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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Alfa 4C Coupe
- Thread starter TurboLlew
- Start date
Was nice to see u in action there Llew and enjoying the day and the car with your son . Great way to bond. The 4c looked like a lot of fun around the track.
Last edited:
WhipLash_86
Member
Awesome car man, there is just something about Alfa's that are super cool in there own way. Stunning car
Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
In light of @WhipLash_86 bumping, I have an excuse to post some Divio Magic (TM) @Divio
It really is a fun (and certainly different) car that is less of an imposter than I thought it would be LOL. We have a little collection of owners as well. Despite the values steadily increasing I doubt any of us will bring ourselves to sell the little car.
Big Macs & a Happy Meal
Despite being quite wide and short, an Aventador SVJ is even wider and even shorter LOL - pics don't really capture the presence of any of these cars
A few ex fanatics in some of these other cars:
It really is a fun (and certainly different) car that is less of an imposter than I thought it would be LOL. We have a little collection of owners as well. Despite the values steadily increasing I doubt any of us will bring ourselves to sell the little car.
Big Macs & a Happy Meal
Despite being quite wide and short, an Aventador SVJ is even wider and even shorter LOL - pics don't really capture the presence of any of these cars
A few ex fanatics in some of these other cars:
WhipLash_86
Member
Those Lambo's though 
///M Individual
Well-known member
Awesome pics!
Does it keep up pretty well on those spirited outings with the bigger supercars Llew?
Does it keep up pretty well on those spirited outings with the bigger supercars Llew?
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
It keeps up well with most of them except the newer of the turbo Porsches and the McLarens. With the gearing and being a little 4 cylinder at the end of the day, at the truly crazy speeds it runs out of steam and is impossible to keep up. On track though, it puts on a great show and picks up speed in gear really well, allows you to brake way later and get on the power far earlier than anything else I've driven...
The power to weight ratio helps alot even when stock. Slightly modded they are really really fast - there are a couple running around with software and one with a hybrid turbo.
///M Individual
Well-known member
That's amazing bud. Really impressive!
I just drove behind one, and noticed these few things:
- It really does have a more squat stance in the flesh. Looks lower and wider in person than it does in pictures.
- The sound they managed to get from a 1.8 Litre 4 cyclinder is quite impressive
- it has surprisingly thin tires. I thought the tires on the rears would have been wider.
All in all you rarely see them on the road, and they must be such an awesome driving experience.
They rarely are something special.
- It really does have a more squat stance in the flesh. Looks lower and wider in person than it does in pictures.
- The sound they managed to get from a 1.8 Litre 4 cyclinder is quite impressive
- it has surprisingly thin tires. I thought the tires on the rears would have been wider.
All in all you rarely see them on the road, and they must be such an awesome driving experience.
They rarely are something special.
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
Taking the bump as an opportunity for a small update!
The pics do it no justice... difficult to judge just how low and wide it is. It is very nearly as wide as my M5 is (less than 3cm difference) and a heck of a lot shorter.
The only things that make it look 'tall' are the lambos in the pic which are extremely low. Even my very young son is taller than eg: an LP640 (aventador may be slightly lower?). This pic gives you an idea of the dimensions relative to something like a 720S. I don't think most people realise JUST HOW LOW a Lamborghini is LOL - even vs. Ferraris.
you don't need very much in terms of tyre width due to the sub 900kg weight and the mid mounted motor (compound makes a huge difference though). Same goes for the braking system - even the "big brake kit" is not particularly big (It is on my list after my harnesses are in).
The sound is certainly unique. I think most people change their perceptions when they see it in the flesh. My wife is always amazed - we went to Ferrari and even had a crowd outside the dealership looking at it and asking about it... same with the supercar club - I am probably the "poorest" member (certainly in horsepower and displacement terms LOL) but there is always great conversation around this little thing. In many senses it is more exotic (and certainly more visceral in feel than most things)
If you're following me on instagram you may have spotted the harness project. On that topic I got the mount kit (there are points in the tub to accept the heavy duty harness plates and through bolts - they fit into 'depressions' underneath the tub and the tub has aluminium plugs that bolt out to accommodate the kit. The harness bar also bolts into the roll bar (red squares).
One of the alfa guys accidentally got Giulia GTAm seats which are a perfect fit! If I can't benefit from the parts supply errors of Alfa then these units are on my radar for some point in the future (they are surprisingly not too expensive)
OEM Sabelt GTAm seats and harnesses for reference
Thanks for looking!
