2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Revival of the Fittest

Alfa Romeo plans to re-enter the U.S. market in grand style with the expressive and powerful 8C Competizione.

Performance

Hitting the start button on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is the first clue to its beating heart: a new, 4.7-liter V8 with 450 horsepower, courtesy of Ferrari's engineering artisans. But in contrast to the reedy tenor note of a Ferrari, Alfa Romeo engineers labored to create a distinctively deep, crackling baritone.

That burbling, backfiring sound proved an endless delight on the drizzly Belocca track. The V8 revs like mad to 7,500 rpm, spurring the Alfa from 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds — a bit slower than, say, a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano or Porsche 911 GT2, but still flying. A launch-control setting allows the Alfa to smoke its tires for perfect, computer-aided starts.

The six-speed, Formula One-style automated manual transmission has been steadily improved from its earlier incarnations on Ferrari and Maserati models. It's still makes the car lurch in full automatic mode, but flicking the paddle shifters produces snappy gear changes. Downshifts are accompanied by a quick, automatic blip of the throttle.

Pressing the cabin's sport button cuts shift times in half, opens a valve in the two-stage exhaust to amp up that amazing sound, sharpens the throttle response, and shifts the stability control system to a freewheeling competition mode.

That stability control system is among the smartest and slickest that we've tested: Even on a track slick with rain, it let us keep feeding in power even as the car drifted through turns. The system allowed a surprising amount of slip and slide before it intervened, yet it would finally step in decisively to prevent an embarrassing skid off the track.

The Alfa's enormous, trusty brakes include six-piston caliper discs up front, four-piston units in the rear. Ceramic brakes are optional — they're often used on race cars because the material's superior heat dissipation allows longer, better brake performance under extreme driving conditions.

If the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione has an Achilles' heel, it's a shortage of fingertip feedback through the steering wheel. A typical Ferrari or Porsche transmits a more secure sensation at the helm, though that impression might have improved on a drier track.

With its ferocious engine, balanced layout, double-wishbone suspension, and super-quick steering, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione delivers supercar performance. Its pedigree includes a level of exclusivity that's far beyond most six-figure sports cars.

But acquiring an Alfa 8C Competizione isn't a matter of writing the fattest check: The company will only offer them to buyers it selects, meaning people who are true Alfisti, as Alfa zealots are known. Alfa wants the 8C in the hands of buyers with a history of loving and collecting Alfa Romeos, as opposed to speculators interested only in flipping the car to turn a fast buck.