Alfa Romeo 4C heading to gym

Before the fast-but-flawed Alfa Romeo 4C has even landed in Australia, the Italian company's CEO says the compact sports car is ripe for a power boost.

Due to arrive locally in October 2014, the mid-engine Alfa Romeo 4C has been dubbed a compact super car by its creators, its welter-weight 895kg and 177kW/350Nm power output capable of propelling the exotic Italian from 0-100km/h in just 4.5 seconds.

But that figure could fall to below 4.0 seconds if Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester gets his way.

He told US publication Car & Driver the pint-sized road rocket's 1.7-litre turbo-petrol (240hp) four-cylinder engine could be modified to deliver a lot more mumbo: "We are only at 136 horsepower per litre, so there is space [for more power]."

Wester is also the CEO of Maserati, so he knows a thing or two about high horsepower vehicles. He also revealed the car's structure can easily handle more power, but changes would need to be made to the car's decelerative performance.

"The first adjustment would be the brakes," he said.

The rear-drive Alfa Romeo 4C is based around a carbon-fibre tub, which limits the build numbers to just 3500 vehicles per year, and Australia will be getting around 300 per year, give or take. That's just under 10 per cent of global capacity.

We have experienced the 4C in Australia, around the Phillip Island circuit back in February 2014, and it will interesting to see how it rides on local country roads when it gets here before Christmas.

Alfa's 250km/h compact exotic does not yet have a price tag attached for the Australian market, but local importer Fiat Chrysler Group says the basic model will be available between $80K-$100K, with the 'Launch Edition' looking at $100K-$120K. The latter will add swathes more carbon-fibre, a sports exhaust and other primo features.

What this would mean for a high-end performance model that generates more than the regular 177kW, perhaps well over 200kW, remains to be seen, but it certainly won't be cheap. A high-end 4C could potentially cost $125,000, putting it in the same financial ballpark as the 258kW/400Nm Lotus Exige S ($126,990).