Autocar

(I was with Autocar on this test as a Driver, and I wrote the report below)

MiTo 1.4 155TB Veloce, Mini Cooper S and Fiesta Zetec S

With a drivers eye in mind can the new MiTo make the Mini and Fiesta run and hide?

As I stood surrounded by Suffolk’s open and flat acres of sugar beet and fields of large English pigs I was pondering my first Alfa Romeo experience, one that I hoped would be something to savour and lock away for later. And it started with all the right ingredients as the luxuriously Alfa red draped car rolled to halt before me.

The car on the outside has a very cheeky if not a rather surprised face with more than a few cues taken and distilled from the gorgeous 8C supercar. Its elegant lines immediately makes the attractive Fiesta seem over designed. The flanks that use a rising and rounded waistline with flared arches to a high rear quarter with a squat and stylish rear end complete with twin round LED tail lights that finishes with a simple boot and bumper with pseudo styled diffuser. This all adds up to make an entrancing package. 

The allure does not stop there as you climb aboard and feel the beautifully designed and velvety to touch leather sports seats, the soft touch dash board that effectively apes a carbon weave, and the perfectly sized and textured leather bound steering wheel. The handbrake is a thing of joy to clasp, so soft the leather and cushioning to hold. The minor controls are nicely placed and the whole cabin ambience shouts far more luxury than its £14,745 price tag says it should. With climate control, Bose stereo, blue tooth and MP3 connectivity. It is a great place to sit and view the road from. Then you search for the solid silver painted door release to climb out and your hands first meet course and brittle plastic door capping, that is out of kilter in this car. Brought back to reality I suddenly wonder where else they have unsuccessfully cut costs?  

I had already spent a lot of time in the other two performers on this test and knew them well; dynamically the MiTo has a lot to live up too. The Fiesta Zetec S £12,331- the most potent currently available with its modest 1.6 Ti-VCT 118bhp engine, and the slowest by some margin here - needs no introduction despite its youth. It looks great, young and sporty, with a ride at the top of its class and involves its pilot despite its cosseting nature. And the Mini Cooper S £16,575, the most powerful of the trio here with a spirited 173bhp turbo engine, a good ride, with a more involving chassis. 

First impressions of the MiTo on the road are generally good, you can find a good driving position save for the unusually high - at its lowest setting - adjustable steering wheel that has you raising the seat to suit. The controls are all a little light but smooth and easy to master. There is a poor over the shoulder view but better than the Fiesta, with the large satin finish wing mirrors compensating. Cruising on the motorway the surprisingly torquey small 1.4l capacity 155bhp turbo engine pulls the car up and down to motorway speed with zest once you have pushed past the very long and lethargic throttle. The ride is smooth and you feel relaxed. The ambient noise is a worry, road and wind noise dominate and the stereo although very good struggles to compensate. In contrast the Mini is quieter, with tyre noise making its presence, but the Fiesta here is eerily tranquil by comparison of the other two. You hear a slight thrum of the tyres, the high revving engine at 70mph (this car really needs a sixth gear) is a distant companion, and a slight flutter of air from the large wing mirrors is only audible because the Fiesta’s cabin is so hushed. 

Switching the MiTo’s DNA – Dynamic, Normal and All weather – driving aid software package to Dynamic (but under 65mph only, otherwise it will not engage) has the cars steering weight up, the throttle map sharpen considerably and provides an overboost facility. The car transforms, the throttle now feels natural, precise and sharp to your foots inputs, the engine surges ahead with an instant boost and a gauge pops ups in the central display to show you the turbo’s willingness. The cars steering on the other hand becomes to heavy to move off centre making the gradual turns that we find on our ‘M’ roads a conscience effort. It also becomes very springy in feel and even more unnatural than in Normal mode.

