Alfa Romeo 4C (2014 – 2019) Review

The Alfa Romeo 4C had the looks, pace and exotic materials to put the Italian brand right back at the top of performance car buyers’ wishlists. It was even reasonably priced when new, given its rarity and beauty. Yet, its singular focus and poor build quality meant the car was no competition for the Porsche Cayman or even the Lotus Evora. Read on for our full Alfa Romeo 4C review.

You could almost hear the collective intake of breath from fans worldwide when the Alfa Romeo 4C was first shown in 2011.

Following the short-run, high-cost, if not fantastically received, Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, the Alfa Romeo 4C coupe, and later open-top Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, gave some hope to those seduced by the Italian brand that they might finally have something attainable worth saving for.

Forget sharp-looking Fiat-in-disguise models like the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Alfa Romeo MiTo. The Alfa Romeo 4C was a proper, bespoke sports car that was lightweight and gorgeous – if you ignore the woeful Gary-from-Halfords-designed headlamps – mid-engined and rear-wheel drive. It was what an Alfa Romeo should be.   

Much of the appeal centred around its construction. It features a carbon-fibre tub, which might not mean anything to you, but it’s what Formula One drivers sit in.

Indeed, the only production cars to feature the same construction at the Alfa Romeo 4C’s launch included the McLaren 650S and the Lamborghini Aventador, plus a handful of other mega-money exotics and supercars. The Alfa Romeo 4C’s construction really does put it among some very rarefied machinery indeed.

In that company, then, the £45,000 that was asked for the Alfa Romeo 4C looked like something of a bargain.

Making that price possible did mean that many of the parts hanging off that fancy carbon-fibre tub were used elsewhere in the Alfa Romeo line-up, but the attention to detail remained impressive, regardless.

The mid-mounted engine, introduced with the Alfa Romeo 4C, is an aluminium 1750cc direct injection turbocharged unit, that lightweight build allowing it to drop some 22kg in weight over the same output and capacity engine in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV.

The dedication to weight reduction saw the Alfa Romeo 4C boast an unladen weight of 895kg, all of which means the 240PS and 350Nm of torque the 1750cc turbocharged unit produces is put to very good use.

Acceleration from 0-62mph arrives in just 4.5 seconds if you use the launch control, aided by the rapid shifts from the paddle-shifted automatic twin-clutch transmission.

All that performance and lightweight does come with some compromises, though. The Alfa Romeo 4C is a very single-minded machine, its focus on its featherweight build much in the same vein as the Lotus Elise, only here it’s arguably more compromised.

The cabin is tight, vision out of it heavily restricted, and it’s pretty austere in there. But then the Alfa Romeo 4C isn’t likely to be bought with commuting and daily drives in mind, so such focus is perhaps understandable.

Fancy a new Alfa Romeo? Read heycar's Alfa Romeo Stelvio review here.

The unassisted steering of the Alfa Romeo 4C delivers a level of feel that’s unparalleled in its busy nature, although not in a good way.

Long before you’ve had the opportunity to push the engine and transmission to its limits, you’ll be backing off, as the Alfa Romeo 4C becomes uncomfortably unruly on anything less than glass-smooth tarmac.

Any camber, bump, lump, change in surface or painted line presents the driver with a challenge, the steering following, pulling and pitching the car all over the road as it seeks out and follows every tiny topographical detail of the surface.

It’s needlessly, endlessly and sometimes frighteningly busy; the car is constantly trying to move around. It requires real commitment to keep it on your side of – and on – the road.

It’s so unusually demanding that it’s rarely, if ever, fun. There’s the odd glimmer of some magic revealed if you ever find an approach to a corner that’s smooth enough to enter the bend with any real speed. Do so, load the front up and the Alfa Romeo 4C does turn with real conviction.

Come across any surprises mid-bend – an odd camber, drain cover or such like – and it will kick you off line and have you fitfully fighting the steering wheel again.

It’s not a car you can ever relax in. Don’t even attempt to change the radio station in it, or scratch an itch, as your hands are resolutely needed on the wheel at all times to keep it on the road.

Flawed then, as many Alfa Romeos are, but to a level that makes it a difficult car to recommend, even to die-hard fans of the brand.

You’ll need to be utterly committed to the cause to consider the Alfa Romeo 4C, as the thrills it brings aren’t produced without some sizeable and serious compromises.

The good bits first, though. The light weight is really noticeable on the road. The lack of mass that the turbocharged engine has to shift – allied to its decent response for a turbo unit – means the Alfa Romeo 4C is always entertainingly accelerative. 

However, for all the engine’s 240PS performance, response, quick-revving nature and mid-range urgency, it’s not exactly the most tuneful of units.

