 237 hp at 6,000 rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque from 2,200-4,250 makes for 0-60 times around 4.5 seconds and a 160-mph top speed, according to Alfa, and hard acceleration is immediate, with turbo lag never an issue. We commented previously that the engine/exhaust note is “unique,” and this stance has not changed. If anything, we like it more with each listen. The exhaust tone's deep-ish baritone combined with the turbo's loud whistle when you open the throttle fully is strikingly similar to the sounds made by 2014-spec Formula One cars, at least in terms of how Grand Prix cars sound on TV. Perhaps surprisingly, while this soundtrack has taken an excessive beating from F1 fans, teams and drivers, it is extensively amusing and satisfying in a road-going sports car, and a $500 sport exhaust (a must have, we recommend) cranks up the volume further.
Driving the 4C on twisting back roads and on race tracks -- this time around, California's exceptionally challenging Sonoma Raceway road course -- is delightful. The quick (15.7:1) unassisted steering rack delivers, if anything, almost too much information. Steering is heavy as you drive slowly into and out of parking spaces and parking lots, but afterward speaks to you loud and clear, and makes picking off apexes a breeze. It does, however, serve as one of several reminders that the 4C is built for, as Ramaciotti says, drivers who occupy “a niche within a niche within a niche.” Get away from driving for driving's sake, or from a track or autocross course, and plot a trundling 45-minute route down the highway in traffic, and the requirement to make very small steering corrections constantly will wear on those who buy this Alfa as status symbol or image maker rather than for its intended purpose.
On the track? The steering and exceptionally stiff, 50-50 weight-distributed chassis -- notably when combined with the $2,400 track pack that includes stiffer springs, retuned dampers and larger antiroll bars front and rear, plus larger wheels and available (track-pack only) softer-compound Pirelli P Zero rubber -- offers outstanding stability on corner entry. A few brief lapping sessions at Sonoma reveal what feels like an inherently neutral balance coaxed easily into rotating through corners with strong front-end bite and equally competent traction and, if so desired, slideability on exit.
Brake feel is exceptional, thanks to a big, aluminum pedal well positioned for left-foot actuation and exhibiting very little travel in road-car terms, which provides excellent pressure modulation of the Brembo-supplied brakes similar to a race car or well-sorted track-day car.
For all of its hardcore credentials, Alfa's 4C is not a dedicated track car, but right out of the box it is not far off in terms of creature comforts. This does not apply to on-road ride quality, which is far from brutal on its standard, staggered tire size (17-inch, 205/45 front; 18-inch 235/40 rear -- an 18/19-inch tire package is available). Aim at potholes, bumps and expansion joints, and you'll find comfort similar to the previous-generation Porsche Cayman or 911 without active suspension. Inside the cockpit is a different story: Save for an elastic pocket attached beneath the dashboard in the passenger footwell and a small pocket between the seats on the rear firewall, storage space is non-existent. Customers would be well served by the addition of, at the very least, mesh pockets attached to the doors, which would add only a few negligible ounces.
Road-trip accommodations and amenities are similarly sparse -- putting it mildly -- with a small compartment in the rear capable of swallowing a few computer-bag-sized pieces of luggage, but nothing more. And forget about storing anything under the hood, which doesn't offer cargo space -- or even open unless you break out your tools and remove it entirely. Fear not track-day veterans or do-it-yourselfers: Underhood access is not necessary to change oil, brake fluid, coolant, washer-fluid or battery. Likewise, don't look for a navigation system or, so far, backup camera or high-end sound system. A backup camera would be particularly welcome, given the, er, limited rearward visibility; parking sensors are present, though, along with a maddeningly loud and annoying in-cabin alarm that reeks tonal havoc until both driver and passenger secure their seatbelts.
“Connectivity” is all the rage with mainstream car buyers, but the Android-based radio is preloaded with only a handful of apps, including Google Maps and the ability to use Google's Waze app for route instructions, but forget about a conventional, built-in nav system, at least for now. You can plug in your phone or media device for songs and entertainment, but doing so is beside the point.
“There isn't any big touchscreen in the middle because we thought this is a driver's car,” says Ramaciotti. “The guy that buys this car doesn't want to play around with entertainment that you will not even hear because of the sound of the engine. We also thought not to have electric windows, but then we found at the end of the day it was actually less expensive to have them. [But] we put the money where it was needed.”
You'll need $69,695 (including destination) to purchase one of the first 500 4Cs arriving in the United States, dubbed “Launch Edition” and including, among other items, the track pack, interior leather package and a unique front fascia with brake-duct air inlets, plus carbon-fiber mirrors, rear spoiler and interior trim, HID headlamps and the larger wheel/tire package. Once those cars land, $55,195 gets you in the door approximately six months from now when standard editions begin to arrive in dealers.
If you're of Ramaciotti's ilk -- and by extension, Chapman's -- when it comes to driving devotion, and plan to buy this Alfa but you're still sitting here reading, you might already be behind the curve. That's something we, and most roads and race circuits -- could they speak -- will never say about the 4C.