Giancarlo Fisichella drives Alfa Romeo 4C at Centro Sperimentale Balocco

Alfa Romeo 4C: ‘just drive’

4 kg/HP, from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5, 137 HP/litre and 1.2 g of deceleration: 'just drive'

'Just drive' is a clear invitation to experience those genuine sensations that only Alfa Romeo is able to offer. The new signature that will accompany the communication of the Alfa Romeo models originates with the presentation of the 4C, the small thoroughbred car that marks the return of the brand to the world of lightweight sports coupés.

Extraordinary performance, unique handling, extreme aerodynamics and design that takes up the stylistic features of the Alfa Romeo tradition. This in brief is the new Alfa Romeo 4C, a driving machine without compromise that beckons drivers to take to the road or track to experience the thrill of driving it.

The Alfa Romeo 4C is essentiality and light weight, a car where everything has been designed to provide total driving pleasure. That same essentiality shaped its design. The car expresses a "natural beauty" that results from a perfect blend of function and form. Its layout and size immediately brings one of the most beautiful coupés of all time to mind, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Like the legendary 33 Stradale, the 4C is designed to meet extreme mechanical and functional requirements. Its body aerodynamically 'covers' the engine and chassis with clean and essential surfaces.

Designed by Alfa Romeo engineers and made at the Maserati plant in Modena, this captivating coupé with two racing bucket seats uses materials and design solutions like carbon, aluminium, and rear-wheel drive derived from the 8C Competizione along with technologies from Alfa Romeo's latest models, all thoroughly revised to maximise the new car's sporting appeal. Proof of that lies in the new 1750 Turbo Petrol with direct injection and aluminium block, the sophisticated latest-generation "Alfa TCT" dry twin clutch automatic transmission and the Alfa DNA driving mode selector with the brand-new Race mode.

A length of approximately 4 metres and a wheelbase of less than 2.4 metres emphasise the car's compact size while also accentuating its agility. The dynamic qualities of the Alfa Romeo 4C are confirmed by a weight to power ratio of less than 4 kg/HP; it's a value worthy of a 'supercar'.

This vehicle quite simply screams Alfa. Its sports car soul creates unique driving sensations, both on the road and when racing, where velocity and transverse accelerations offer even the most expert driver unrivalled driving thrills: from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds flat, 258 km/h of top speed, deceleration peaks in the range of 1.2 g and lateral acceleration peaks over 1.1 g. All this is also achieved with a balanced weight distribution, with 40% on the front axle and 60% on the rear.

If these figures attest to the outstanding performance and dynamic qualities of the 4C, there is one characteristic enduringly connected to every Alfa Romeo: ease in recognising one of the brand's models through other senses. Not only is it eye-catching, but the sound of the engine has also been emphasised with low frequencies and the classic roar of the exhaust.

In the same way it has been studied with particular attention paid to an enveloping seat design so the car can be 'felt'. 'Body' perceptions are felt inside and even more so - with an added thrill - at the wheel. The brake, for example, can be modulated when loaded to get the necessary feedback even in the most demanding braking situations. Steering, which has to convey as much 'feel' as possible, is unassisted, progressive and direct, and the accelerator is ready to handle exits from curves with as much acceleration as possible.

The annual availability of the 4C Alfa Romeo on the major world markets is limited to only 3,500 units - 1,000 units of which are earmarked for Europe. Starting in October it can be ordered at all Alfa Romeo dealerships in Europe.

The 4C marks the launch of Alfa Romeo's global growth plan that, along with future models, is offered as a global brand that competes in the heart of the Premium market. This is the reason why it is developing synergies with the Premium brands of the Fiat-Chrysler Group, and Maserati in particular, which adds the strength of its history, its ability to innovate and its fame the world over. So in this sense the Alfa Romeo 4C supercar is a symbolic product with an extremely high level of quality and technological refinement that embodies the deepest values of the Alfa Romeo brand.