Alfa Romeo Mito Quadrifoglio Verde (2014) <b>CAR Review</b> | Road <b>...</b> |
| Alfa Romeo Mito Quadrifoglio Verde (2014) <b>CAR Review</b> | Road <b>...</b> Posted: 12 Jun 2014 07:07 AM PDT The pint-sized Alfa Romeo Mito arrived in 2008, bit still looks fresh after a minor update for 2014. Announced at the 2014 Geneva motor show, the changes mirror that of big-bro, the Giulietta QV. So for the Mito, it’s ciao manual gearbox and bonjourno paddleshifters as it chases down the Audi A1, the new Mini and Peugeot 208 GTI. Why is Alfa going away from the manual? Who wants a manual? It’s pesky rivals like the VW Polo GTI that have convinced the masses â€" and car companies â€" to ditch the manual ’box. Thankfully, the brilliant Fiesta ST still lets you change gears with your feet and left arm, but the Mito gets the dual-clutch as means of ramping up volumes to reduce production costs. It also improves fuel economy, acceleration times and makes it much easier to text while you’re driving…. What are the QV’s stats?There are few changes to the Mito apart from the new gearbox, with the 1.4-litre turbocharged four-pot delivering the same 168bhp as before. Yet the dual-clutcher means that the Mito now covers 0-62mph in 7.3sec â€" a 0.2sec improvement. That places the Alfa between the Polo GTI’s 7.8sec and the Ford Fiesta ST’s 6.9sec. There’s a sub six-second club in this class, and the Mito’s firmly locked out. Fuel consumption between this trio sees Mito’s ahead with 52.3mpg, from the previous 47.1mpg, besting the Ford and VW who both claim 47.9mpg. What’s it like to drive?Again, apart from the gearbox, little has been done mechanically to the Mito. So that means its charming burble remains, although you wouldn’t call it raucous, even when you’re charging hard in it. Tick the sports seat option, as the standard flat chairs are a little hard yet lack support, but the driving position is good otherwise. Around town, the Mito’s size is a bonus, and that new flat-bottom wheel shared with the Giulietta QV looks retro and feels good to hold. The rest of the cabin is okay at best in terms of fit and finish, not quite living up to the visual polish and sparkle it promises. Flick the DNA switch from Normal â€" which adjusts the steering, throttle and adaptive dampers â€" to Dynamic, and the Mito’s at its most aggressive, which doesn’t mean it actually has any aggression. Instead, it lacks brutality, a ferocious attack that the likes of the Fiesta ST can muster, and for a top-line performance model, it’s not good enough. The body roll is managed reasonably, but the steering is vague and you can’t place the Mito with the precision of a Clio RS, for instance. The ride, too, is an odd mix of softness â€" with plenty of lift under throttle â€" and firmness, with small bumps turning into crashes and potholes sending shockwaves through your hips. Verdict Alfa has not yet built a serious performance hatch. The changes to the Mito for 2014 cannot transform a car that lacks a hard enough edge for enthusiast to be drawn away from some brilliant rivals, yet it doesn’t have the polish to pass a performance-luxury offering. The Mito sits in no-man’s-land, and needs to dig in and show some fight if it’s to win the B-road battle. It simply can’t answer its fresher, shaper rivals, and at £22k, doesn’t present strong value. Again, Alfa will have to rely on style to win buyers, rather than substance. >> Can a front-wheel drive Alfa live up to the badge? Sound off in the comments section below
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| Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde (2014) <b>CAR review</b> | Road <b>...</b> Posted: 11 Jun 2014 05:35 AM PDT The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde is much faster to drive than it is to say. The flagship version of the VW Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST rival has been treated to a batch of tweaks for 2014, but the most notable is the arrival of the dual-clutch gearbox lifted straight from the seductive 4C sports car. So the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde is dual-clutch only?Yes. It is available exclusively with paddle-shifters as Alfa follows the likes of the Renaultsport Clio and Ferrari 458 Italia in having no manual option. The six-speed stick is gone, and the dual-clutch is now fitted to the 1742cc (badged 1750) four-cylinder intercooled, turbocharged engine that’s been given an aluminium block and 237bhp for the 4C. That means the Giulietta QV now has 5bhp more than before, and combined with that gearbox, uses less fuel and accelerates faster. Read on for our full Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde review. Is the Alfa Cloverleaf faster?On paper, yes: it now covers 0-62mph in 6.0sec â€" 0.8sec better than the old version, and while that makes it faster than a Ford Focus ST, it’s still shaded by cars like the VW Golf R, Seat Leon Cupra R and the Renaultsport Megane. The dual-clutch transmission has allowed Launch Control for the first time, too, which will hold revs at 3750rpm before a snappy but not exactly gunshot take-off. So while its acceleration is competitive, its £28k kick-off price â€" a £3k hike that makes it near identical to the evergreen Golf GTI's price â€" isn't. The Alfa’s asking price includes the QV’s headlamp surrounds, unique front and rear bumpers, 18in alloys and a 10mm drop in ride height, as well as Bluetooth and sat-nav on a 6.5in touchscreen inside. Yet for that money, you could have yourself the much more potent Subaru STI or Seat Leon Cupra R. Worse still, of you pay £30k for the ‘Launch Edition’ of the Alfa (which gets cosmetic changes including matt paint, and will be limited to 999 units globally) and the three-door manual Golf R comes up again, weighing in with its 5.1sec 0-62mph time. The Alfa’s picked an almighty fight… What’s the Alfa Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde like to drive?This is not a sharp, track-honed hot hatch. Sure, the engine has character in spades with a bassy idle and makes a great noise under load, but it’s noisy around town as it resonates through the cabin at slow speed. Alfa’s worked on the intake of the engine to give a good soundtrack, but it borders on annoying at slower speeds. That’s when you’ll notice the ride: it’s firm, as a sports or performance car’s should be, and the basic, underlying ride is good. Hit a bump, though, and there’s too much crash into the cabin; feed it some revs, and the woeful body control can’t match the eager response of that engine. The gearshifts, too, aren’t as smooth as they should be. Gearshift speed, which is claimed to be ‘faster than a human,’ is okay. The dual-clutch transmission has allowed Launch Control for the first time, too, which will hold revs at 3750rpm before a snappy but not exactly athletic release, despite the 251lb ft of torque being on hand from 2000rpm. But this is not a reactive, obedient corner carver: more a swift, fast version of a wobbly hatch. Why doesn’t it handle?Alfa has not made any change to the QV’s suspension since last time around. There’s no weight improvement, either: the engine’s alloy block saves 20kg, but the gearbox is conversely 20kg heavier, so the 2014 dual-clutch Giulietta QV carries the same 1320kg as the 2013 manual transmission version. You win some, you lose some… That means it’s hampered by body roll that makes changes of direction sloppy, and the excessive lean into corners also shows up the lack of front-end grip: those smart-looking sport seats fail to convince otherwise. It’s easy to make the tyres screech without meaning to. There’s a set of four-piston Brembo brakes up front, and they’re reasonably progressive and not light-switch bitey like you may expect. Nor do they squeal under pressure â€" but then, the QV won’t be going that fast anyway. VerdictBeauty is subjective, but the Giulietta has style that perhaps no other hatch can match. Yet it’s outgunned in terms of equipment, speed, running costs and even emotion â€" that GTI badge has immense pull for VW â€" as well as price. Thankfully Alfa’s future is rear-wheel drive. The Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde merely maintains the status quo for the Italian brand. >> Should the hottest Giulietta be a manual, or has Alfa made the right decision to ditch it for a double-clutcher? Let us know in the comments below |
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