Turning off the onto country roads where we hope the MiTo will shine fast becomes a huge disappointment. The steering, brakes, clutch and the long throw gear selection are devoid of any mechanical interaction. The steering is quick and accurate in both Normal and Dynamic modes, but tells you nothing of the conditions under foot draining confidence from you the first time it understeers. The brakes although fitted with Alfa Romeo logoed red four pot alloy callipers are wooden and require too much pressure belying the rest of the cars lightness. Although they do work very well.

Then there is the ride. Over b-roads the suspension although flat in the corners never settles at any speed, especially the rear that seemingly jars through the cabin and vibrates your kidneys. The MiTo’s rear torsion beam appears to not allow any individual rear wheel movement – despite Alfa stating it is semi independent – and it is as though every consecutive bump is amplified before being transmitted back to the other rear wheel and through the cabin, and so on, wrestling the car. The Mini and especially the Fiesta arrest the same high frequency bumps at higher speeds as if they were not there, the ride on both is smooth and compliant. This car was also fitted with the standard exclusive design 17” wheels; 18” are optional and will surely deteriorate the ride further.

The biggest eye opener with the MiTo was riding at speed over a sutble undulating road. The Fiesta and Mini would soak up the initial compression, stretch its legs over the top and damp the resulting weight in one stroke, then repeat over the next and so on, all as you would expect, fuss-free. The MiTo picked up a bump the others absorbed and did not settle before the first rise, then succeeded to bounce mostly from the rear uncontrollably over the next two, with the suspension going from extremes in extension. And that’s where this car suffers greatly is a lack of damping control. The MiTo’s ‘rebound springs’ that are supposed to help the ‘sporting performance’, clearly do the opposite. 

Jumping from the Mito into the Mini you notice immediately how much more interaction you get with this car, on all levels you become a part of the cars activity of moving forward. The same can be said of the Fiesta, although a little diluted to the playful Mini. You are not merely a passenger but an integral component, one that is rewarded. The Mini’s suspension is stiffer and flatter but better damped and thus it soaks any harshness leaving a composed sporty ride. The Fiesta is softer but equally uses a well groomed chassis package to great effect. The only thing blighting the Mini is sufficient torque steer to have the car darting from left to right on anything except the flattest and driest of surfaces despite its trick LSD like control, but apply a firm grasp and all is not lost.

So can there be a clear winner? No. Where the MiTo scores is on its style and flair, and its cabin alone. It is a good long distance cruiser, second best here, albeit a bit noisy, with a decent boot and average rear seat accommodation. A sense of occasion does rush over you that seems to allow you to forget the ride quality and loss of interface with the road below, and you just enjoy your immediate surroundings and the smiles on faces of the people in the street as you drive past. But here it comes last, as it falls down on too many points, importantly ride; it would eventually become too tiresome even for the most prolific poser. And it only involves the enthusiast driver on one level, acceleration.

Next is more difficult. The Mini with little rear seat accommodation and a small boot is the clear drivers choice, if the least practical, you are so involved and a part of the car, with feel-some, quick and well weighted steering and kart like entertainment. You have a powerful and smooth engine with 0-62mph in 7.2seconds (8seconds in the Mito, and 9.9seconds for the Fiesta), with surprisingly the best fuel consumption on this test. It also trumps on being the best town car here simply because of its all-round visibility and compact dimensions with a compliant ride. The Fiesta is a poor last in town, over the shoulder view has huge blind spots due to its rakish styling for both reversing and pulling out, its large mirrors failing to correct the balance safely. The out stretched A-pillars hide on coming traffic out of most T-junctions and crossroads. Only its superb pothole absorbing ride helps its cause. The Mini is not settled on the motorway though, as its ride although comfortable is too busy to be able to relax fully. The Fiesta is the best for long distance as it is so refined and quiet, despite the lack of a sixth gear – which really hurts fuel economy – and exudes confidence across country, with precise steering, little roll and prodigious grip, but it does not excite in a way the Mini does. So for me the nod has to go the Mini. It may be a ubiquitous choice but this car has style and substance that work together to make a great package for the driver and fashionista alike.

Mark Ahlin

 
your author enjoying the Mini - and the MiTo failing to impress