Alfa Romeo MiTo 2009 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $31,490
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): nil
Crash rating: Five-star (Pre-2009 Euro NCAP)
Fuel: 95 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.1
CO2 emissions (g/km): 145
Also consider: Fiat 500, MINI Cooper, Volkswagen Polo (yet to arrive)

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 2.5/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

About our ratings

Try summing up what the Alfa Romeo MiTo represents and you'll inevitably fail to encapsulate every single aspect of the Italian manufacturer's latest model. It's not as practical as some light shopping trolleys, yet nor is it as overtly sporty as some hot hatches. There are elements of Alfa Romeo's decades-old design philosophy, mixed in with Fiat's current economies of scale expediency.

While it embraces the looks of the 8C Competizione, the MiTo doesn't wear those looks quite as well as the svelte sports coupe. From some angles the MiTo certainly looks charismatic, but the headlight styling doesn't work so well on the small car.

For a car designed by a manufacturer with a long heritage of building driver's cars, the MiTo falls into some of the same traps of those 'heritage driver's cars'. The gearshift is highly reminiscent of the shifter in the pre-Isostatic Alfettas -- meaning it's a bit rubbery and a bit vague.

In the same way, the driving position combines good and bad elements, with the relationship to wheel, pedals and gearshift very much in the same mould as much earlier Alfas -- designed for people with short legs and long arms apparently. It does feature a clear view of the conventional instrument layout through the steering wheel, however, which is good. Calibrations for the speedo and tacho are easily read and, unlike French cars, the Alfa's speedo markings align with Australian around-town speed limits.

We were less impressed by the red LED read-out for trip computer and audio system, which is ugly, for lack of a better word. There's no subtlety about it. The graphics are large and easy to read, in a '640x480 DOS' sort of way, but they're definitely not attractive.

The seats are brilliant. You can hurl the car around in corners and, at no stage, do you feel like your knees are bracing you against the centre console or door trim. They're also quite comfortable and supportive. They actually contribute to the driver's sense of confidence in the car.

There's also enough adjustment to allow you to set up your relationship to the steering wheel and dash pretty well, but the footrest is way too high -- leaving you to feel like your left knee is slightly raised all the time. Perhaps this also contributes to the impression the clutch take-up point feels abnormally low.

As mentioned already, the transmission's shift quality is a bit rubbery and the throws are long. At times you're not sure that you've got the gear you wanted when you're trying to change rapidly. It's not that it's imprecise -- because you do have the right cog -- but there's a moment of uncertainty as you let the clutch pedal up off the floor. It just doesn't always feel like it has slotted into place.

The clutch pedal movement itself is very good and it's possible to shift smoothly without too much fuss. It's effortless as far as that goes. It's also effortless because the engine is torquey and the car will just trickle away on minimal revs. That trait makes the MiTo really good for commuting and easy to drive.

Even from revs below 1500rpm, the engine will happily haul third gear, up hills and all. It's remarkably flexible and, in lower gears, is a blitzer from low to midrange revs. You just don't need to rev much past 5000rpm to extract brisk performance from the engine, which also sounds like an old-fashioned sports motor.

While it's a modern turbocharged powerplant, it sounds full of Weber carbs and low-friction exhaust baffles. It's not by any means a clinical-sounding engine. In character, it performs like an undersquare 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated engine. 

But frankly, the engine struggles a bit above 5000rpm, although the surge of power to that point is muscular. The combination of performance and gearing (and relatively light weight) really make this car something in a straight line -- and this is the low output model, with 88kW of power. Still, its relative lack of top-end makes this reviewer curious about the high-output 114kW version.

In a very un-Alfa way it manages to be frugal without sacrificing too much charm. Fuel consumption averaged 7.9L/100km, over an equal mix of commuter traffic, performance testing and freeway work for the week.

The MiTo offers good grip, although the car will spin a wheel away from a standing start, traction control or not. There is a little torque steer occasionally detectable in lower gears, but both dynamic traits are acceptable in the little Alfa.

Steering provides top-tier feedback even in Normal mode. Operating in the 'DNA' Dynamic setting, it becomes demonstrably heavier, but doesn't necessarily add much else.

