RE: PH Carbituary: Alfa Romeo Mito
Discussion
Mediocre in the extreme, and the fact they felt it was acceptable to badge it as an Alfa Romeo shows just how much Fiat Group devalued that brand with 20 years of occasionally pretty FWD Fiat lash-ups.
I doubt FCA have either the budget or the attention span to build Alfa back to any sort of 'premium' status now, despite a promising start; it'll take at least as long to build it back up as they have spent tearing it down and FCA seem unable to hold a strategy for more than a year or two.
I doubt FCA have either the budget or the attention span to build Alfa back to any sort of 'premium' status now, despite a promising start; it'll take at least as long to build it back up as they have spent tearing it down and FCA seem unable to hold a strategy for more than a year or two.
ElectricSoup said:
Em, Alfa's first supermini? Wasn't the Sud smaller? Anyway, like the Sud, the Mito should have had a 5 door version. Had there been one, I'd have had one at some point.
The Sud was Golf/Escort sized.In those a days a supermini would have been something like a Renault 5 or a Fiat 127.
dme123 said:
Mediocre in the extreme, and the fact they felt it was acceptable to badge it as an Alfa Romeo shows just how much Fiat Group devalued that brand with 20 years of occasionally pretty FWD Fiat lash-ups.
I had a year 2000 GTV, and my uncle had a Mito at the same time. Both Fiat FWD lash-ups, as you say, but the difference was chalk and cheese. The Mito had zero Alfa character whatsoever. None of the controls felt connected to the car in any way, the engine just did its job, the driving position wasn't Alfa like in any way, which you'd have thought would have been easy to do. My uncle had had a green cloverleaf Sud Sprint previously, so I knew he was disappointed in the Mito, but oh well.I do think it was a pretty car.
It’s the also-ran of the hot-hatch world, but to me that’s what’s appealing.
Years ago my mate brought one home from work and we took it on a good drive along the local a/b-roads.
The Cloverleaf model, and it certainly felt like it had more the quoted 170bhp! My then Astra VXR didn’t feel much quicker afterwards!
I saw a new QV-Line a few months ago, and still looked good after all these years. Sure they have the 0.9l twin-air engine with a smidge over 100bhp, something different to do Fiesta ST-Lines etc.
Years ago my mate brought one home from work and we took it on a good drive along the local a/b-roads.
The Cloverleaf model, and it certainly felt like it had more the quoted 170bhp! My then Astra VXR didn’t feel much quicker afterwards!
I saw a new QV-Line a few months ago, and still looked good after all these years. Sure they have the 0.9l twin-air engine with a smidge over 100bhp, something different to do Fiesta ST-Lines etc.
Never driven one but I have always liked the styling and the QV must be a good laugh to drive? I'm a massive Alfa fan and I have never understood the snobbery that goes towards these from so called enthusiasts. "Oh but it's not a proper Alfa" I hear them say but when was the last proper Alfa? Before Fiat took them over or before they went into partnership with GM?! At the end of the day it's still made in Italy that makes them Alfa enough for me.
Had a couple of Mito 135's from new and loved them both - still love the mito.
The Mito is only really crashy in the lesser models, those without the Koni FSD shocks, but lets face it most small cars will be somewhat crashy on UK roads.
Throughout it's lifespan the MIto suffered from lack of development from Alfa. There must have been so much more they could have done with it. The decision to make the 140 and 170 auto only from around 2015 was a huge mistake.
Alfa's decision to move upmarket by dropping the Mito and losing interest in the Giulietta meant they were effectively dumping customers that had kept them going for the last ten years or so. The cost of a decent spec Giulia is probably not going to appeal to many former Mito owners.
Ironically, at the Geneva motorshow Alfa announced that they are looking at building a new small car to fill the void left by the Mito, having suddenly realised they no longer have an entry level model. Genius!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/NVUZfDcj.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/ZelZlBmK" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/ZelZlBmK.jpg)
The Mito is only really crashy in the lesser models, those without the Koni FSD shocks, but lets face it most small cars will be somewhat crashy on UK roads.
Throughout it's lifespan the MIto suffered from lack of development from Alfa. There must have been so much more they could have done with it. The decision to make the 140 and 170 auto only from around 2015 was a huge mistake.
Alfa's decision to move upmarket by dropping the Mito and losing interest in the Giulietta meant they were effectively dumping customers that had kept them going for the last ten years or so. The cost of a decent spec Giulia is probably not going to appeal to many former Mito owners.
Ironically, at the Geneva motorshow Alfa announced that they are looking at building a new small car to fill the void left by the Mito, having suddenly realised they no longer have an entry level model. Genius!
Ruskins said:
I find it odd that PH choose to completely ignore the new CUV/Hybrid Alfa Romeo showed at Geneva and instead chose to write an article about a model coming to the end of its life and how it wasnt that great.
Tinfoil hat is getting larger ...
I noticed that too. It's been reported everywhere else apart from pistonheads. Not a single line about the Alfa Tonale, which looks awesome by the way.Tinfoil hat is getting larger ...
