Road test: 2009 Alfa MiTo.

Based on Fiat’s Grande Punto platform and designed with the exotic Alfa Romeo 8C in mind, the Alfa Romeo MiTo (for Milano and Torino) is the firm’s answer to the Mini. Only available only in a three-door, it’s also the first in a two-part replacement of the aging 147: a new five-door only car rumored to be badged Milano will be introduced in the next few years and the 147 will be phased out at that time.

I recently had a chance to sample a gasoline-powered 120hp 1.4 T-jet MiTo equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission. When I first drove off in the car I was anything but impressed – it seemed slower than my daily driver 1997 Fiat Brava, 200cc bigger but also heavier. I was expecting it to be much faster and briefly wondered if I mistakenly hadn’t released the hand brake all the way. Once I got the rpms up it picked up a bit but as soon as I hit a roundabout and had to build up speed again I found myself cursing the acceleration.

However, this lack of performance changes thanks to the so called “DNA system” that is already in use on the Fiat-Abarth 500. A little above and left of the gearshift sits a switch that allows the driver to select between three settings: “Dynamic”, "Normal" and "All Weather". Going from “Normal” to “Dynamic” turns the MiTo into a completely different car – it becomes noticeably faster and more responsive, the steering becomes tighter and the braking becomes more effective; with a simple flip of a switch the car is enjoyable and drives like a proper Alfa. In the aforementioned mode the engine seems to beg you to take the rpms higher and higher as it delivers its full cavalry of 120 horses. Switching modes also makes for tighter steering and more effective braking, making the MiTo a real joy on twisty backcountry roads. Alfa’s active suspension shines on tight corners and the car makes you feel as if you’re in total control of it at any given moment. The ESP (standard on all MiTos) is there to help you out if this feeling turns into an illusion.

It’s not the go-kart that the Mini is but one has to keep in mind it wasn’t designed to be; it was designed with Alfa’s heritage in mind, not Mini’s, and it’s just as enjoyable to drive as its competitor but in a different way, the Mini being a tad more on the sport side and the Alfa being just a little more on the touring side. The downside to this mode is the fuel consumption (around 8 litres/100 kilometres normally) rises. It is worth noting that the MiTo is available with Alfa’s proven JTD common-rail diesel engine for customers concerned with fuel economy.

The “Normal” mode is more for casual around town driving with optimized economy and safety. The steering is looser to aid in parking and tight maneuvers, the suspension is a bit softer to give a more comfortable ride and, as mentioned above, the car is less responsive.

The “All Weather” mode is for driving in adverse weather condition and provides more safety and grip on slippery roads by stepping up the ESP, amongst other features.

It seems Alfa has learned some valuable lessons in ergonomics in the last twenty years and all the controls are logically placed on the dashboard. Keeping true to the car’s overall design theme, the latter looks like a minimized version of the 8C’s dash. I especially appreciate the use of real gauges for the instrument cluster made up of a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge and temperature bath, all functions that find themselves increasingly replaced by analog units.

The equipment level is average and includes electric windows, ESP and manual air conditioning are standard on all trim levels. The list of options is rather large and can easily add thousands of Euros to the price. Available options include bigger rims (16”s come standard), a sunroof, an automated air conditioning system and some high tech gadgets such as an iPod plug-in and a way to connect your Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone.

An interesting option is the ability to order either a 4-seater or a 5-seater. With the 4-seater the MiTo turns into a 2+2 of sorts, four adults can comfortably fit in the car. The rear seats fold down as a whole in this configuration. In the 5-seater configuration, the rear seats fold down in a 40/60 manner and Alfa claims you can seat five adults back there but you can’t guarantee comfort for the guy who takes the middle seat. Trunk space remains the same in both configurations and is adequate for a car that size, the only problem with it being that the load level is too high and makes loading bulky objects tricky. Rear visibility isn’t fantastic due to the thickness of the C pillars.

Alfa paid attention to the safety of this car and numerous airbags are available, including one designed to protect the driver’s knees in the case of a crash. As a result, the MiTo scored five stars on the Euro NCAP crash test, making it one of the safest cars in its category, and it received a 3.35 out of 4.00 in a new test that determines how well the front seats prevent whiplash.

A downside is that despite the efforts put forth by Alfa, the build quality isn’t up to par yet. For example, the pull-out storage compartment on the left side of the dash was broken and the car only had a few hundred kilometers on it. It does feel much more solid than the Alfas of ten years ago, the effort put into making better-built cars is noticeable.

Starting at 15,000 Euros for a base 78hp 1.4 model without options, the MiTo is a good deal if you can do without a lot of the superfluous options (GPS, leather wrapped gearshift, back up radar, etc). If you want a loaded one, plan on making your wallet considerably lighter.

Grocery Getter

You don't often see exotic English supercars parked in front of your local supermarket, but this Lotus Exige S was spotted in front of a Wegmans in Erie a few days ago. The perfect choice for making 148 mph runs to pick up a few rolls of toilet paper - which you may very well need after a spirited drive in this machine. 

The Exige S features a supercharged 1.8 litre Toyota sourced four cylinder producing 218hp mated to a 6 speed engine and is good for a 0-60 time of just a tad over 4 seconds. 

Pennsylvanian Pickup

Volkswagen began producing the Mk 1 Golf/Rabbit based pickup truck in 1979 at their new North American plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. It was the VW attempt to cash in on the new compact truck segment that was gaining significant popularity at the time. 

