The Alfa Romeo MiTo arrives in New Zealand

I passed by Andrew Simms European tonight and saw the new Alfa Romeo MiTo 'in the metal" for the first time. It's just arrived in New Zealand and I was keen to see how it looked as some of the proportions look strange in the web and magazine photos I've seen, even those carefully framed manufacturer shots.

They had two MiTos (or is the plural just MiTo?) on display: metallic red in the showroom - which is above road level and not very easy to photograph - and a black one in the outside yard.

Squeezing the new Alfa look, inspired by the 8C Competizione, onto a small hatchback has compromised it a little but the real thing looks a lot better than any photograph.

What surprised me is how the 1.72m wide MiTo appears narrower than the Punto (1.68m w) which shares it's platform when viewed from the front. ASE had a 3 door Punto beside the MiTo and the comparison was interesting. The MiTo has a low set vertical grille and lights stacked high on the guard which look fine but are responsible for the occasionally gawky frontal appearance. The Punto has similar lights but its narrow horizontal grille makes the chassis appear wider. The short overhangs and overall length of the MiTo aren't a problem and the back, with large round tail lights, looks better the the Punto which has a plain hatch and vertical lights. The lower you are, compare the red car shot below, the better the MiTo looks. My photos don't really do it justice but rushed hand held snapshots of a black car in the dark aren't going to be award winners!

I only peeked at the interior through the window but it looks far more up-market than the top end Punto models, as it should given the $10-15k price difference. The sprinkling of Alfa, Fiat and Citroën logos on the photos are reflections not Alfa previewing some new Fiat Group alliance!

It's a sign of the times that the 1.4 Litre 4 cyl MiTo puts out the same 114kW (155bhp) as my 2.0 Litre 5 cyl Bravo HGT, although it has a Turbo to help. It also does the same 8 sec 0-100 km/h but the claimed fuel consumption, 6.5 l/100km, is at least 1 l/100km better than the Bravo averages.

I wondered if the Alfa Romeo MiTo styling would work but came away impressed. Although Alfa might cringe at reference to it, given it's rust bucket reputation, I reckon this little Alfa is a worthy successor to the long gone, but not forgotten, Alfasud. It might be more conventional in layout, transverse four rather than boxer, but brings essential Alfa DNA back to the small car market. It also appears the MiTo has a level of build quality the old 'sud deserved, but never achieved. New Zealand only gets one top spec MiTo model and its priced to take on the Mini. I reckon the obese German parody, good as it is, has a real rival in the MiTo.

I don't know how it goes but it looks bellissimo! I wonder if Andrew Simms do extended test drives for bloggers