The all-new and highly anticipated Alfa Romeo 4C signals the Italian brand’s rejuvenation and its return to the United States this autumn after a hiatus that lasted close to two decades. Alfa’s new small sports car will be built at Maserati’s plant in Modena, just like the 8C Competizione supercar before it.
Designed from the beginning to have a supercar-rivaling weight/power ratio of less than 4 kg/hp, the Alfa Romeo 4C has a total dry weight of just 895 kg (1,973 lbs), which makes it lighter than a city car and one of the lightest production cars in the world. To achieve these figure, engineers used aluminum, steel, lightened SMC (Sheet Moulding Compound) and carbon fiber.
Alfa Romeo says the secret of the 4C’s lightness and dynamic behavior lays in the use of 10 percent carbon fibre, which represents 25 percent of the 4C overall volume.
Carbon fiber was chosen for the structural function monocoque that makes up the central, load-bearing cell of the chassis, as the material offers the best weight/stiffness efficiency. The monocoque weighs just 65 kg (143 lbs).
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