[ATTACH] [ATTACH] Beautiful fall day
I recently picked up a Spider and I have to agree that this car is an absolute blast! It's definitely a car that one has to drive to understand; it's not possible to just read the specs and make a judgment. Too many buyers today are overly concerned with 0-60, 1/4 mile, etc., and have lost sight of what makes a car fun to drive. I'm so glad I was able to pick one up!
Beautiful pic. Incredible to me that all the tech (DCT, "DNA", carbon tub) coupled with an elemental design (steering, lack of electrical controls, light weight) and yes, some parts where FCA cheapened out (heater, "entertainment system") is available for little more than the price of a loaded Camry today.
Ironically FCA picked at Parrot system for the Launch Edition cars -- and it was a pretty expensive and exotic piece at the time. Its also a giant POS that I'm sure no one ever bother to test before deciding this. Probably the most un-user friendly interface and inconsistent info system I've ever encountered. But at least it has BT streaming.
Don't worry Bob, my car has the successor piece which is, I'm sure, equally bad. But you know, the damn car is so loud anyway that I'm not sure it matters!
2018 USA Alfa Romeo 4C sales:- January - 12 February - 20 March - 22 April - 22 May - 19 June - 39 July - 18 August - 12 September - 19 October - 34 Total: 217
Nigel, are these all / majority spiders? Assume so given the airbag regs in the US restrict the coupe but don't recall if this was 2018 or 2019 MY. Thanks for posting the data. Philip
The US monthly sales charts do not break the 4C down into Coupe / Spider sales. I also assume that they are all Spiders.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Just got back from getting rims painter gloss black, touched up some rock chips. And installed skid plates on the front. Looking pretty good Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It was a beautiful day here today, so I took the top off the 4C and went for a drive down some back roads. This car is without question one of the most fun cars I've even driven in my life, regardless of price. I personally think that it's criminally underrated.
I took a friend for a ride in mine to grab lunch at work. I made some noise and slid around, overdriving it a bit in the cold weather. I’d never heard him giggle, but he did for nearly half a minute. The little car is a riot and, importantly, it is tremendous fun even at modest speeds.
When i took by brother in law for a ride the same thing happened. He looked at me and said "I've never giggled in a car before" When I did a test drive, both me and the sales guy started giggling. I still sometimes do when I drive it. The car just seems to have the ability to make people laugh, which is why I bought it...
Hey All-- just picked up my 4C a couple weeks ago and wow am I smitten. 2016 Madreperla coupe loaded up with options. Went with a coupe because imo they look much better, love the lines (360/430-esque rear) and end of production means hopefully less depreciation with scarcity. ~2k miles, one owner and clean carfax with 20 months warranty left. Picked it up for $46.1k from an Alfa dealer just to give everyone another data point. Here are a couple horrible pics I just snapped in the garage, and the options list. This car gets a crazy amount of attention everywhere, especially cruising through Georgetown in Washington, DC on a Friday or Saturday night. I thought the madreperla would be a bit more discrete than either of the reds, but the shimmer from the metallic flakes in sunlight and at night makes this thing POP! Absolutely love the driving experience, so raw and direct and holy noises!! The carbon fiber everywhere is beautiful. And watching girls try to get out of it is pretty funny. Anyway read through all 24 pages of this thread and seems like a great group, super knowledgeable! -Andrew Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yeah, these cars are amazing and a ton of fun! Check out the 4C forums as well--there's a bunch of knowledgeable and good people over there too.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Mine. Picked it up this past summer with 3k miles on the odo. It's an absolute blast to drive. I hear people complain that "it's not fast". Ok, maybe by the most recent standards. But for most of my life, the 4C would've been considered a very quick car. I'll likely own it for as long as my body allows me to climb in and out. Only option that it's really missing is the carbon fiber halo. I'm also looking to source a set of teledial wheels - will probably have them repainted a bronze color. But the existing wheels do suit the car, and they're light. And before anyone cracks an Alfa joke, those spots on the driveway at the front of the car are from my wife's Honda
Great looking car, Mark. I have 4500 miles on mine now (bought new a couple of years ago). Net, for me is great fun and an event whenever I get in it. One thing I did change to improve its manners was the front end alignment. Three things I'd change if I could: - I'd like the exhaust to be quieter, so a switchable or mode dependent activation of an exhaust valve through a muffler. Akrapovic provides one. - more compliant shocks. Ohlins is one option. Magnaride would be even better. - have it breathe through the entire rev range rather than running out of breath at 6/6500. Various aftermarket solutions claim to do this. Roll on spring!
Thanks Philip! My car did have a front end alignment done by previous owner. I have the alignment printout sheet but would have to check the specs. It supposedly was done to dial out some of the car's inherent twitchiness. Some guys on the 4C forum swear by uniball conversion for rear arms. It's a relatively straightforward conversion for a reasonably knowledgeable DIY'er. Yeah, the engine does run out of breathe a bit. But for what I'm going to use the car, I'd rather retain OEM durability (sacrificing some output) in lieu of raising boost etc. and increasing stress on the engine. And yeah, the 4C's suspension could be a bit more compliant. My 355 rides like a Lexus by comparison. I actually don't mind the "sport" exhaust (essentially paying Alfa to delete the muffler), though later in the 2016 model year and subsequent years Alfa offered an Akrapovic system as an option. You might be able to pick up one of these systems used on the 4C forum if someone switches to Tubi etc. Fwiw, I like all the pops and farts that the sport exhaust makes!
The Akra needs a different cut in the tub or something, it's very very hard to install aftermarket. And it's not a great option in my opinion. I have it on mine, and in dynamic mode it drones badly between 3k and 3.5k RPM which of course is a key part of the powerband. And you can't switch the modes of the exhaust independently, it's only selected via drive mode. On the suspension, I had magnarides on another car and I hated them. Great for the track, bad for the road. To me, they make driving feel like a videogame. I like that the 4C has old skool analog suspension.
My understanding is there is a decent weight penalty with the Akra as well, but I can't recall the exact amount. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I installed the center exit magnaflow Stradale exhaust. It weights just a few pounds. Pretty nice tone. It has good volume, but too much . Don’t think I would go for the Magnaflow Corsa version - wouldn’t need anything louder.