not sure what caused the transmissions issue (frozen fluids because there is no insulation???)but i know your high performance summer tires became extremely hard and dangerous as they are not suppose to be driven anywhere near those temps. also, with hockey puck tires and being a mid engine car you could have hit a slight ice patch and you would have spun around without ever knowing what was coming. extremely dangerous indeed

 

Agree that this could have ended very badly (and may still - he has to get home)!
I'm thinking probably some ice / moisture issue on electronics are the root cause of the glitches, but the tire issue that Veloce2 points out is valid.

Where I am (same temps), the roads were almost bare from last night's snow squalls, but within about 10 miles I was in white-outs with several inches of snow and slush. Would have easily enough to beach the 4C or drag it's already less than compliant steering into the ditch. You couldn't talk me into doing this for $1 million!!!

 

Our roads are completely bare. I never drive with any ice/snow on the ground. I will probably head to "lunch" in a minute and switch to my SUV.

 

Good all season performance tires take away less than what they add in wet, cold, or icy conditions. Unless I lived in a climate that was above 50° and mostly dry all the time I would (and do) run them every day out of the year.

I'm interested to hear what you find out about the transmission issue. By "I lost the ability to change gears" do you mean you were unable to manually change gears with the paddles, or was it not shifting on its own in manual?

 

Good all season performance tires take away less than what they add in wet, cold, or icy conditions. Unless I lived in a climate that was above 50° and mostly dry all the time I would (and do) run them every day out of the year.

I'm interested to hear what you find out about the transmission issue. By "I lost the ability to change gears" do you mean you were unable to manually change gears with the paddles, or was it not shifting on its own in manual?

It wasn't allowing any shifts, nor allowing me to shift to neutral. I never use the automatic mode for the sake of my clutch.

 

What does the wind-chill correction work out at 70-80 mph in those temperatures? That’s what your 4C was enduring.
I think that will be a little on the cool side for any of the fluids in the car. The viscosity of the oils for instance will make it less likely for them to flow as intended by the Alfa engineers. I don’t recall any videos of a 4C being tested mid-winter above the Arctic Circle, so I don’t think you are using the car as it was intended 😂
Thanks for the real world testing information. You are much braver than me - I have only seen the ice warning on the instrument display a few times, which makes me grateful for the climate where I live.
I think it makes more sense to leave the 4C in a climate controlled garage when the weather is that extreme. But that’s just a soft Aussie who moans when the temp falls below 10 degrees Celsius.
On the plus side, the ECU map is working well by giving you extra power as it recognises the lower inlet temperature and denser air entering the engine.
Cheers,
Alf.

 

What does the wind-chill correction work out at 70-80 mph in those temperatures? That’s what your 4C was enduring.
I think that will be a little on the cool side for any of the fluids in the car. The viscosity of the oils for instance will make it less likely for them to flow as intended by the Alfa engineers. I don’t recall any videos of a 4C being tested mid-winter above the Arctic Circle, so I don’t think you are using the car as it was intended 😂
Thanks for the real world testing information. You are much braver than me - I have only seen the ice warning on the instrument display a few times, which makes me grateful for the climate where I live.
I think it makes more sense to leave the 4C in a climate controlled garage when the weather is that extreme. But that’s just a soft Aussie who moans when the temp falls below 10 degrees Celsius.
On the plus side, the ECU map is working well by giving you extra power as it recognises the lower inlet temperature and denser air entering the engine.
Cheers,
Alf.

Works out to about -35F to -40F which I would consider less than ideal for the platform . If Alfa wants to pay me for more real world testing they are more than welcome to.😂

 

For many, today is just a normal day, for us in the North East US/CA, today and tomorrow are the coldest days in half a century. That said, I drove my 4C to work today. For context I am in Maine and it is currently 7F (-13.8889C) with wind chill you can drop that number to -12F (-24.4444C). This evening ambient temps will be -20F (-28.88C) with wind chill you can drop that to around -50F (-45.55C). Now I am going to be honest, I would consider myself a bit of a mad lad. However my shenanigans' of attempting to daily drive one of these year round may becoming to an abrupt end. This morning I drove slowly around town with no issue at all. Once I hit the highway things changed rapidly. I experienced a significant amount of power that I've never experienced in one of these. The handling was sketchy to say the least as I refuse to put all-seasons or snows on my car (again mad lad). The suspension was certainly rough but the more I drove the more it worked. After 12 minutes of driving the 4C at around 70-80 I lost the ability to change gears. Essentially the flywheel was spinning freely and the car would not change gear. I pulled over immediately and attempted to switch the car to neutral and nothing happened. I then proceeded to turn off the car and turn it back on. Classic mechanical genius. It worked. Gear box shifted completely fine again, now the check engine light was on and the car was telling me something in the MFD but I couldn't read it and nurse the car at the same time. I finally got to work and parked it. Turned it off and on and the engine light was still present. I shut it off again and 30 minutes later went outside to turn the car back on and the engine light was off and the car was idling perfectly normally. Again, after I lost the ability to shift I was still able to change gears perfectly fine. So I will update this thread tonight when it is far colder but I am going to drive the long way home through town centers where I am hoping the car will stay warmer. This day is obviously abnormal so I am not concerned about this being a recurring issue and I have driven this car in freezing conditions before, just never to this extreme.

