Alfa Romeo 4C
 

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Some specs:

• 4-cylinder, direct injection, turbocharged 1.75-liter engine with variable valve timing for both intake and exhaust.
• Roughly 13 feet long, 6.5 feet wide, and under 4 feet high
• Dual-clutch transmission
• Mid-engine RWD
• 8.8 pounds per horsepower (no official word on weight/power)

I've gotta say, depending on the price tag on this guy, I may have a bit of envy for whomever may purchase one. It's a brilliant looking car in my opinion, and while it trades off a lot of practicality that the Twins have to offer, it's still an excellent looking car.

I agree that it looks great, I don't think I can get into a much smaller car then the FR-S (I'm 6'3''). May be a bit of envy from me as well, especially with the transmission.

Price: about 60k

At least I won't have buyer's remorse at that price point. :thumbup:

Fantastic point, hadn't even thought of that!

Looks great, unfortunately it's an Alfa (will break down), which is owned by Fiat, who also owns Ferrari (it will self-immolate). Seriously though, I figured they would be gunning for the Cayman, but that displacement doesn't look like it'll be able to come close to Cayman power.

Not in terms of power output, but supposedly the 4C is only about 2000lbs, so it could be similar to the cayman in terms of power/weight

Wow. How does anyone make a production car that light nowadays? There are so many regulations and essentially mandatory conveniences they have to put in the car, that would be incredible.

Lotus' still weigh 2000lbs. It will be interesting to see what the final announced curb weight is. I've read anywhere between 1800-2200. It'll be on the higher side for sure, but even at 2200lb, that is super light for today's standards. It probably won't be very comfortable, though. I can tolerate a lot of compromises in a sports car, but a Lotus is the one car I couldn't see myself driving on the street. Great track car, but for the street it's just not comfortable enough

You got me on Lotus, though I always assumed they were trying to make something that was a little easier to tolerate when the driver isn't pushing it. Regardless, I'll be very interested to see more details and especially the reviews when it comes out.

Have you ever owned an Alfa?

Not if he's smart.

Never owned one, but we were renting for a while from a guy who kept his Alfa Spider at the house. In a little over a year there it broke down at least 4 or 5 times. That thing was just a money pit for him.

Cars aren't really big and heavy today because of regs. FR-S/BRZ are a case in point. Modern S13 240SX, weighs no more than that car did in 1991 while being much stiffer and also meeting more stringent safety regs. Likewise, modern Corvette weighs no more than one from the 60s! Possible because of progress in the state of the art.

Cars are big/heavy today because big, dumb, heavy Americans must have big, dumb, heavy cars. And because CAFE regs remained at the same level for about 20 years, so any improvements in engine/driveline efficiency were squandered on making cars bigger/heavier.

Never would have dreamed I'd be saying this, as when I was a kid I hated the idea of CAFE regs. But looking at cars today, I honestly think that the true sports/sporty car enthusiast would have a MUCH better selection of cars today if they had just kept jacking up CAFE every year. Instead we get a 3-series as big/heavy as a Buick, and "hot hatches" well over 3000 lb.

Here's to the new Alfa! A truly lightweight modern sports car. It *can* still happen!