Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

In the first half of 2015, the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, a logical continuation of the Alfa Romeo 4C coupe, a compact two-seater sports car produced since 2013, was launched. The car, as well as its basic model, has a carbon monocoque body, which made it very light, although the Spider is 10 kilograms heavier due to the elements of the removable top design.

The removable roof is easily removable by one person and fits into the trunk. Although, of course, it takes up a lot of space in the trunk. This pre-production version of Alfa Romeo 4C Spider was able to debut at the Detroit Motor Show. The whole model range is Alfa Romeo.

Exterior

The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider exterior is a real highlight of this car. However, if we remember the history of the automobile company, then very often its cars were criticized, while other people often admired what was produced and designed by Italians. On this basis, I would like to describe the appearance of the Italian car as objectively as possible.

The nose part has a short hood and original oval optics, which in turn in most cases resembles sports cars of the German company Porsche (for example, Porsche Carrera GT or Porsche Boxster). There is also the presence of a powerful bumper, which contains a unique grille of triangular shape, large air intakes.

It’s clear that all this looks quite unusual. Only after considering the front of the car you begin to understand why there are so many disputes around Alfa Romeo cars. The side part of the car has powerful bodies of external rear-view mirrors, which were installed on large legs. You can also notice the unique doors with attractive punches and strokes, which are perfectly poured into the massive ductwork.

The ideal arched radii of the wheels successfully complete the image, but do not give the opportunity to form a single response, which concerns this car. They can accommodate 17 or 19-inch wheels. As a separate option, it is possible to order in what color the brake calipers will be painted. There is black, red, metal and yellow. By the way, it is worth noting that the body itself can be painted in one of the 7 colors.

The stern possesses not less strange appearance thanks to the incomprehensible form of a branch of a boot, a fried bumper with a diffuser, non-standard optical system of amplification of light which slightly look like on back lamps Nissan GT-R. By the way, it would not be superfluous to mention that they now have an LED execution.

Optionally, you can order another sports exhaust system Akrapovic. In reality, it is not so easy to describe the appearance of the Italian convertible, because it is too non-standard and is not similar to any car of modern automobile industry. Accordingly, just for such characteristics many people like Italian company Alfa Romeo.

Italians do not use the existing standards, they design the most unusual, though controversial, cars in the world. If we compare the car with the 4C version, the convertible has only a removable roof.

Interior

When you get inside the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, you immediately realize that it is a complete match to the appearance – everything is unique, strange and original. The seats have clear sporting notes and the required degree of lateral support. Manufacturers made elements of high quality materials.

The presence of an electric drive of settings was pleasant, which adds only to these seats additional advantages. It was nice to find a pedal block made of aluminium. This may look strange, but the steering wheel turned out to be a regular shape, although it was expected to be multifunctional.

However, it has received a natural cut at the bottom, which can be found in sports cars and the design of quality leather. On the same steering wheel there is a gearbox control. It is nice that the steering column can be adjusted in height and depth. The front panel is painted with a large electronic display, which displays basic information about the machine, speed, fuel consumption and more.

The centrally located console is decorated with impressive ducts, climate control units, Alpine audio system and other machine options. The electro-acoustic option provides the possibility to connect multimedia devices: Bluetooth calls, support for USB connector, interface for iPod and CD/MP3. Moreover, the Alpine radio system provides access to HD and Sirius XM Radio.

Interestingly, the centrally mounted console is slightly extended to the driver’s side, which is a very wise solution and simplifies management and access to various keys and controls. It is worth mentioning that the Spider was designed around monocoque, which in turn was made of carbon fiber. The same was applied in the merchant version of 4C.

When the question arose about the roof, the engineers decided to make it out of fabric, which allowed to significantly reduce the weight of the whole construction. But the automated folding and unfolding of the roof will need to be forgotten – as now all these actions are carried out only by mechanical manual method. Italian engineers and designers have thought of everything and it will not be difficult to equip it in the luggage compartment.

But here too, there was a spoonful of tar – a similar construction of fabric will take up so little free space in the luggage compartment, which equals only 100 liters. Such transformations allowed to increase the weight of the convertible by the smallest 10 kg. Therefore, as a result of all modifications the total weight of Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is only 905 kg.

