RE: Blood Brothers: Corsa VXR vs MiTo
Discussion
"Nowhere is that more obvious than on the road where they are hard to split in terms of overall performance and handling, despite taking different approaches to the problem."
erm, since this PH, could we have a bit more on this aspect of the comparison, please - surely the most important angle?
erm, since this PH, could we have a bit more on this aspect of the comparison, please - surely the most important angle?
Jaffo said:
The Vauxhall is just a dreadful chav fest.......it would just be embarrassing to be I seen in.
The Alfa in contrast looks classy both inside and out........
The herd will have the vauxhall(or even a fiesta,Jesus) ....anyone who isn't a sheep will buy the Alfa....
AND................ hav to put up with Alfa delears and resales, no thanks. :-)The Alfa in contrast looks classy both inside and out........
The herd will have the vauxhall(or even a fiesta,Jesus) ....anyone who isn't a sheep will buy the Alfa....
Sadly, modern legislation means that there can be no turning back the clock, but small hot hatches lost the plot after the R5 turbo / Pug 205 era. Despite huge power outputs today, the performance is no better because there is so much weight to haul around. Fat tyres & the then necessary power steering are needed to make all this mass change direction & this blunts the driving experience. They're all munters too. Would you really want to be seen dead in something that looked like the Mito??
Jaffo said:
The Vauxhall is just a dreadful chav fest.......it would just be embarrassing to be I seen in.
The Alfa in contrast looks classy both inside and out........
The herd will have the vauxhall(or even a fiesta,Jesus) ....anyone who isn't a sheep will buy the Alfa....
The Corsa is fine in more subdued colours, in black or white it's no different to a 1.2SXI to the untrained eye, so blends in.The Alfa in contrast looks classy both inside and out........
The herd will have the vauxhall(or even a fiesta,Jesus) ....anyone who isn't a sheep will buy the Alfa....
As for the Alfa, well I hope the mito is better built than the Guiletta. Friend has one, and the dash is like a late-80s Rover, bits of foam peeking out of the edges, big gaps here and there, and the "Blue and Me" bullst stereo is intermittent at best, and has a display like a cheap Dixon's VCR. The wheels are made out of chocolate and the springs out of scaffold poles too. As someone said, Alfa dealers are s too.
FoundOnRoadside said:
The Corsa is fine in more subdued colours, in black or white it's no different to a 1.2SXI to the untrained eye, so blends in.
As for the Alfa, well I hope the mito is better built than the Guiletta. Friend has one, and the dash is like a late-80s Rover, bits of foam peeking out of the edges, big gaps here and there, and the "Blue and Me" bullst stereo is intermittent at best, and has a display like a cheap Dixon's VCR. The wheels are made out of chocolate and the springs out of scaffold poles too. As someone said, Alfa dealers are s too.
Interesting - my mate has a Giulietta and I think it is really well made. he is made up with it. I borrowed one for a day too and found it to be pretty good, though couldn't find a seating position that wasn't all short legs and long arms.As for the Alfa, well I hope the mito is better built than the Guiletta. Friend has one, and the dash is like a late-80s Rover, bits of foam peeking out of the edges, big gaps here and there, and the "Blue and Me" bullst stereo is intermittent at best, and has a display like a cheap Dixon's VCR. The wheels are made out of chocolate and the springs out of scaffold poles too. As someone said, Alfa dealers are s too.
As for your lovely disposable comment about Alfa dealers, fo you have any experience, or are you just regurgitating the usual stereotypes that you heard on Topgear?
I bought my first Alfa a few years ago having previously had no experience of the brand and have found the main dealer support and aftercare to be outstanding. Quite literally restored my faith in main dealers, having been treated like crap in the past by other marques. It has been that which has played a big part in making me quite loyal to the marque and I am now on my third car from them.
blartbox said:
Sadly, modern legislation means that there can be no turning back the clock, but small hot hatches lost the plot after the R5 turbo / Pug 205 era. Despite huge power outputs today, the performance is no better because there is so much weight to haul around. Fat tyres & the then necessary power steering are needed to make all this mass change direction & this blunts the driving experience. They're all munters too. Would you really want to be seen dead in something that looked like the Mito??
