Yahoo Finance Alfa Romeo’s Reborn, 700-Plus-HP 8C Coupe: Here’s What We Know
What It Is: Alfa Romeo’s reborn flagship 8C sports car, which is scheduled to make its debut by 2022, this time featuring a mid-mounted powertrain. A few weeks ago, Alfa’s parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, released a new five-year plan for the brand that confirmed the 8C plus a new Giulia-based GTV coupe and two new SUVs to bracket the Stelvio. Now our artists have produced a rendering of the 8C-Quadrifoglio badge and all-and if the production sports car looks anything like this, it’ll be everything we hoped and more.
Why It Matters: Alfa Romeo is in the middle of yet another turbulent period, and its comeback effort of the past few years remains ongoing. The Giulia and Giulia Quadrifoglio sedans won a spot on our 10Best Cars roster this year, and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio crossover made our 2018 Editors’ Choice list. The 8C, however, will serve as the Italian automaker’s halo car and performance benchmark; it won’t sell in very high numbers, but it will generate publicity and ideally bring in prospective customers who will buy more affordable products. There’s also the small matter of the 8C badge’s prominent place in Alfa history; this car will have some big shoes to fill.
Platform: All we know so far is that the 8C, like the soon-to-die 4C, will utilize a lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque chassis. Unlike the 4C, it will deliver power to all four wheels, allowing Alfa’s engineers the freedom to pile on the horsepower in search of some serious performance numbers.
Powertrain: Unlike its immediate 8C predecessors-the Competizione coupe and Spider roadster-the new model will be powered by a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged V-8 that will team with an electric motor on the front axle. So, yeah, it’ll be a hybrid. It’s likely that the V-8 will be a 3.8-liter unit sourced from Maserati. Alfa said that, combined, the two power sources will produce more than 700 horsepower and send the sports car from zero to 62 mph in less than three seconds.
Competition: Acura NSX, Ferrari 488GTB, Mercedes-AMG GT, Tesla Roadster.
Estimated Arrival and Price: FCA has been rather quiet on details about the new Alfa. However, we expect the 8C to be released sometime after 2020-FCA says it’ll be here by 2022-and cost $250,000 or more.
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