Any TwinAir owners care to comment?
I like the brand and features and would want one that's cheap on road tax, but I find the comedy wheel arches an inefficient use of area of road taken up. I think I'd lean more towards the Punto despite the interior packaging being the same.
The first photo used how they struggled to colour match the plastic bumpers. Porsche managed to do that on the 1978 ECOTY winning 928.
I like the brand and features and would want one that's cheap on road tax, but I find the comedy wheel arches an inefficient use of area of road taken up. I think I'd lean more towards the Punto despite the interior packaging being the same.
The first photo used how they struggled to colour match the plastic bumpers. Porsche managed to do that on the 1978 ECOTY winning 928.
In 2012 I was split between buying one of theses new, or for the same money a new Abarth Punto Evo. The Abarth offered a lot more for the money while Mito seemed seemed a bit dull. Hence the Abarth won.
When the Abarth went in for some lengthy warranty work I was given a Mito courtesy car.
Admittedly it was a hotter version than the earlier one tested, it was an absolute delight to live with, and being so 'rare' attracted more attention than I expected.
Not a bad little Alfa at all, which reminded me (in a good way) of 'Sud ownership in the early 1980s.
When the Abarth went in for some lengthy warranty work I was given a Mito courtesy car.
Admittedly it was a hotter version than the earlier one tested, it was an absolute delight to live with, and being so 'rare' attracted more attention than I expected.
Not a bad little Alfa at all, which reminded me (in a good way) of 'Sud ownership in the early 1980s.
I had a QV for a year or so - my first car!
I thought they looked great, and was a fun drive - though clearly I didn't have a lot of context to judge it by. 'Normal' setting on the DNA switch made the car incredibly pedestrian, and it always started in that mode which was annoying. Lively enough in 'Dynamic' though, and made a nice noise.
Traded it in when the gearbox issues (periodically didn't want to go into first, a nightmare for a new driver sat at a junction...) turned out to not be covered under the 'approved used' warranty. Very upsetting, but gave me an excuse to buy the M135i I had been lusting after!
I thought they looked great, and was a fun drive - though clearly I didn't have a lot of context to judge it by. 'Normal' setting on the DNA switch made the car incredibly pedestrian, and it always started in that mode which was annoying. Lively enough in 'Dynamic' though, and made a nice noise.
Traded it in when the gearbox issues (periodically didn't want to go into first, a nightmare for a new driver sat at a junction...) turned out to not be covered under the 'approved used' warranty. Very upsetting, but gave me an excuse to buy the M135i I had been lusting after!
I bought a Mito for my sister.
When it was first released, I was a little uncertain about the looks but I am now a big fan. Not sure how that changed, but it did.
Ultimately the Mito 1.4 95hp in that lovely mid blue, just looks spectacular for a sub £3-4k car !
The plastics are hard/scratchy on the side, but that carbon/fabric dash top is nice, the switch gear is fine, they come well specced as standard, the DNA switch is a waste of space (it just needs to be left in dynamic please!) and the steering is a bit average with the electric assistance...but it is a perfectly fine small sized car.
It looks great (imo), it is quirky enough inside, it drives alright, the multiair units are decent (although early ones had a few issues) and they are reliable. Sister has done 40k miles since she bought it used, just chucked a clutch on it, cambelt and top strut mount.
It just isn't exciting/driver focussed like the Giulia. Although if I recall correctly, Vicky Henderson from Fifth Gear rated it better than the Mini (the episode where they drove them around a go kart track)
When it was first released, I was a little uncertain about the looks but I am now a big fan. Not sure how that changed, but it did.
Ultimately the Mito 1.4 95hp in that lovely mid blue, just looks spectacular for a sub £3-4k car !
The plastics are hard/scratchy on the side, but that carbon/fabric dash top is nice, the switch gear is fine, they come well specced as standard, the DNA switch is a waste of space (it just needs to be left in dynamic please!) and the steering is a bit average with the electric assistance...but it is a perfectly fine small sized car.
It looks great (imo), it is quirky enough inside, it drives alright, the multiair units are decent (although early ones had a few issues) and they are reliable. Sister has done 40k miles since she bought it used, just chucked a clutch on it, cambelt and top strut mount.
It just isn't exciting/driver focussed like the Giulia. Although if I recall correctly, Vicky Henderson from Fifth Gear rated it better than the Mini (the episode where they drove them around a go kart track)
Sofa said:
simonrockman said:
I agree, I took my son to Exeter in a QV and it was the crashiest thing ever.
You clearly haven’t driven a MINI on run-flats. 
t! What ranks alongside is telling the tyre fitter you want to fit non-runflats in place of the boneshakers.I am on to my second Alfa Romeo Mito - had a 1.4 TCT Sprint for 2 years and now have a 1.4 TCT QV Line. I absolutely love the Mito and am so annoyed I wont be able to get another. My car still makes me smile, I personaly think it looks fab, and I enjoy driving it. Maybe not to everyone's taste but a unique looking small car with the Alfa badge. I had intended buying a third however might have to drive this one forever. RIP little Mito! 💕
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