ALFA ROMEO 4C DETAILED, HEADING FOR MZANSI

Fiat Auto South Africa will start selling the new Alfa Romeo 4C sometime in 2014, at a yet undisclosed price. As you can see from the pics, production has already begun. It’s being billed as a small, powerful, lightweight sports car in the mould of the Lotus Elise, but with much more tech and modern touches. And as such of course, it will be offered with a turbo engine.

Said turbo is a 1.8-litre motor that puts out 177kW, which may not seem like a lot upon first glance. Until you look at what this thing weighs on the scale. Alfa says it will pitch in at 895kg dry for the European spec, while in the US the same model will pull down about 995kg, American style. We’ll see the DCT gearbox coming into play here, with a 6-speed manual possibly also being offered. The car should sprint from 0 – 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds, according to its makers.

The 4C’s power suggests it will run with hot hatches like the Golf GTI and Focus ST, but its overall performance puts it in the league of BMW M3s and Mercedes-Benz A 45s. Therefore we are guessing a price range to the effect of between R650 000 and R750 000.