FIRST DRIVE: ALFA ROMEO MiToBeware Mini Cooper and Audi A1, the Alfa Romeo MiTo embodies style, safety and comfort, writes Paddy Comyn.
WITH ALL this talk of recession, CO2emissions and downsizing, the demand for small, funky, fuel-efficient cars looks set to rise. And that, thankfully, doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.
BMW's Mini reminded us back in 2001 that small didn't have to mean low-quality. Fiat recently added to this with their cute 500, which harks back to an era where a car could be desirable thanks to its functionality and friendliness. With cars like the Audi A1 coming down the line, we are seeing prestige brands cutting their dimensions and subsequently their carbon footprint in order to balance their environmental balance sheets.
Small Alfa Romeos are not new. Those of you with petrol running through your veins will have a portion of your heart reserved for the Alfa Sud, which were small, sporty, compact saloon and hatchbacks produced from 1971 to 1989. They were light, stylish, agile and generally rusted horribly.
The MiTo is not an Alfa Sud but it is their new entry-level car, sitting below the 147 and aimed squarely at prestige compact cars such as the Mini. The name, a mixture of Milan - the city of design that gave the car its style - and Torino (Turin) - where it is built - was chosen by a competition winner in a car magazine. The styling, by an Argentinian, is pure Alfa Romeo, with many of the styling cues of the 8C Competizione supercar rather than the designs of old. The grille, front lights and rear LEDs are all inspired by the flagship supercar and hint at the future design theme of impending Alfas. "This is a car that has been built by Alfisti, for Alfisti," said Alfa Romeo boss, Luca De Meo, at the car's launch in Milan.
The MiTo will arrive in Ireland in right-hand drive guise in January 2009, with three petrol and two diesel engines. The petrols are a normally aspirated 1.4-litre with 95bhp and two turbo-charged versions with 120bhp and 155bhp.
There will also be diesel offerings in the form of a 1.3-litre 120bhp, 1.6-litre JTD Multijet. The 1.3-litre diesel, according to Fiat Ireland's COO, Adrian Walsh, could be tweaked to reside in Band A by the time it comes to Ireland. Also in the pipeline is a 230bhp, 1750cc MiTo GTA, which will surely be the most powerful car in its class. Among the technology fitted as standard to the MiTo is a device called 'Alfa DNA', which acts on the engine, brakes, steering, suspension and gearbox, allowing for three different vehicle behaviour modes based on the requisite driving style.
These include Dynamic, Normal and All-weather (DNA, get it?) - with the first setting for performance, the second for most situations and the latter when weather conditions get tough. A second innovation fitted to the MiTo is the Q2 electronic system, which helps with traction accelerating out of a bend. Finally, DST (Dynamic Steering Torque) applies torque to the steering wheel to suggest the correct manoeuvre to a driver by counter-steering in an over-steer situation.
The driving position in the MiTo is good. The interior layout is clear and quite funky, and the quality feels like it has seen an improvement to what we are used to. We tried the 1.4-litre 155bhp and 1.6-litre 120bhp JTD diesel at launch. On the road, the MiTo doesn't quite have the steering feel that we had hoped for. Sure enough the car remains quite flat through corners, with little in the way of body roll in evidence, but the steering feels dead around the centre, even in Dynamic mode and this is somewhat disappointing. The engines, especially the 1.4-litre 155bhp are impressive and feel suitably perky, a must for this type of car.
While the diesel might not have the noise that owners on this class desire, its fuel consumption and low emissions should make it a great choice, especially when the 1.3-litre diesel comes along. It's a sporty car, but it doesn't have the go-kart quality of a Mini and doesn't feel quite as well planted on the road either. Comfort is good for a sporty hatch, but all too often its runs out of suspension travel and bashes into the tarmac. This and the dead steering need to be sorted out to make this a car to rival Mini's prowess.
With seven airbags and a host of driver's aids - such as vehicle dynamic control, stability control, traction control, that Q2 differential and the DNA system thrown in as standard - this should be a safe little car and Alfa Romeo is expecting a five-star Euro NCAP score in a future safety test.
There are no firm details on pricing just yet, but this will be a premium super Mini. Walsh was able to tell us that the car will come in "under €20,000" and that will mean it will undercut the most basic Mini One with a whole lot more equipment as standard. Left-hand drive examples will hit Irish showrooms towards the tail-end of this year, with deliveries of right-hand drive models starting in January.
We think there is room for more premium small cars in the Irish market and this one is very likeable. Its three-door only body style will give it limited appeal to an audience of buyers, but it provides an entertaining, quirky and funky alternative to the three-door family car. This is certainly a good start to Alfa Romeo's latest new journey.
Factfile: Alfa Romeo MiTo
Engine:1368cc four-cylinder turbo putting out 155bhp and 230Nm of torque. 1483cc four-cylinder diesel putting out 120bhp and 320Nm of torque
Transmission:six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Max speed:1.4 155bhp 215 km/h
1.6D 120bhp 198 km/h
0-100km/h: 1.4 155bhp 8.0seconds
0-100km/h: 1.6D 120bhp 9.9 seconds
Fuel economy:1.4 155bhp 6.5 l/100km (43.4mpg)
1.6D 120bhp 4.8l/100km (58.8mpg)
CO2: 1.4 155bhp 153g/km (Band C 20 per cent VRT/ €290 Road Tax)
1.6D 120bhp 126g/km (Band B 16 per cent VRT/ €150 Road Tax)
Price:TBA - due to start under €20,000