Turn-in is very good and the car holds a measured line, even with power applied. You're aware that the front wheels are doing the bulk of the work in the corners but at times you do feel a slight loss of body control at the rear, when the stability control system intervenes. It can be ungraceful and slightly abrupt. There is a definite shift in the car's stance when that occurs, but most drivers won't experience this, except in the event of an emergency. Other small cars probably provide a better ride/handling compromise, even without the Alfa's DNA system.

Although the Alfa owes a bit to Fiat, it's head-and-shoulders above the latter company's Ritmo model for steering and suspension.

Ride comfort is good over secondary-level imperfections, but you do find that over larger bumps and irregularities there's more noise from the suspension and trim fittings in the rear. The Alfa rides better at lower speeds, but feels less settled as the pace increases. This sort of suspension set-up can result in the MiTo being knocked offline by mid-corner bumps.

Tyre noise is refreshingly low, even on coarser surfaces. Most of the noise at open-road speeds emanates from the engine, with a touch of wind noise mixed in as well. While there's a certain 'rawness' about the drivetrain NVH in the MiTo, it's welcome rawness, as opposed to the comfortable numbness of a car like Toyota's Prius, for example. And also, rawness in the case of the Alfa is really too strong a word. It's actually quite refined as a tourer.

The MiTo has two-stage 'lane-change' indicators, which we like.

The packaging makes it clear that the MiTo is a small car by any standard. Headroom in the rear is adequate for adults if the trip is a short one. There's not a whole lot of legroom in the rear, although there is adequate kneeroom for adults. They're very much designed for kids.

As a further example of the MiTo's packaging, you cannot easily lower the rear seats flat to extend the luggage capacity if the front seats are set too far back. So front-seat legroom becomes an issue if you wish to carry larger goods in the back.

Even with the front seats set at a distance that would only be comfortable for adults of average height or shorter, the rear-seat back-rest is a bit of a squeeze folded down. From the driver's point of view, you wouldn't want to be sitting much further forward to accommodate the folding rear seats, since the pedals seems quite close to the driver as is.

And folding the rear-seat backrests forward presents its own challenge. The release catches need to be pushed towards the rear of the car, as the backrest is pulled forward. In other words, it will be a two-handed affair for many users, while leaning in through the front door and past the tilted front seat. You can't step into the rear-seat footwell to do this if the seat base is folded forward for a flat loading floor. It's just ergonomically tricky.

In defence of the car's seating, the seat-return memory is very impressive. After tipping forward for access to the rear seat, the front seat will return to exactly the last position. This doesn't sound like rocket science, but it's surprising how many car companies get this wrong.

For its size, the MiTo offers a deep boot. The car comes with a spacesaver spare, but looks like it could accommodate a full-size spare if the owner prefers.

Fit and finish are good, with plenty of soft plastics, rubber for the HVAC controls, leather-bound steering wheel/gearknob/handbrake grip, and a durable, glossy decorative trim for the centre fascia, door handles/armrests. The overall look is attractive -- other than the red LEDs already mentioned.

Outboard adjustment for the driver's side mirror is inadequate. That seems to be more a design flaw than a build quality issue though. As a consequence, you have a designed-in blind spot to the ¾ right rear. When backing the MiTo, the field of vision to the rear is not that crash-hot, especially looking over the right shoulder.

A couple of minor issues in respect of convenience features in the cabin of the MiTo. The cupholder in the centre console is only wide enough to accept cans of Red Bull; it won't accommodate standard-sized soft drink cans. There's a Volkswagen/Audi-like flip-up centre armrest. As in the German cars, it will foul your elbow as you attempt to release the handbrake, unless you have it flipped back.

Credit to the Alfa's interior designers, they've placed the cupholder forward of the gear shifter and to the left -- well out of the way of the driver. The DNA toggle switch is arguably a stretch and the switch has to be held fast for a couple of seconds before the system changes to a different mode. In other words, you can't just knock it into a different mode.

The MiTo is quite a practical car in a lot of respects. Packaging and interior space are at a premium, with the driving position in need of some revision -- but it's a car of surprisingly little quirkiness otherwise.

But would you choose this car over the imminent Volkswagen Polo 1.2-litre TSI or indeed the GTI version of the new VW? This tester wouldn't...

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