I don't get the hate for the Mito. I'll agree it's a very colour-sensitive car and white isn't good on it (IMO it looks best in that dark metallic red), but compared to most of the opposition it's a very good looking car that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than an Alfa. I'd happily be seen in one, certainly over the Corsa VXR.And re. hot hatches, I think it's quite confusing really. Although we're told that the likes of the Astra GTC VXR, Focus ST and Megane RenaultSport are successors to Eighties originals, I don't think they are. They're too expensive and complicated, and given that they've nearly all got coupe-shaped bodywork, I'd say they have more in common with the Fiat Coupe Turbo and VW Corrado.
Things like these are proper hot hatches in my eyes. Small, affordable, cheap to run. Also, like the Eighties hot hatches it seems their styling is a many-splendoured thing. Back then you'd happily draw up outside a respectable restaurant in the ItalDesign-clothed Golf GTI or Pininfarina 205 GTi, but you'd be expected to shuffle to the car park around the back if you were in a garishly-bodykitted Fiesta XR2 or a 5 GT Turbo with wild body graphics.
With that in mind, I'd say these are quite close to Eighties hot-hatches in spirit. The Alfa is a Sud Sprint, with Italian design-house looks and an interior hinting at Maserati-style sophistication, while the Vauxhall is a Nova SRi, all graphics and spoilers, the terror of McDonalds car park.
Good to see that sometimes not as much changes as we're often led to believe.
I'm dangerously assuming that depreciation on these makes them a 2 or 3 year old bargain? That coupled with the old top gear Alfa stories and previous dealer reputations. I spec'd an A1 up on their configurator yesterday and it came to £25,000 so £16-18k (achievable purchase price for vxr or mito) makes them seem good value. Then again, you can get a fabia vrs with dsg for around £14,000.
Pumpsmynads said:
I'm dangerously assuming that depreciation on these makes them a 2 or 3 year old bargain? That coupled with the old top gear Alfa stories and previous dealer reputations. I spec'd an A1 up on their configurator yesterday and it came to £25,000 so £16-18k (achievable purchase price for vxr or mito) makes them seem good value. Then again, you can get a fabia vrs with dsg for around £14,000.
Not sure about the Corsa, but Alfa depreciation isn't what it was. The Mito seems to depreciate at roughly the same rate as the MINI.tosh.brice said:
"Nowhere is that more obvious than on the road where they are hard to split in terms of overall performance and handling, despite taking different approaches to the problem."
erm, since this PH, could we have a bit more on this aspect of the comparison, please - surely the most important angle?
That's your lot. It seems this article was written without actually driving the cars.erm, since this PH, could we have a bit more on this aspect of the comparison, please - surely the most important angle?
I actually have a soft spot for both cars. But i would take the Mito.
The Corsa has no grace. Somehow, it's natural habitat seems to be the carpark of the local Macdonalds, while the little Alfa can be found parked in a side street outside the local independent Italian restaurant with the red and white tablecloths. I know where I would rather eat.
The Corsa has no grace. Somehow, it's natural habitat seems to be the carpark of the local Macdonalds, while the little Alfa can be found parked in a side street outside the local independent Italian restaurant with the red and white tablecloths. I know where I would rather eat.
IanJ9375 said:
Very easy to just jump at the RRP but most people have been picking them up for lot less!
1700 miles here - http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehiclesearch/used/vau...
Fair enough - as a company car driver I always look at the new P11d value though unfortunately...1700 miles here - http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehiclesearch/used/vau...
TNH said:
Fair enough - as a company car driver I always look at the new P11d value though unfortunately...
...and don't forget the CO2.. The VXR attracts 7% (Nurburgring 8%) higher BIK over the Alfa. A 40% tax payer would pay £111 a month with the Alfa, £154 for the boggo VXR and an amazing £190 on the Nurburgring.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff