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Alfa Romeo MiTo


What the Alfa Romeo MiTo lacks in size, it makes up for in performance

By Tristan Honeywill

Since taking over as Alfa Romeo’s chief executive at the end of last year, Fiat Group’s marketing chief Luca De Meo has set the company’s sights on getting itself into shape by 24 June 2010. The deadline is the 100th anniversary of the introduction of Alfa’s first car, the 24HP.

Created by chief engineer Giuseppe Merosi, the vehicle established the Milanese company’s reputation for building durable, elegant cars with seriously fast top speeds – 100km/h was a lot back then. But, after a spectacular streak of success in Formula One in the 1950s, financial setbacks and quality issues in the 1970s tarnished the brand. Since Alfa Romeo came under the control of Fiat in the mid-1980s, restoring its image and profits has been a slow process that has only recently started to show signs of real results.

Last year’s 8C Competizione supercar was Alfa’s manifesto. The task of turning its message into something bankable falls to the MiTo, a car that puts Alfa Romeo into the premium compact car segment for the first time.

It’s a big step for the stylists from supercar to supermini. Some of its shapes may come from the 8C, but the MiTo has very different proportions: 4.06m long, 1.44m high and 1.72m wide. Large wheel arches and distinctive side windows aim to reduce the car’s visual height, and its round headlights and large front grille make it look sporty, but not aggressive.

The vehicle’s performance is its best asset. “Alfas have to be sporty, but the market no longer just looks at horsepower or engine displacement,” says De Meo. “Downsizing and good power-to-weight ratios will be our key attributes.”

The small car segment is a good place to start. The Mini continues to do well out of this trend, and the number of small cars with premium attitudes is going to increase in the next few years. The 1.4-litre gasoline turbo MiTo produces 114kW (155hp) and weighs just 1,145kg. To get a Mini with a better power-to-weight ratio, you’d have to buy the Cooper S version.

Beginning a minor product offensive with an entry-level Alfa also allowed the engineers, led by vehicle line executive Mauro Pierallini, to take advantage of the strength of the basic structure of the Grande Punto and Fiat’s growing confidence in virtual engineering.

Fiat has recruited a lot of young engineers to support its investment in the technology; the average age of the company’s CAE engineers is reckoned to be 30-32. Having a lot of the existing crash data and durability work already logged allowed them to produce the basic MiTo in just 16 months and to spend more time on the fine-tuning of its distinctive chassis set-up.

“An interesting side-effect of developing faster is that the whole team works in a state of greater tension and operates much better,” says Pierallini. “The Grande Punto platform meant we started with the right weight and torsional stiffness (101.200daNm/rad), but we made changes to the suspension, brakes and steering. Drivers don’t experience individual components; they feel the tuning of all the parts, and we could validate the design earlier to focus more on this.”

Noise levels and vibration modes are different, so the car sounds and drives like an Alfa, not a Fiat or Lancia. Further work on the exhaust and intake to improve the timbre of transients means the relationship with other Fiat models feels more distant than with some other OEMs’ platform efforts.

The suspension is an important part of the equation. The front has a MacPherson layout, and a torsion beam is used at the rear instead of a more expensive multi-link. It makes up for this by using coilover dampers.

During cornering, only the inner wheel shock absorber springs stretch; the outer wheel shock absorbers remain compressed. As a result, the outer tyres grip the road a bit more firmly and the roll centres are lower.

“It compensates for the damper’s rigidity and reduces body roll,” says vehicle dynamics director Phillipe Krief. “We wanted to be as a go-kart on bends without compromising comfort.”

Its track is quite wide for the size of car – 1.48m – and having its centre of gravity close to the roll axis helps the car to achieve a roll angle of 3.8°/g. Alfa also makes clever use of the electronic stability control (ESC), networking with the steering and engine to get more performance out of the chassis. When a dual-clutch transmission version is introduced, it will link with that too, altering the speed of gear changes.

Alfa packages the system in its “DNA” device, a switch above the gearstick with three settings: Dynamic, Normal and All-weather. In Dynamic mode, the engine map increases the 1.4-litre, 114kW (155hp) gasoline engine’s torque from 206Nm to 230Nm. Throttle response is crisper, the exhaust burbles a little louder, and a display tells the driver how much pressure the turbo is producing.

The setting also initiates the Q2 system, which achieves an effect similar to a self-locking differential by braking the inside wheel during turns, so that the torque applies to the outer wheel where grip is greatest. Lateral acceleration increases from 0.95g to 1g.

The Direct Steering Torque system also comes on, applying a slight torque to the steering wheel to help the driver compensate for oversteer, retarding the point at which the ESC intervenes. In All-weather mode, it can help the driver to keep the car on course if it hits split-mu surfaces.

The Italian test route took us north of Monza through Lissone, climbing into the hills surrounding Lake Como. Carefully avoiding cyclists relishing the punishment of a steep ascent in 35°C and probably equally tortuous descent around bumpy hairpin bends, the MiTo’s suspension placed the car decisively on the road and smoothed out the ride, helped no doubt by the front seats with lumbar supports optimised to absorb vibrations.

Unlike some cars with a sports mode, the MiTo’s normal mode does not feel like a compromise. But the steering ratio of 12.9:1 can be a little too direct at high speeds – the car requires a lot of little corrections to keep its lane.

At €17,950 to €20,350 (£14,175 to £14,975 in the UK), the 1.4 seems like the obvious choice, but the car will also be available with a 1.6-litre, 89kW (120hp), 320Nm turbodiesel.

A special Junior version will have a normally aspirated 1.4-litre gasoline engine with an output of 58kW (78hp) and maximum torque of 125Nm. It seems a strange addition to the range, except for the fact that the Junior’s power/weight ratio will be within a limit of 50kW per tonne set by new Italian laws for those who have recently passed their driving test.

A marketing campaign that involves YouTube, mobile phones and blogs will make internet stars of the young Alfisti. The idea is to get them into an Alfa early – they can always buy a better engine later.

Their choice will widen next year when the company introduces a gran turismo alleggerita (GTA) version with a 1,750cc turbocharged GDI unit with variable valve timing. It aims to be the “best four-metre car ever,” and engineers are focusing in particular on the car’s 80-120km/h acceleration.

The MiTo will be one of a number of models that De Meo plans to launch in the next two years. The target is vague: “more than in the past 10 years”. In terms of quantity, that may not be that bold. But, if they’re all as fitting as the MiTo, Alfa should have a bit of extra cash for the party.

Suppliers to the Alfa Romeo MiTo