The pics do it no justice... difficult to judge just how low and wide it is. It is very nearly as wide as my M5 is (less than 3cm difference) and a heck of a lot shorter.
The only things that make it look 'tall' are the lambos in the pic which are extremely low. Even my very young son is taller than eg: an LP640 (aventador may be slightly lower?). This pic gives you an idea of the dimensions relative to something like a 720S. I don't think most people realise JUST HOW LOW a Lamborghini is LOL - even vs. Ferraris.
you don't need very much in terms of tyre width due to the sub 900kg weight and the mid mounted motor (compound makes a huge difference though). Same goes for the braking system - even the "big brake kit" is not particularly big (It is on my list after my harnesses are in).
The sound is certainly unique. I think most people change their perceptions when they see it in the flesh. My wife is always amazed - we went to Ferrari and even had a crowd outside the dealership looking at it and asking about it... same with the supercar club - I am probably the "poorest" member (certainly in horsepower and displacement terms LOL) but there is always great conversation around this little thing. In many senses it is more exotic (and certainly more visceral in feel than most things)
If you're following me on instagram you may have spotted the harness project. On that topic I got the mount kit (there are points in the tub to accept the heavy duty harness plates and through bolts - they fit into 'depressions' underneath the tub and the tub has aluminium plugs that bolt out to accommodate the kit. The harness bar also bolts into the roll bar (red squares).
One of the alfa guys accidentally got Giulia GTAm seats which are a perfect fit! If I can't benefit from the parts supply errors of Alfa then these units are on my radar for some point in the future (they are surprisingly not too expensive)
OEM Sabelt GTAm seats and harnesses for reference
Thanks for looking!
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
I tried to go back to that post and good thing I saved the pics because it appears to have been wiped from the internet LOL. Either way he was cagey about sharing part numbers and stuff from what I remembered. I am sure it was an extremely expensive mistake @TBP88 as the OEM tax on Alfa is even higher than BMW from what I can tell.
The story was that he had ordered red 4C seats and these arrived (so the 'correct' price remains unknown). I asked my guy at Alfa and they couldn't even get a part number let alone a cost - and this was before the Giulia GTAm was even in production. Not sure if Alfa would have asked for the take-down or if it was because of guys ripping on his harness placement but anyway the internet is indeed forever and I've hosted these on my imgur so you can see it fitted into a 4C in all its glory LOL.
The diamond-stitched carbon fibre and alcantara Tilletts with custom stitching (colours, pattern, headrest etc) in the other pic work out to about R55K for the pair (after all is said and done and working with a local importer).
You can contrast this with about R28K for a set of Sabelt Titans (landed here in SA) with fibreglass construction (I would like to use Sabelt if I can as the OEM seat is made by Sabelt and there are bolt-on options that use the OEM rails and seat mount). These are the OEM Ferrari Challenge seats for certain models.
The party trick of the Tilletts is (of course) that the entire thing weighs the same as just the shell of the Sabelts or Sparco EVO IIs.
The story was that he had ordered red 4C seats and these arrived (so the 'correct' price remains unknown). I asked my guy at Alfa and they couldn't even get a part number let alone a cost - and this was before the Giulia GTAm was even in production. Not sure if Alfa would have asked for the take-down or if it was because of guys ripping on his harness placement but anyway the internet is indeed forever and I've hosted these on my imgur so you can see it fitted into a 4C in all its glory LOL.
The diamond-stitched carbon fibre and alcantara Tilletts with custom stitching (colours, pattern, headrest etc) in the other pic work out to about R55K for the pair (after all is said and done and working with a local importer).
You can contrast this with about R28K for a set of Sabelt Titans (landed here in SA) with fibreglass construction (I would like to use Sabelt if I can as the OEM seat is made by Sabelt and there are bolt-on options that use the OEM rails and seat mount). These are the OEM Ferrari Challenge seats for certain models.
The party trick of the Tilletts is (of course) that the entire thing weighs the same as just the shell of the Sabelts or Sparco EVO IIs.
///M Individual
Well-known member
Nice work with the harness project Llew, it's amazing how the Alfa made a provision for these when designing the tub.
Those seats look the business!
Those seats look the business!