Think Pavarotti asthmatically sucking on an inhaler after running up the stairs, rather then belting out some opera, and you get the idea. There’s some mechanical noise behind all the wheezing and gasping, but it’s a barely perceptible humdrum four-cylinder backing track than anything tuneful or exotic.    

Forget using the twin-clutch transmission for orchestrating greater aural thrills. The sole sensory output from the powertrain is its ability to push you deep into your seat, rather than a rousing sports car blare.

Smooth enough in automatic, the Alfa Romeo 4C’s six-speed dual-clutch set-up is most authentic when using the paddle-shifters on the overly chunky, flat-bottomed wheel.

Do so and it selects its next ratio up quickly and is smooth on downshifts, too. That is unless you’re a little hasty with your upshift request, where rather than merely ignoring it, the Alfa Romeo 4C chastises you with a needlessly loud beep.

Like an electronic dog collar might silence a barking pup, it’s hideously unpleasant, though undeniably effective, as you’ll do everything you can not to hear it again.

The absence of a rousing engine and exhaust note isn’t unusual in this class though, as few people ever got overly excited at the sound of a Lotus Elise.

Every Alfa Romeo 4C comes with ESP traction control, an electronic limited slip differential system and ABS anti-lock brakes.

However, you only get driver and passenger airbags. There are no side airbags.

Forget it. This is a car more likely to be towed to a track day.

It’s tight, dark and noisy in the cabin, but then the Alfa Romeo 4C is a carbon-fibre constructed, mid-engined, lightweight sports car – so that’s sort of the whole idea.

The leather-covered sports seats are both supportive and comfortable, their bolsters holding you tightly. Once you’ve clambered into those seats over the high sills, the driving position is good, the steering wheel adjustable for both reach and height. 

There’s very little on the dashboard, with the main controls centred around the steering wheel. It’s a chunky, if compact, flat-bottomed item, the spokes on which the paddles are mounted being rather too thick.

All that means there’s very little actual rim to grasp around, leaving you clutching the wheel rather uncomfortably as it writhes and fights in your hands.

The paddles are an easy reach, the instruments being digital items that are clear and bright.

There’s a boot behind the engine, but it’s small, warm and needs two hands to open it and position the stick that keeps it open.

Not entirely impractical then, and acceptable for a sports car where the expectation is you’ll be travelling light rather than doing tip any Ikea trips.

All is fine in the Alfa Romeo 4C if you like dark plastics that lack tactility, although there are some lovely, if difficult to spot, details, such as glimpses of the carbon-fibre trim, and neat pedals.

Overall, however, it feels like the firm spent all of the money on the carbon-fibre tub, and then had to scrimp on the rest of the interior. It’s simply no match for a Porsche Cayman.

There’s an aftermarket stereo system slotted into the dash, angled towards the driver. It’s incomprehensibly complicated in its operation, to the point that in an entire week, not once did we manage to find a radio station or pair a telephone.

This was exacerbated by the need to keep your hands on the Alfa Romeo 4C’s wheel at all times to keep it in line. A dismal effort in a car of this cost and in this sector.

If you bought an Alfa Romeo 4C new and have used it sparingly since, the chances are you will see every penny back that it cost you.

Immaculate examples are routinely advertised for £45,000 or more, and the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider tops £50,000. So you need deep pockets to go shopping for one.

Find one that has been used as intended and piled on some miles, and you might bag an Alfa Romeo 4C for around £37,000.

Thanks to its extreme focus on light weight, the Alfa Romeo 4C is a fast car that still offers a combined economy claimed at 41.5mpg, or 40.9mpg for the open-top model.

Both are impressive for a car of this power and pace, and even when used to its full on the road, you can look forward to economy in the low 30s.

Earlier pre-1 April 2017 examples of the Alfa Romeo 4C will require £240 per year in road tax, while cars registered after this date will pay the standard flat rate of £180.

Almost all are now old enough to avoid the £390 surcharge for cars that cost more than £40,000 when new that applies up to their sixth birthday.

Insurance will not be cheap, as the Alfa Romeo 4C sits in the highest bracket of Group 50. However, this will be offset for most owners by their limited mileage use.

Regardless of whether you service the car at an Alfa Romeo dealer or a specialist, it should not prove too pricey.

The Alfa Romeo 4C is a little unusual in that it comes with 17-inch front alloy wheels and 18-inch rears as standard. It also has Brembo brakes, a twin-clutch gearbox, and the firm’s DNA drive mode selector.

Inside the basic cabin, you find bucket sports seats, aluminium pedals, a flat-bottomed steering wheel, paddle shifters for the transmission, stereo, and air-conditioning.

The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider model has a lift-off cloth roof, which could be upgraded to a carbon-fibre panel at extra cost. It also introduced a new titanium exhaust system to keep weight down.