Stop everything

"D" (danjee) 11/02/2013 at 20:03 • Filed to: alfa romeo 4c

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Apparently the 4C has manual steering?? So says Motortrend.

That said, it's even more surprising this car doesn't have a manny tranny flavor.

Reigntastic > D 11/02/2013 at 20:04

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To think, I almost wanted one of these.

dogisbadob > D 11/02/2013 at 20:07

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I like how these sports cars have all this weight saving shit yet they still have power windows.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > D 11/02/2013 at 20:17

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ARGHH... I HATE the headlights on that thing... I acutally get physically ill when I see them... Trypophobia you say? Heck yeah I've got that..

Ps. DO NOT GOOGLE trypophobia.

Reigntastic > dogisbadob 11/02/2013 at 20:21

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Some modern amenities in a 55k car are nice, you know?

Speedmonkey > D 11/02/2013 at 20:22

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It weighs 1kg more, does 0-60 in 0.3 seconds more and costs £15k more than a Lotus Elise S, which also has no power steering. And has a 6-speed manual gearbox. I'm getting slightly weary of the fanboyness for the 4C when the Elise S does everything ever so slightly better.

Or am I missing something?

Jayhawk Jake > Speedmonkey 11/02/2013 at 20:24

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We can't buy an Elise S in the US

Speedmonkey > Jayhawk Jake 11/02/2013 at 20:25

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I know. You can buy an Evora. It's the only Lotus that is compliant with US airbag regs.

wkiernan > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 11/02/2013 at 20:27

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I would like them a whole lot better if they were asymmetrical. Like five of those little white lights on one side and six on the other, and the yellow light relocated in the mirror image.

Jayhawk Jake > Speedmonkey 11/02/2013 at 20:28

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True, and I do love the Evora. Isn't it more expensive than the 4C though?

Either way, a good portion of the fanboyism has to do with the fact that for the majority of many of our lives, Alfa's haven't been available here. It's exciting, and the 4C is gorgeous. I love the Elise and Evora, but the 4C is prettier.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > wkiernan 11/02/2013 at 20:31

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Hehe, would not help me a bit. They'd still look like lotus seed to me.

Speedmonkey > Jayhawk Jake 11/02/2013 at 20:32

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Yes, you're right it is prettier. And it looks like it'll handle pretty awesome too. Don't get me wrong I think it'll be a great car but even Europeans forget the Elise S when talking about it

Evora is £53k here and 4C is £45k

PlayerWAN > dogisbadob 11/02/2013 at 21:10

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I recall reading somewhere that the electric motors in the Lotus Elise/Exige are actually lighter than the manual crank mechanism.

This thread touches up on it, sadly no source though...

Jayhawk Jake > Speedmonkey 11/02/2013 at 21:11

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It'll be interesting to see if people remember the Elise when the 4C goes on sale. All the comparisons I've seen have been to the Cayman, but the Elise would be a great alternative, even if it isn't as pretty

dogisbadob > PlayerWAN 11/02/2013 at 21:22

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Yeah I've heard the Elise/Exige story before, but there's no way in hell that can be true though.

How can a simple single piece of plastic possibly weigh less than an electric motor powerful enough to handle a large piece of glass, set of wires, a pair of switches, etc? Hell, each of those components alone probably weighs more than a crank. And of course, the driver's door doesn't have two cranks.

I'll believe it when I see the cranks on a scale and the power window components on a scale.

Speedmonkey > Jayhawk Jake 11/02/2013 at 21:23

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Aye. On the basis of this I've just run off an article comparing the stats of the two. I was wrong about weight. 4C is lighter by 35kg, but 0-60 is faster in Elise. The carbon tub costs quite a lot but accounts for a decent weight saving. They are very closely matched

Jayhawk Jake > Speedmonkey 11/02/2013 at 23:32

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Sweet!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Speedmonkey 11/03/2013 at 03:01

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I'm wondering what Lotus will do after the Elise. Maybe, if the tech becomes viable at low costs, they'll do something pioneering with carbon as well.

I wonder, can you extrude carbon tubing, of a fashion.

Speedmonkey > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 11/03/2013 at 06:39

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The chassis are made by an ex supplier that Lotus bought and renamed Lotus Lightweight Engineering. It is there that these changes could be made. Everything else just bolts on to the chassis. Carbon tubing sounds interesting and is used in F1 but I think a bathtub style chassis more likely

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Speedmonkey 11/03/2013 at 09:37

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You're probably right about a tub.

I'm thinking a carbon tube-frame might be cheaper, especially if you can mass-produce (relatively) a few stock lengths of tubing with flanges on either side. These flanges could be bonded together using the same technique as aluminium bonded chassis.

That way you'd end up with a nigh-on infinitely modular carbon chassis. It wouldn't be quite as stiff as a tub, but with economies of scale on the tubes and the reduced materials I reckon it could be a cheap way into high tech (and very Lotus to boot).

Barbarian772 > Speedmonkey 11/03/2013 at 11:05

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IT'S AN ALFA.... everyone knows the gearbox sucks and it's heavy, but hey it's an ALFA FUCKING ROMEO...

Barbarian772 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 11/03/2013 at 11:10

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I googled trypophobia once... I still hate this day...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > D 11/03/2013 at 20:08

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Light makes right.