And in general, the interior of the Italian simply inspires the world of racing and was designed to synchronize a greater degree of styling with functional details. In addition to leather, in the salon of the Italian convertible you can find alcantara and carbon fiber. In more expensive modifications on the top of the central panel a small multimedia system display has found its place.

Standard equipment has a presence of parktronic, as visibility at Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is not ideal. The cabin makes it possible to feel comfortable even for tall passengers. The already small luggage compartment is assisted by a niche located behind the backrests of the seats.

Rear-view mirrors and window lifters are electrically driven. The safety features include 4 airbags, a stabilisation option and a wheel pressure monitoring service.

Specifications

Powertrain

Speaking about the technical component of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider sports car, it is worth noting that there are no special innovations when comparing the car with the coupe version. Spider, as well as the model 4C, has a turbocharged gasoline engine, which has four cylinders, the volume of 1.75 liters.

Despite such a modest volume, the engineering staff was able to extract from it 240 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque. All the torque goes to the rear wheels. This is achieved thanks to a robotic gearbox with six ranges.

The last one, by the way, is equipped with a couple of clutches. There are no questions about the machine’s dynamism. The first hundred is achieved by a sports car in 4.2 seconds, and the maximum speed is 258 km/h. Many sports cars have different driving modes and Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is no exception – it has 4 modes: Race, Dynamic, All-weather and Natural.

Moreover, there is a track package of options for the car, in which there will be other shock absorbers, multi-dimensional wheels (18-inch rollers in front and 19-inch rollers in the back), a sports steering wheel, another dashboard shield and carbon fiber overlays on the rear view mirrors.

As an option, you can buy a sports exhaust system with a sound jump Akrapovic, as well as a removable carbon top. It’s nice that the designers have installed the steering wheel paddles of the gearbox in manual mode. Speaking about the appetite of this power unit, it consumes from 5 to 9.8 liters per 100 kilometers.

The Spider version has a beautiful balance and better spreading of the mass on the axes than the coupe version. Thanks to the electric over-friction differential, problems with oversteerability are secondary. Even when the ESC is switched off, the tilting top machine will not be easy to break into a skid.

Dimensions

The Italian convertible has the following actual figures of its dimensions: the length of the Alpha Romeo 4C Spider is 3,998 mm, width – 2,000 mm, height – 1,810 mm, and the wheelbase is 2,400 mm.

Price and equipment

The cost of the convertible Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is about 95520.00 $. For the car immediately prepared track package, which includes the presence of other shock absorbers, multi-size wheels (18 inches in front, 19 inches behind), sports steering wheel, other dashboard and carbon fiber overlays on the mirrors of rear visibility. Optionally, the exhaust system with sports content of Akrapovic and a removable roof made of carbon can be purchased.

The pros and cons

Summing up

Summing up, I would like to note that again the Italian automobile company managed to create a model, which will be discussed brightly. Everyone can find in it their disadvantages and pluses – all this is a matter of personal tastes and preferences. However, one thing remains the fact – the car looks unique, sporty, fast and youthful. All these pleasant and refined lines, unusual design of wheels, front and rear lamps, front air inlet – simply will not leave anybody indifferent.

Inside everything is beautiful in Italian and at the same time qualitatively. Presence of the display on the dashboard and the second screen (available in more expensive complete sets) testifies that the company does not stand still, but on the contrary wishes to progress and develop to please any consumer. The quality of interior details is at a high level, here you can include both leather and alcantara and carbon fiber.

If we talk about the powertrain, its volume cannot be called “sports”, but, nevertheless, it is able to deliver a lot of adrenaline together with the turbine. In fact, the whole point is that this car has a very “modest” weight – only 905 kg. And yes, there is a folding top in it, even if it is folded manually, but still there is a folding top.

The quality of this convertible along with its performance will not leave anyone indifferent. Low fuel consumption will definitely save you money, although having a similar car, you are unlikely to save money. In the end I would like to say that Alfa Romeo 4C Spider turned out to be very attractive.

We advise you to read the article: History of Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider 2015 photo

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