Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Arrives in America
Alfa Romeo’s lightweight 4C convertible made its world premier today at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.
Like its coupe sibling, the 4C Spider is based on a carbon fiber monocoque chassis and uses a 1.75-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mounted behind the passenger compartment. It delivers 237 hp, which in combination with 258 lb-ft of torque is more than enough to offer powerful acceleration thanks in large part to how little the car weighs.
“With a removable carbon fiber hard top the 4C Spider takes the Coupe’s supercar level of performance and technology and ‘opens it up’ allowing the driver to experience the incredible 4C from an entirely different perspective,” Fiat North America boss Reid Bigland said.
2015 Detroit Auto Show Coverage
The car still relies on a six-speed twin-clutch transmission, but some small changes will arrive along with the convertible model. Alfa Romeo will offer a new “Akrapovic” dual-mode exhaust system with center-mounted tips at the rear with carbon fiber pieces surrounding the mouths. That exhaust will be available as an option late in the model year after the 4C Spider begins arriving in North America this summer.
In coupe form, the 4C is an especially focused performance vehicle with almost nothing but base essentials in the cabin and that is true with this car as well. It gets two composite framed sport seats, a stereo head unit, buttons to select the drive direction and a switch to pick the drive modes. The steering wheel is devoid of buttons and there isn’t even power steering, not that it’s necessary with the 4C.
GALLERY: Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Official Photos
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Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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Should match up well against Cayman and Boxster S. Power-to-weight ratio is truly the essence of performance driving. Me want............
much better headlights, but they chose a pretty poor shade of pastel yellow for the big reveal. This is still going to be a fantastic addition to the super lightweights (sub 2500 lbs sports cars)