Alfa Romeo 4c who has one?

I agree with Tom, just had mine up on the ramps, it is a very easy car to work on. Not sure who far I would go though without an air setup (I had a system installed in my garage so I could do things myself).

 

Great, thanks for the help!

 

I got a chance to test drive a 4C Spider this weekend, and I really enjoyed it. I had previously driven a Lotus Elise, which I also liked (though that was nearly a decade ago), so I'm not put off by the lack of creature comforts. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to have a conversation with the top off, even at highway speeds. The steering was lighter than I had expected once you get going, but that's okay with me. I didn't feel like I had to constantly correct the car like I've heard others saying, but perhaps I just didn't drive it on imperfect roads. It sounds good too, especially considering that it's a 4 cylinder! The one I drove was white with red leather seats and red calipers, along with the track package (or whatever it's called), so it had the carbon fiber mirror covers. The white with black accents and red seats looked great, and I'm not really a fan of white cars!

Overall, I'd like to pick one up, but I need to make garage space first...

 

After putting about 1200 miles on my 4c I took it in last week for an oil change and the fitment of the Alfa Works alignment suspension blocks.

The oil change was $125. We talked about servicing costs..."oh, the service where we tighten the chassis bolts [I assume these are studs into the CF tub] is up there"..."how much?"..."three or 400 dollars". Way it should be.

I opted for the "street" alignment blocks that add caster, more negative camber and the shop set the toe slightly in. At all speeds the steering feel is heavier but the high speed instability / tram lining has gone.

Money well spent IMO.

 

Your secret is safe....Alfa is averaging 40 4C's a month for the first 6 months of 2017 (in the US).

 

Maybe. But they'll all be sorry when the next car they buy drives itself, sounds like an radio controlled car and has to electronically synthesize anything that could be considered "soul."

 

Toyota sells thousands of Carollas but that does not seem to have anything to do with how collectible or desireblable the car will be five years from now does it?

In fact it is the very single focused nature of 4c that makes it both a bit impractical but a desireable "flavor" to add to a collection IMHO.

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300-400 is a rip off. My dealer did the oil service and the chassis tightening for $240.

 

People like to collect PRETTY and PERFORMANCE cars.

Try to find a mint condition Yugo today. Impossible. But if you did it still wouldn't be worth more than a grand.

 

Well, if one is looking for a "collectable" modern car, I would recommend buying up every GenV Viper ACR you can lay your hands on....IMO, of course.

I wasn't suggesting the market's lack of interest in the 4C NOW to show what it's desirability in the future will be (I have NO idea what that will be). My original response was to someone who wanted the "secret" of the 4C to remain intact, and based on TODAY'S takeaway rate, 4C owners needn't worry about running into 4 of them on the way to dinner. Nothing more.

Jimmy

 

Perhaps. These same guys bemoan no 3 pedal Ferraris, the death of the Viper, etc. In the end, when Ferrari last offered 3 pedals, over 90% chose F1. So, as usual, WE (the market) determine what gets built and offered. The Viper's gone because they didn't sell in sufficient numbers to be viable. I think the same thing will happen to the 4C. Doesn't make it a bad car, just a bad job of marketing or a bad job of understanding how many folks would actually BUY a car like it.

 

Makes sense. RE the viper, I agree gennerally. I can't help but think the viper now that it has been discontinued should have some collectible bright spots.

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Thanks good to know. At what service interval / mileage did you have the chassis bolts tightening done? And could you have done it yourself with a conventional torque wrench?

On the Viper dialog, these are all personal choices. I drove one years ago. A little crude but lots of fun. Impressive to look at, particularly the coupe...but I could never imagine buying one. It was too brash for my taste. Made too much of a statement. Others feel differently and I respect that. I have a reasonably wide circle of car friends and acquaintances - I have raced, instructed etc - but no one in any of these circles has a Viper, or at least, I have never seen it.

Net net, the Viper appeals to a small group of avid supporters, just like the 4c, albeit with different criteria.

Off topic, I saw an issue of Jay Leno's garage where he drove the Mustang GT350 - the one with the flat plane crank. Sounded amazing. Looks attractive (to my eye). But when they disclosed iit is 4,400 lbs... wow 2000 lbs heavier than the 4c.

 

GT350 is 3,655 pounds

 

No pictures, but I saw my first one on the road today. Wow!


Joe

 

Ugh, shame on me for taking a Leno video at face value. I should have checked with someone that weighs the cars. Thanks for the correction and sorry for the disinformation.

 

I asked for the annual service which I did at about 3000 miles. Yes, they use a torque wrench to check for the proper amount. It didn't seem like a big deal to do to me.

I think the problem in doing it yourself is access from underneath. I've done the annual service twice now and both times it was about $250

 

Clearly it is a niche car. The 4c has gotten me over the loss of 3 pedals. It's a different driving experience with paddles and the rest of the car is so involving that focus on steering and braking and leave the shifting to the paddles.

Despite everyone crying about 3 pedals, you can still get many FUN cars with them.

I think the lack of sales is multifactorial. Poor dealer communication. Inability to custom order what you wanted. In many cases having to deal with a Ram truck dealer to buy your sports car that could fit in the truck bed. And ultimately, it's a toy. A Cayman is a legitimate daily driver. It can grocery and even Home Depot to some degree. The 4c is a point A to point A car. It's more like a sport bike in its utility than a car.

 

After all the outcry over the 991.1gt3, to jimmyb's point above, it will be interesting to see how many gt3s sell with manuals versus paddles. Anyone care to hazard a guess? 10%?

 

I'd say 15%. Generous maybe.

 

I got to test drive two 4C Spiders back to back recently--one with the track pack and sport exhaust, and one without. I thought both were great, though I did prefer the one with the track pack and sport exhaust. I tend to like louder exhausts, especially for cars like this, so that wasn't surprising to me. There was a noticeable difference in the ride of the two cars, with the track pack car being a little more harsh, but certainly not unbearable. Again, I tend to prefer a stiffer ride in sports cars, but the difference wasn't night and day. I'm sure I would thoroughly enjoy driving a car equipped with either suspension.

One question for owners that have the Alpine stereo: Are you able to stream bluetooth audio from a phone to the stereo? The salesman had no idea. Also, there looked like there was a microphone by the rearview mirror--is that for handling bluetooth phone calls? Thanks for the help!

 

Microphone, yes blue tooth from phone for calls which you can answer on the "radio".

On your first question, yes, I think so but I think the audio maybe challenged by the noise of the car.

 

Haha, thanks for the help! I'm not too concerned with the radio, I was just curious how it worked. I'm certainly not planning on buying this car for the audio or creature comforts.

 

You can in the Parrot that was in the first editions so I'm assuming you can also in the Alpine.

The mic is for phone calls. Actually, that works really well BUT the car is so noisy most people can't hear you say.

 

Well they make a controller that makes the car shifts 28% faster (you can feel it), mine it tuned as well. My custom steering wheel should be done by the end of the month, and of course my Spring booster V3 throttle controller (I don't know why but I am so sensitive to drive by wire hesitation), should be here by Monday. I just need to get my air box in and for now I am done. I am not sure I would want this car in manual, you need both hands on the wheel (or at least I do), to control it if you are driving like it wants to be driven. I have other gearshifts (the Evora 400 will be one as well), and yes the Alpine does do all that I think it sounds fine but then again my hearing is gone, I turn up the volume on my hearing aids when I'm in the 4C.