ISUK:

Did you listen to her commentary? She explains exactly why the 4C is absolutely nothing like a Boxster. I don't understand why people have a constant desire to try and compare cars simply because their list prices are similar.

The 4C is a car that demands your full concentration at nearly all times and challenges you to try and tame it. It takes you for a drive, not the other way round, and wants to know if you can keep up with it. It is noisy, raw, uncompromising and visceral. Because of those attributes it is an absolute blast to drive for anyone with an ounce of petrol in their veins. The Cayman GT4 literally feels like a Bentley in comparison. Most people will be far faster in a Boxster or Cayman because both are set up to flatter the driver's skill. The Alfa is set up to challege it and you get out of it feeling like you're skills have really been put to the test if you have tried to access it's performance. Drive both cars over your favourite bit of road and you'll soon discover if you have a preference for comfort and ease of speed over the physical involvement of actually driving the car and trying to master it. Such a drive would show you exactly why the 4C should never be cross shopped with a Boxster/Cayman.

The Boxster/Cayman were designed to be everyday usable cars so have plenty of luggage space, have well insulated cabins, suspension that will generally filter out the worst road surface imperfections, have decent infotainment that you can hear and use easily on the move, provide good all round visibilty, ease of ingress and egress, offer a variety of tech, etc. The 4C has none of these and is all the better for it. Alfa would never beat Porsche at their own game so instead chose to tear up the spec sheet and offer buyers something completely different. It substitutes the Porsche attributes with junior super car styling, complete driver involvement, a real feeling of seats of the pants speed and a dollop of aural drama from the powertrain. The DCT gearbox also does a passable impression of the F1 box in the 430 Scuderia when in Race mode.

He nails it. The 4C is not for everyone, ira for a select few buyers that wanted to value driving experience over anything else. Literally. It is really a raw car. It has zero consideration for anything remotely close to driver or passenger comfort. The only think I can compared closely with the 4C is my Cup car race car, and the Cup car is even more comfortable still!


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