Car versus boat: what a challenge between the Ice 33 Evo and an Alfa Romeo 4C!

Is it possible to pit a car against each other is a sailboat? Top Gear monthly magazine did it, comparing an Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and… the Ice 33 Evo! To accomplish this, he divided the test into ten rounds, from design to construction, agility to performance. We offer the text of the article below: do you agree with the result?

THE CHALLENGERS.
Let’s start with the 4CSpider. Designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, it has two dry seats, rear-wheel drive and a mid-engine. The chassis is an F1-inspired carbon fiber monocoque; the engine a 1750 cc turbocharged gasoline with direct injection and a dual phase shifter. The result? 257 km/h, a canvas roof to roll up into the cramped trunk, nothing superfluous, and comfort that to call essential seems reductive.

The Ice 33 Evo is a racing boat, built by the Ice Yachts shipyard and designed by Umberto Felci, is 9.99 meters long and 3.40 meters wide, accommodates up to 8 people, and needs only 2.5 meters of water to sail. The hull, deck, rudder, and many parts are made of carbon or aluminum alloys.

TEN ROUNDS TO DECIDE
Terrain of confrontation is the Garda, the perfect location for windy conditions and ribbons of asphalt tangled on steep hills. Not for a coast-to-coast with stopwatch in hand, nor for a race to the finish line first. But for a clash of genres and philosophies, searching for similarities and differences between two of the most desirable“toys for men” of the moment.

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ROUND 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF WEIGHT
In both cases, lightness is achieved through technological innovation and extensive use of carbon, a material three times stronger and seven times lighter than steel. On both the 4C Spider and the Ice 33 Evo, the elimination of the superfluous becomes synonymous with agility; in the former case for Alfa’s discovery, reduced weight is added to the go-kart-like driving feel, refined suspension geometry, weight layout, and very low center of gravity. The result is a car with lightning-fast speed in changes of direction.

A very important feature even for a racing boat like the Ice 33 Evo, which needs to turn between buoys and maneuver with foresight and speed among other boats. Also, for those who have never been in one, a light boat is much more responsive and responds better to skipper and team commands, even when the wind is scarce. In short, the 4C is lightning fast between curves, the Ice 33 between buoys.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 2: WHEN IT’S FIBER QUESTONE
The fiber in question, of course, is carbon, which in both cases stars in the challenge. On the boat, carbon fiber is used not only for laminating the entire hull, but also on the deck.
On the 4C, the hand-assembled carbon fiber monocoque chassis weighs only 107 kg, and to retain as much of the coupe’s rigidity as possible, the windshield frame and roll cage are also lightweight and strengthened using carbon. Lightness on the Alfa also means 10 percent thinner glass and seats made of carbon and fiberglass. Result: 1-1.

ROUND 3: AGILITY IS KEY
Lightness and agility are characteristics that complement each other. A light and agile boat is immediately noticeable at the helm, is sensitive to the skipper’s small corrections, and reacts imperceptibly. Just as a car is sensitive to steering, very sensitive it would be the case to say for the 4C, which precisely for this reason has renounced any servomechanisms in favor of a control that transmits to the driver every small irregularity of the asphalt.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 4: SPEED TAKES ON DIFFERENT VALUES
In sailing, the concept of maximum speed is always relative since there are many variables to be considered, such as wind, waves, current. To understand it better, while on the 4C the 0-100 (4″5) makes sense, on the Ice this is a more subjective figure; on the water acceleration is perceived by the skipper based on the sensations at the helm. Here lightness and hull lines, in this case very “pulled”, come back into play. So the true figure on acceleration is not comparable, but the sensations are, both of which are exhilarating.
1-1 result.

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ROUND 5: THE SPACE WAR
Have you ever seen a comfortable and spacious one? No. Here, all things being equal, even on the 4C and Ice prioritizing performance meant sacrificing space and comfort. Thus the Alfa’s two dry seats are equivalent to the Ice’s empty, minimalist cabin; the boat’s cockpit is optimized to facilitate crew maneuvering while racing, just as the helm station is designed around the pilot. In both cases, space and comfort are reduced to the bone.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 6: AERODYNAMICS VS. FLUID DYNAMICS
Hull and keel shapes are as valid for a boat as the aerodynamic coefficient on a car. Here, in both cases the focus is considerable, with a body designed to cut through the air and ensure stability even at high speed on the 4C, while on the Ice everything is taken care of to optimize the boat’s response to fluid-dynamic flows: maximum keel efficiency is the most important thing for optimal performance.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 7: DIFFERENT POWERS COMPARED
On the one hand, the boat’s 9.9 hp outboard. On the other hand, the 240 of Italian sportsmanship. On the one hand the thrust provided by the sails, on the other the thrust of the turbo. Any comparison is impossible: water and asphalt are elements too far apart.
Result: 0-0.

ROUND 8: SOUND IN COMPARISON
We risk ideological warfare here. Better the roar of Alfa’s 4-cylinder turbocharged engine or the music of water sliding down the hull? There is no answer: both give strong emotions, but for opposite reasons.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 9: STYLE, IN AND OUT OF THE WATER
Both compact in size. Both conceived in Italy. Both design objects. A ten-meter thoroughbred versus a two-seater sports car, sleek bow and stern versus aggressive nose and tail. They are two beautiful objects, beyond taste and fashion. To own both.
Result: 1-1.

ROUND 10: USEFUL? NO, DELIGHTFUL
The 4C is an uncompromising sports boat; the Ice is a sports boat with minimal interior and zero comfort. The former achieves supercar performance with a “thousand-eight,” the latter is a racing boat but you can transport it on a cart like any dinghy. Wanting, both are essential, pure and fun “toys.”
Result: 1-1.

The challenge is over and there is no winner or loser. Gender differences aside, the elective affinities between 4C Spider and Ice 33 Evo are many. The focus is certainly pure emotions and performance; they are “objects” that move the soul before the body, emotions before reason. If possible, better to have both; they complement each other. The realization of a dream: dominating land and water. Only water remains…