Would love to hear thoughts, opinions and experiences from you all. View attachment 139469
Photo (not from today)

Update:
I switched vehicles. But first: to clarify to all about my tires. I never push my luck and will not drive the vehicle unless the tarmac is bare. I do have another car that I scout with before driving just to verify. Any precipitation under 45 degrees is a STOP drive moment for me. My commute is 10 minutes (not to justify my irresponsibility).

Anyways, back to the update. I drove back to my house to switch vehicles, I ran it in the auto mode with cruise control (first time using either of those) to prevent the gearbox from switching gears. I also put the car in All Weather just like this morning. It ran well but you could definitely tell that the 4C is not designed to be driven at these temps. I will probably hold off on driving it tomorrow and hook my battery tender up. As for driving, much the same as before when it comes to suspension feel. I ran without aircon on to listen to the mechanics of the engine bay. Nothing sounded too different but you could definitely sense that the engine was attempting to cope with the cold as the parts expanded due to the heat. I'm curious if the air density made a difference to the engine sounds. But hey, I'm not a mechanic nor an engineer so my guess is a guess. As for the transmission, it worked as intended on my drive back just as it had leading up to the event this morning. My theory is that the transmission oil temp reached such a low point that the DCT wasn't allowing gear changes in order to preserve itself. Seems far fetched but I know engines have a limp mode and I know that other manufacturers such as Mercedes implement gearbox limp modes. All and all, I hope it was a gear box oil issue and not an electrical one. (classic alfa)

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this. Let me know what all-season tires I should run or if I should continue being a sociopath. Cheers -Monte

 

My power steering fluid freezes up in the winter, makes it harder to turn the wheel. Happens in the summertime as well

 

Thinking perhaps the actuator fluid (little hydraulic tank on the driver's side of the transaxle) might have been slightly low and/or too cold. That would prevent shifting, but would come back when heat from the engine bay reduced the viscosity somewhat. Just a theory. I think this is what others were suggesting earlier, but perhaps narrowing it down to which fluid.

 

Sounds like it may be the cause. Especially if cold air is constantly being shoved into the engine at speed.

 

I also drove my 4c in today with an ave temp of 7F across the 50 mile trip: zero issues. For the first couple miles in town, I select blue mode, manual, and keep the revs up a bit to keep my toes from freezing. I split the trip 1/2 at 55mph on 2 lane highway, and 1/2 at 70mph on the interstate. Roads are clear right now in central IL and it was my only choice today other than the motorcycle. I've had it out on -5F degree days over the same path with no problems. These cars are capable of the same work as an American Corvette (in my opinion).

 

I would worry on damaging the belts on your tires. It's not the traction that is the biggest concern for summer tires in the winter. It's the deterioration of the belt (I think they are a fiber of some sort) become brittle and break. You won't see the damage, but it's there.

I like driving with winter tires on a sporty car. They're so impressive in cold temps.

 

I live in Michigan, so deal with similar temps. I put a set of SottoZero 3's on it every winter. Super hero grip. Wouldnt think of driving on my summers below 30 out here, I've kicked the back out a few too many times when I wasn't wanting to.

 

Will be purchasing a set of these.

 

For many, today is just a normal day, for us in the North East US/CA, today and tomorrow are the coldest days in half a century. That said, I drove my 4C to work today. For context I am in Maine and it is currently 7F (-13.8889C) with wind chill you can drop that number to -12F (-24.4444C). This evening ambient temps will be -20F (-28.88C) with wind chill you can drop that to around -50F (-45.55C). Now I am going to be honest, I would consider myself a bit of a mad lad. However my shenanigans' of attempting to daily drive one of these year round may becoming to an abrupt end. This morning I drove slowly around town with no issue at all. Once I hit the highway things changed rapidly. I experienced a significant amount of power that I've never experienced in one of these. The handling was sketchy to say the least as I refuse to put all-seasons or snows on my car (again mad lad). The suspension was certainly rough but the more I drove the more it worked. After 12 minutes of driving the 4C at around 70-80 I lost the ability to change gears. Essentially the flywheel was spinning freely and the car would not change gear. I pulled over immediately and attempted to switch the car to neutral and nothing happened. I then proceeded to turn off the car and turn it back on. Classic mechanical genius. It worked. Gear box shifted completely fine again, now the check engine light was on and the car was telling me something in the MFD but I couldn't read it and nurse the car at the same time. I finally got to work and parked it. Turned it off and on and the engine light was still present. I shut it off again and 30 minutes later went outside to turn the car back on and the engine light was off and the car was idling perfectly normally. Again, after I lost the ability to shift I was still able to change gears perfectly fine. So I will update this thread tonight when it is far colder but I am going to drive the long way home through town centers where I am hoping the car will stay warmer. This day is obviously abnormal so I am not concerned about this being a recurring issue and I have driven this car in freezing conditions before, just never to this extreme.

Would love to hear thoughts, opinions and experiences from you all. View attachment 139469
Photo (not from today)

You are a brave man, my friend.
The photo is a keeper.

 

The most likely cause is probably a line or rubber tubing/hose that is preventing fluid from flowing because the extreme cold weather is causing them to constrict.

Summer tires are damaged in such weather. All season tires do nothing great and nothing poorly, and true winter tires will actually feel pretty darn good.

 

I have General G-Max AS-05 all seasons. I won’t drive in true winter conditions but appreciate the tires keeping some traction below 30 degrees and not ruining perfectly good 200tw tires.

 

I have driven a 4c in some pretty bad conditions with stock tires...

 

I'm still upset that Alfa isn't in Horizon 5...