Natrually, the prime location of this market was in the United States. Cleverly, VW decided to base their new compact truck on the Rabbit which was already being built in the States, thus saving on development, tooling, and shipping. 

This particular example found its way to my place of employment at Wolfgang's Foreign Car Service in Erie, PA - about 200 miles from it's original assembly point. The body, while recently painted, is showing some signs of corrosion, but overall, the truck is in remarkable condition considering the less than stellar rust-proofing and 25 years of PA weather. 

The interior is also in fair shape, though the vinyl on the dash is getting a bit lumpy and puffy with age. Poor interior quality was a frequent complaint of the Pennsylvania-built Rabbit cars and trucks. 

Like many of the Rabbit trucks, this example is a 1.5 litre diesel with roughly 50hp. Needless to say, it's barely fast enough to get out of it's own way. 

Great Automotive Failures: the Mercedes-Benz w168 A-Class.

The Mercedes-Benz w168 A-Class created a big buzz in the press months before its launch in 1997. Understandable, it was the first front-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz and it was that firm’s first venture into the relatively new compact minivan market, not to mention one of the first luxury offerings in that market. It caused such a stir that diecast models of it were already available around the time of its launch; I recall red getting a 1:18 Maisto A-Class for Christmas that year.

It wasn’t exactly pretty but compared to the other cars born that same year (Plymouth Prowler, Isuzu VehiCROSS) it didn’t look too bad. Plus, the boxy design meant the A-Class could boast about its exceptional interior room for a car that size. To add to that room, all seats except for the driver’s were removable making for a very versatile car. Mercedes-Benz developed a plethora of safety features including the use of numerous airbags and a system that pushed the drivetrain under the passenger compartment in the event of a front crash.

The excitement this car generated faded when it was released to the press and Swedish magazine Teknikens Värld took the car through their moose test, a test which consists of making a sudden maneuver at high speed to avoid an object in the road. The A-Class rolled, failing the test miserably. The problem wasn't confined to Sweden for very long and other European magazines put the car through similar tests. When these journalists also rolled the A-Class while trying to avoid imaginary moose, the car became the Corvair of our generation; rarely in history has a car suffered from such a notoriously bad reputation after its launch. Even the youngest ones amongst us remember borrowing Auto Plus from our uncle and glancing at the cover to find a brand new Mercedes-Benz A-Class going around traffic cones on one wheel.

Stuttgart’s first reaction was to deny the problem existed, a strategy that had proven remarkably effective in the early 1990s regarding the 350SD’s rod-bending character. When the problems became widely reported in international press, Mercedes realized they were dealing with an issue that they could not afford to ignore.

They recalled all the cars that had been sold already (2,600, according to sources) and stopped production until the problem was fixed. While early speculations centered on the car being fitted with the wrong kind of tires, the problem was solved by retrofitting ESP in recalled cars and adding it as standard equipment across the A-Class range. The rear suspension on all models was stiffened as well, making for a bouncy but safer ride. Lucky for them, these modifications solved the problem and the same readers who saw the A-Class going around traffic cones on one wheel now saw the recalled A-Class going around those same cones on all wheels. These were tested all around Europe and most every magazine found them safe.

Today, the early problems the w168 encountered have mostly been forgotten: the car managed to have a successful career and, along with the Renault Scenic, helped launch the craze revolving around small minivans: the controversial Fiat Multipla was launched in 1998, the Citroen Xsara Picasso in 1999 (still in production, I might add), the Ford Focus C-Max in 2003 and so on. This is a market segment where the Mercedes-Benz star doesn’t matter as much as interior space and amenities and the A-Class shines in both of those respects. So successful was the recalled A-Class that it managed to spawn a successor in 2004, the w169 A-Class, available as a three or four door and capable of avoiding a moose while staying on four wheels from the get go.

Photos of the early rolled A-Classes are hard to find; even as a kid I was impressed enough by the Auto Plus issue where the A-Class is first tested and rolled that I kept it but it is a continent away and therefore useless. All I was able to find is this:

British cars.

For those of you who think we don't feature enough British cars, here are a bunch from a recent trip to the UK:

Triumph 2000 in Manchester:


Hillman Imp in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh:

Reliant Robin (and a friend's TDI-equipped Defender 110 in the background)

Very popular cars since according to British law, a vehicle with three wheels is classified a motorcycle provided its engine doesn't exceed a certain size (determined by cubic centimeters). That meant these three wheeled Reliants were cheap to register. Safety concerns killed them.

Austin Metrocab, an interesting if unsuccessful attempt to replace the traditional English taxi:

E36 wagon:

Obviously not British but interesting nonetheless. Rarely seen here in France, they're around in the UK because Brits share a certain affinity for station wagons.

Mini Moke.

Contrary to what its looks may suggest, the Mini Moke is actually a factory-produced car, not a kit car. Introduced in the 1960s, it's based on the original Mini and was originally developped to pitch to the British Army who showed very little interest in it. It instead appealed to folks who lived near the beach and needed a summer car to get around. It was to the Mini what the Citroen Mehari was to the 2CV. This particular one was appropriately enough spotted in Carry, France.

Mystery car.

I found this car while hiking in the hills behind Marseille. It was burned and pushed down a cliff many, many years ago. Who can guess what kind of car it is?

Here are some hints:

- metal bumpers.
- four doors.
- four lug wheels (as opposed to the three lugs of so many French cars of yesteryear)
- four cylinders, single carburetor.
- rear wheel drive, manual transmission.
- not an OHC engine.
- rear taillights appear to be upright.