Alfa Romeo 4C: Excellence Made in Italy
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TURIN, ITALY – June 12, 2013: Alfa Romeo unveils the technical contents and manufacturing secrets of the new 'compact supercar' which embodies the sportiness intrinsic to the 'Alfa Romeo DNA': performance and engineering excellence offering maximum driving satisfaction in total safety in addition to breathtaking style.
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The Alfa Romeo 4C developers have combined the best technical and manufacturing competencies of two brands: Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Thanks to the internal synergies of the Fiat - Chrysler Group, the two carmakers were able to collaborate from the perspective of integrating Alfa Romeo's design roles and Maserati's manufacturing functions. The engineering and technological contribution of other Italian world-wide leaders in the component industry for high-performance sportscars has also been instrumental in achieving the result.
In particular, the Maserati plant brings in topmost quality and meticulously studied details reminiscent of hand-crafted work. As the birthplace of the world's most famous 'sportscars,' Modena and its surroundings are definitely the place that offers everything one may need to manufacture them: tradition, technology and know-how, but most of all, the same passion driving the team who conceived, designed and built the Alfa Romeo 4C.
Hi-tech materials for weight/power ratio for the supercar
The Alfa Romeo 4C was born from a clean slate and an idea or, rather, the clean state was the prerequisite for conceiving, developing and producing a new concept in the domain of sportscars, the "affordable supercar." The 4C was designed not only to be an exclusive car both for contents and performance, but also to become an achievable dream for Alfa Romeo fans all over the world. As a consequence, it was necessary to think in terms of limited production volumes, but still in the order of some thousands vehicles per year and, therefore, decidedly higher than those of the practically handcrafted production characterising this class.
The clean slate, which was initially free of design and manufacturing constraints, was soon assigned new parameters and presented with new challenges the first of which was a fundamental reference data point: a supercar weight/power ratio must be less than 4 kg/HP.
To achieve the right ratio, Alfa Romeo designers could have focused on horsepower (i.e.: increasing power and performance), but this would have impacted the purchase and maintenance costs, thus making the car significantly less affordable. They decided to go a different way; they reduced the car weight by using materials where lightness is combined with efficiency and by perfecting, sometimes even creating, manufacturing processes where high technology is joined to craftsmanship. In this way they were able to obtain a total dry weight of just 895 kg, a true record that makes the 4C one of the lightest cars in the world. The 4C is lighter than a city car and its weight/power ratio is less than 4 kg/HP.
In order to achieve this ambitious goal a lot of attention was devoted to the materials, each of which was chosen on the basis of its specific weight as well as on the chemical-physical, mechanical and technological properties that best fulfil the performance requirements and dynamic behaviour needs of a sports car. The 895 kg of vehicle weight mainly consist of aluminium, steel, lightened SMC and carbon fibre.
4C: bridging Alfa Romeo brand's past and future
The Alfa Romeo 4C is inspired by the century-old tradition of Alfa Romeo and projects the brand's authentic values into the future: Italian style, performance and engineering excellence offering maximum driving satisfaction in total safety. Indeed, the designation '4C' refers to Alfa Romeo's great sporting tradition: in the 1930s and 1940s the names 8C and 6C were used for cars - both racing and non - fitted with the powerful 'eight cylinders' and the innovative 'six cylinders'. The 4C design layout and construction confirms the goal of achieving the weight/power ratio of an authentic supercar (lower than 4 kg/HP) but by containing the weight rather than by increasing the maximum power supplied by the engine in order to guarantee maximum agility and optimum performance.
Designed by Alfa Romeo engineers and manufactured at the Maserati plant in Modena, the captivating coupé with two bucket seats uses technologies and materials derived from the 8C Competizione - carbon, aluminium, rear-wheel drive - and technologies from the latest Alfa Romeo standard models currently on the market, but thoroughly developed to enhance the sports appeal of the new car to the full. This is demonstrated by the new 1750 Turbo Petrol engine with direct injection and aluminium block, the sophisticated "Alfa TCT" twin dry clutch transmission and the Alfa DNA selector with the brand-new Race mode.
A length of approximately 4 metres and a wheelbase of less than 2.4 metres: on the one hand these dimensions emphasise the car's compact features while accentuating its agility on the other. In addition, the excellent dynamic qualities of Alfa Romeo 4C are reinforced by a weight to power ratio of less than 4 kg/HP; it's a value worthy of a real 'supercar.' This vehicle quite simply screams Alfa. Its sports car soul creates a unique driving sensation, both on the road and when racing, where its speed and transverse acceleration become even more demanding.
A product emblematic of a global brand facing the heart of the Premium market
In Europe the first Alfa Romeo 4C are scheduled to be delivered in the second half of September 2013 whereas the US version will be launched in November 2013 in Los Angeles, while the first deliveries are scheduled for the end of 2013. The 4C will be available concurrently in the Northamerican market and in all the main markets worldwide. The corresponding price will be announced at the moment of the launch in each market and will take the competitive landscape into account. The annual overall availability is limited to 3,500 cars, 1,000 of which are destined to the European markets due to constraints bound to the technical and technological solutions adopted.
The 4C marks the initial point of the Alfa Romeo global growth plan. Also in view of future models, the carmaker presents itself as a global brand and a competitor at the heart of the Premium market. This is why synergies are being put into place with the Fiat-Chrysler Group Premium brands, in particular with Maserati to which Alfa Romeo brings the power of its heritage, innovation ability and world-wide reputation. In this sense, therefore, the 4C supercar is an emblematic product with a very high qualitative level and an amazingly refined technology embodying the Alfa Romeo brand's deepest values.
