Used 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

If you’re looking to get back to sports-car basic, it doesn’t get more simplistic than the 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. With its full focus on performance, the 4C Spider shuns advanced adaptive suspensions, cutting-edge infotainment systems and even modest creature comforts like heated seats. Heck, it doesn’t even have power steering, and thanks to its lightweight body and tight suspension, doesn’t really need it.

This car is all about going fast, rounding corners and making no apologies for its shortcomings. Alfa 4C drivers consider themselves purists, and anyone who says differently can just go drive an Audi TT, Porsche Boxster or even a BMW Z4. The 4C Spider has one more trick up its sleeve, and that’s exclusivity. There aren’t many around and the 4C’s exotic styling turns heads wherever it goes, which is exactly the reaction you want when dropping nearly $70K on a 2-seat sports car.

The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is the automotive equivalent of a surgeon’s scalpel. As a scalpel is the perfect tool in the hands of a skilled surgeon, a good driver can feel great behind the wheel of this Italian performance car. The steering is intentionally unassisted so it can communicate every inch of road. And so it does.

On paper the Alfa’s turbocharged 1.7-liter 4-cylinder engine’s 237 horsepower isn’t much, but it’s only working against roughly 2,500 pounds. That equates to a genuinely fast car — the Alfa Romeo 4C’s 0-60-mph time is logged at 4.1 seconds — with only a hint of turbo lag.

The 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission shifts quickly, and there’s a distinct difference among the various “DNA” (for Dynamic, Natural, All-Weather and Race) drive modes. Yet, like a scalpel cutting vegetables, the 4C is sorely out of its element once you’ve left the racetrack. The stiff suspension pounds over bumps, the engine screams constantly, the exhaust barks like a neighborhood dog, and at low speed that unassisted steering feels like pulling your arms out of tar. This is not a car for commuting or cruising.

The 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider’s 2-passenger interior is an exercise of function over comfort. Space is cramped and controls for climate and other functions are simple, looking like something from a car a decade ago. Instead of a traditional gear selector, there are buttons arrayed in a somewhat odd pattern high in the central tunnel. To put it in Drive or Reverse, for example, you must press R or D, and so on.

Switches to operate the windows and adjust the mirrors are also in the center transmission tunnel rather than the usual doorsills. Infotainment, or lack thereof, is relegated to a basic head unit with AM/FM, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity. A couple of highlights are a 7-inch driver-information display and leather interior. Cargo space is nearly nonexistent at just 3.7 cubic feet behind the mid-mounted engine. That’s barely enough to accommodate an overnight bag.

Say what you like about the Alfa 4C Spider’s rough ride, shoddy interior build and cramped cockpit, but try and find a flaw with its stunningly beautiful exterior and we think you’ll come up short. Built in Modena, Italy, this 2-seat roadster oozes Italian exoticness, with voluptuous curves, exaggerated side sculpting and massive pedestal-style mirrors that make the car look even smaller than it already is.

Not much larger than a Mazda MX-5 Miata, the 4C Spider reminds us of the old Lotus Elise, but with more definition. However, some of the styling cues clearly place form over function, such as the ridiculously low nose that scraps over even the most gentle upward slope, or the high flying-buttress-like side pillars that block side and rear visibility.

Unlike the MX-5, the Spider’s top doesn’t retract easily into a well. Instead, Alfa Romeo protects the cabin with a rather flimsy canvas panel that can be rolled up and stored in the 4C’s tiny trunk.

EXCLUSIVITY & INTENT
As Alfa produces the 4C Spider in relatively low numbers, the odds that you’ll see another on the freeway or in a shopping mall parking lot are pretty scant. The 4C Spider looks nothing like its rivals, which is just how Alfa purists want it. This is a driver’s car first and foremost. All other considerations come second.

CARBON-FIBER MONOCOQUE
The secret to the 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider’s performance figures lay in its carbon-fiber monocoque body, a fabrication that is both stronger and lighter than a chassis formed of steel. With the turbocharged engine and suspension attached, the entire car still weighs less than 2,500 pounds and boasts a 10.4 power-to-weight ratio.

Purpose-built for performance and racing, the Alfa Romeo 4C contains the basics and little else. There are power auto-down windows, air conditioning, a 7-inch color gauge-cluster display and a 4-speaker Alpine AM/FM/CD audio system with Bluetooth phone connectivity and USB input.

The 4C uses its DNA selector to choose from four different driving modes, which vary the aggressiveness of the throttle, transmission and stability control. Safety-oriented driver assists are limited to a rearview camera, cruise control and rear parking sensors. Filling out the remaining safety roster are front airbags, door-mounted side airbags and a driver’s-knee airbag, along with stability control, traction control and hill-start assist.

Don’t expect many optional amenities on this Alfa. Unlike sports cars from Porsche, Audi, Jaguar and other brands, you just won’t find many creature comforts in the Alfa Romeo 4C. Aside from a higher-end Alpine audio system, most options are to take the Alfa’s performance even higher. Among the offerings are a race-tuned suspension, carbon-fiber aesthetics, bi-xenon headlights and an Akrapovic exhaust system.

Mounted at the 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider’s midsection is a 1.7-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine big on power but short on refinement. Producing 237 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, output is more than enough to propel the 2,487-pound 4C Spider to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 160 mph.

You’ll experience some turbo lag before the power comes on strong, but it only lasts a fraction of a second. A manual transmission would make this car so much more enjoyable, but the 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gets the job done and its paddle shifters do give the driver some say in the matter. That said, even with Alfa’s downshift rev-matching technology, this transmission just isn’t as satisfying as a good manual.

1.7-liter turbocharged inline-4
237 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm
258 lb-ft of torque @ 2,200-4,250 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 24/34 mpg