Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - First Test - video Dailymotion

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Alfa Romeo makes a triumphant return to the American market with the drop dead gorgeous 8C Competizione. Check out this video for a First Test run!

Transcript

00:00 Do you remember Alfa Romeo?

00:10 Well you're forgiven if you don't because it's been 14 years since the Italian makers

00:13 sold a car in the United States.

00:15 But now Alfa's back and they're back big with this beautiful 8C competition.

00:21 This is the brand after all that dominated Le Mans in the 1930s.

00:24 This is the brand that built the famous Duetto Roadster that Dustin Hoffman drove in the

00:28 graduate and now they've created this incredible two seat supercar crafted almost entirely

00:33 in carbon fiber designed by Wolfgang Egger who has since moved on to Audi.

00:37 It's an absolutely luscious piece full of milled aluminum, beautiful leather and that

00:42 striking body.

00:43 But underneath, don't forget, it's an Italian supercar and that means a Ferrari based V8

00:48 engine making 450 horsepower.

00:51 All the bells and whistles, let's take it for a drive.

01:11 From 1931 to 1934, Alfa Romeo won the Le Mans 24 hour race four times in a row.

01:28 The name of that car?

01:29 The 8C.

01:30 Now we're driving in its reincarnation, the new 8C competition.

01:36 This began as a design study.

01:37 It was first shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show but now it's matured into a fully developed

01:42 supercar.

01:43 Underneath, we have a chassis from the Maserati Grand Sport.

01:47 The body is designed entirely in carbon fiber and created by an aftermarket supplier.

01:53 The engine is a Ferrari Maserati V8, bored and stroked to 4.7 liters and making 450 horsepower

01:59 and connected to the V8 is a six speed auto clutch transmission.

02:04 Run the 8C from a standstill and it revs to its 7500 RPM redline with so much sonic splendor

02:10 its owners likely won't even care what acceleration numbers it achieves.

02:14 We get paid to note such things, of course.

02:18 Notched a 0 to 60 mile per hour sprint of 4.6 seconds and a quarter mile of 12.8 seconds

02:25 at 112.5 miles per hour.

02:28 That's plenty quick, though in a world of 3.2 second GTRs and Corvette ZR1s, hardly

02:34 a headline performance.

02:38 Now listen again to that aria of pumping high angle valves and bellowing wide mouth exhausts.

02:44 Do you really care?

02:48 Handling wise, the 8C is not the leader in its group.

02:51 Check off the traction control and the tail will rotate with only a quick dab of throttle

02:59 and you can have up to 0.94 G of grip as you perform the throttle steering dance, but the

03:04 8C doesn't have the handling dexterity of such rivals as the Lambo Gallardo or the Ferrari

03:09 F430.

03:10 It's simply a far less edgy machine, preferring a more genteel approach to twisty road handling.

03:16 Even though it lacks carbon ceramic binders, the 8C's big discs do a superb job of erasing

03:22 forward momentum.

03:24 Stops from 60 mile an hour require just 101 feet.

03:29 There are elements of Ferrari and Maserati in this 8C, but it feels different, it sounds

03:34 different, and in fact it's a very limited production piece.

03:37 Just 500 examples are going to be built worldwide and only about 80 of those are coming to the

03:42 United States.

03:43 This is one of those cars.

03:51 [Music]

03:56 (whooshing)

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - First Test

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