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
Been some time since I posted in this thread:
I finally got around to doing the Novitec downpipe & Software to go with the Akrapovic Exhaust and a BMC drop in. I have some intercooler piping from Samco and a few other goodies suspension wise planned for the next year but nothing more power wise (at 320-ish hp/ton you can't ask for a lot more). I will also FINALLY get around to doing the seats. Autopitstop are Alfa specialists and did a number of 4C owner cars.
I've 'only' done 15000km but every one has been special. This is a very special little thing and every time I drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren in 'mere mortal' price ranges I am reminded of just how special it is (as small mechanically simple as it is) as well as how cheap it is to keep going for what it is (especially when researching potential upgrades). It also helps that it does (now) sound quite exotic despite being a little 4 cylinder.
This has all been to the degree that I can't see myself letting it go as it is the perfect thing to have some fun in at the track or on a breakfast run without also being paranoid about driving a R4 million thing close to its limits (or rather my limits LOL). I am not the only one as the owner's group is filled with Ferrari owners who will also never let theirs go.
Anyway the adventure continues. Maybe my post frequency on this will change from years to months
I finally got around to doing the Novitec downpipe & Software to go with the Akrapovic Exhaust and a BMC drop in. I have some intercooler piping from Samco and a few other goodies suspension wise planned for the next year but nothing more power wise (at 320-ish hp/ton you can't ask for a lot more). I will also FINALLY get around to doing the seats. Autopitstop are Alfa specialists and did a number of 4C owner cars.
I've 'only' done 15000km but every one has been special. This is a very special little thing and every time I drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren in 'mere mortal' price ranges I am reminded of just how special it is (as small mechanically simple as it is) as well as how cheap it is to keep going for what it is (especially when researching potential upgrades). It also helps that it does (now) sound quite exotic despite being a little 4 cylinder.
This has all been to the degree that I can't see myself letting it go as it is the perfect thing to have some fun in at the track or on a breakfast run without also being paranoid about driving a R4 million thing close to its limits (or rather my limits LOL). I am not the only one as the owner's group is filled with Ferrari owners who will also never let theirs go.
Anyway the adventure continues. Maybe my post frequency on this will change from years to months
General.Massacre
///Member
very nice man, would love to hear a sound clip of this beauty..Been some time since I posted in this thread:
I finally got around to doing the Novitec downpipe & Software to go with the Akrapovic Exhaust and a BMC drop in. I have some intercooler piping from Samco and a few other goodies suspension wise planned for the next year but nothing more power wise (at 320-ish hp/ton you can't ask for a lot more). I will also FINALLY get around to doing the seats. Autopitstop are Alfa specialists and did a number of 4C owner cars.
I've 'only' done 15000km but every one has been special. This is a very special little thing and every time I drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren in 'mere mortal' price ranges I am reminded of just how special it is (as small mechanically simple as it is) as well as how cheap it is to keep going for what it is (especially when researching potential upgrades). It also helps that it does (now) sound quite exotic despite being a little 4 cylinder.
This has all been to the degree that I can't see myself letting it go as it is the perfect thing to have some fun in at the track or on a breakfast run without also being paranoid about driving a R4 million thing close to its limits (or rather my limits LOL). I am not the only one as the owner's group is filled with Ferrari owners who will also never let theirs go.
Anyway the adventure continues. Maybe my post frequency on this will change from years to months
TurboLlew
Honorary ///Member
Since I am updating non BMW cars: A few more items that I changed recently.
OEM DV was replaced by a GFB DV+ (this was not really 'required' but it was an easy job while the Turbo hose was being done and it replaces the plastic stock unit next to it). Apart from the obvious material differences, it also becomes problematic over time with higher boost.
Samco intercooler hoses
Samco Turbo Inlet pipe
The reason to do these is to avoid deforming under higher and sustained boost as you'd find with track use. It also prevents cracking of the hard and fairly thin-walled plastic inlet pipe.
I also did a complete brake fluid and clutch flush/adjustment. Good ol' Motul RBF660
Turbo outlet resonator delete (this is a point of failure of sorts: the stock resonator disintegrates over time and the material makes its way towards the intercooler core. Not an issue on my 16000km example LOL but still worth doing 'while in there' there is a few mm of carbon fibre between you and the turbo (where this kinda sits) which is why I guess Alfa decided it should be resonated? Anyway it's a simple-enough inexpensive replacement (again while the labour is being put in).
All this is in preparation for an intercooler upgrade at some future stage.
