Sexy back

What we like:

Drop dead gorgeous. Purest driving experience coupled with a well-balanced carbon fibre chassis.

What we dislike:

Lack of any usable cubby holes within the compartment.

Unlike Normal, Dynamic allows the engine to engage full boost (1.45 bar) paired with a sharper throttle while the ESC remains engaged but less intrusive. Brakes are also pre-loaded for hard braking which does make them a little grabby and harder to modulate when finesse is required. The dual clutch shift times are also improved by 25%. While the upshifts are quick, downshifts are a tad slower than preferred. Race mode puts your life in your own hands with the ESC completely off.

The test car we drove was specced with the fixed rate sports suspension that come with quicker rebound rates. This makes the car reactive to every imperfection on the road at low speeds. But once on the move, the car is pliant and perfectly damped even when we made rapid progress across the infamously imperfect KPE tarmac. You can definitely feel the stiffness of the carbon chassis but it doesn’t come across crashy and uncomfortable.

No doubt with its hefty price tag, the 4C will appeal only to a select group of customers who enjoy the purity of its driving experience. But if you take its carbon fibre monocoque chassis into consideration, it’s actually quite a bargain. The McLaren or Ferrari equivalent would demand a price several times more.

Of course the spartan interior and Fiat switches are off putting but we’re only concerned about the driving experience here. And you can’t get more pure than an unassisted rack paired with a mid-engine setup. But with a car this emotive, the lack of a manual option is puzzling.

There’s no doubt that Alfa Romeo will have no trouble selling its annual production of 3,500 units worldwide. While the Alfa Romeo 4C demands a specific enthusiast demographic, it shouldn’t be long before the distributor’s annual allocation is sold out. Buying an Alfa Romeo was never a logical decision anyway, it’s an emotional one.

Credits: Story and Photos by Benjamin G. Kline