Car is still going well and I did a track day a few weeks back as well.
I can feel the Michelin PSC 2s are now coming to the end of their useful life (especially together with more power where I had some squirelly moments LOL). I am considering a wheel upgrade which will allow me to run 265s at the rear (Below). Something that is more OEM+ than others that look quite out of place (OZ, Novitec, Titans). This may coincide with my next set of tyres (and perhaps a change to different tyre too) I'd spoken to Firi about a custom set before. It's a strange PCD (5x98) so there are virtually no 'off the shelf' inexpensive options. That said, pricing doesn't seem to be terrible for 18F/19R sets.
Trackdays are also where you really realise the power to weight (and lightness) which you forget driving this and a 600hp car on the road every day. The new M5 is 295hp/ton. My F90 is in theory 332hp/ton. A G87 M2 is 270hp/ton (all in theory actually cos we know BMWs dyno that at WHP or higher). The Alfa is 340hp/ton (dyno number) in current form and just doesn't have any weight to it, so even with the numbers above being similar, it feels TOTALLY different. This is also why sometimes it seems that I am exaggerating when I say the upgrade is not gonna be easy or cheap on this one. 430s are about the same and a 458 is only SLIGHTLY higher hp/ton (and at JHB altitude this equation goes the other way for both of them). The 488 is just too expensive but its the "jump"
Either way since logic and physics are not aligning with my bank account, I think the Alfa will permanently be my track toy and I whatever gets added will be more for open-top noisy fun...
There are two handling mods I have left to do: GMS Uniballs on the control arms (they are likely coming due with age and being rubber...) and the Alfaworks race shims.
Also a fairly hilarious size difference vs. Cayenne
OEM DV was replaced by a GFB DV+ (this was not really 'required' but it was an easy job while the Turbo hose was being done and it replaces the plastic stock unit next to it). Apart from the obvious material differences, it also becomes problematic over time with higher boost.
Samco intercooler hoses
Samco Turbo Inlet pipe
The reason to do these is to avoid deforming under higher and sustained boost as you'd find with track use. It also prevents cracking of the hard and fairly thin-walled plastic inlet pipe.
I also did a complete brake fluid and clutch flush/adjustment. Good ol' Motul RBF660
Turbo outlet resonator delete (this is a point of failure of sorts: the stock resonator disintegrates over time and the material makes its way towards the intercooler core. Not an issue on my 16000km example LOL but still worth doing 'while in there' there is a few mm of carbon fibre between you and the turbo (where this kinda sits) which is why I guess Alfa decided it should be resonated? Anyway it's a simple-enough inexpensive replacement (again while the labour is being put in).
All this is in preparation for an intercooler upgrade at some future stage.
Car is still going well and I did a track day a few weeks back as well.
I can feel the Michelin PSC 2s are now coming to the end of their useful life (especially together with more power where I had some squirelly moments LOL). I am considering a wheel upgrade which will allow me to run 265s at the rear (Below). Something that is more OEM+ than others that look quite out of place (OZ, Novitec, Titans). This may coincide with my next set of tyres (and perhaps a change to different tyre too) I'd spoken to Firi about a custom set before. It's a strange PCD (5x98) so there are virtually no 'off the shelf' inexpensive options. That said, pricing doesn't seem to be terrible for 18F/19R sets.
Trackdays are also where you really realise the power to weight (and lightness) which you forget driving this and a 600hp car on the road every day. The new M5 is 295hp/ton. My F90 is in theory 332hp/ton. A G87 M2 is 270hp/ton (all in theory actually cos we know BMWs dyno that at WHP or higher). The Alfa is 340hp/ton (dyno number) in current form and just doesn't have any weight to it, so even with the numbers above being similar, it feels TOTALLY different. This is also why sometimes it seems that I am exaggerating when I say the upgrade is not gonna be easy or cheap on this one. 430s are about the same and a 458 is only SLIGHTLY higher hp/ton (and at JHB altitude this equation goes the other way for both of them). The 488 is just too expensive but its the "jump"
Either way since logic and physics are not aligning with my bank account, I think the Alfa will permanently be my track toy and I whatever gets added will be more for open-top noisy fun...
There are two handling mods I have left to do: GMS Uniballs on the control arms (they are likely coming due with age and being rubber...) and the Alfaworks race shims.
Also a fairly hilarious size difference vs. Cayenne
