ALFAGTV6.COM

[PietereQ]

If dieties of technology and art would have conceived a child, it would have taken the form of 8C Competizione.

Sorry for the quality, my digi-cam had a bad day most apparently















Perspective from the rear window


This 8C is a show car, that is, it differs from the actual 8C in few visual and technical aspects; different exterior decals (the way the hood is opened for starters - a'la E-type) interior is a bit different, and most importantly it's manual tranny, so i had a chance to compare shifter travel to my newly rebuilt tranny - slightly better than mine

But 8C's purpose was to promote the MiTo...











4pot, 300mm rotors on a city car for around 20K Euros Few years back these were the brakes on 156 GTA...

First what struck me, was that the car looks WAY a lot better in reality than on photos. As far as interior is concerned, it looks great. Honestly. I have never seen before such cool material imitating carbon, with intresting facture, and structure. I have test driven one too. 1,4 T-jet 150Hp 230nm and 1140kg! For its segment i think it's total overkill in means of style, performance, and technology. Cool feature is a switch a'la Manettino from F430 wchich controls suspension stiffness, steering, turbine control etc. I can say that it is a very nimble car, actually i can say its a fast car, and handles great. If I was to buy a new daily driver, the choice would be simple

[GTV27]

glad to hear the mito looks better in the flesh - but that's not saying much

and what's the point of using a drop dead gorgeous car to promote something that looks like its taken some whacks with the ugly stick???

nice brakes though...

[PietereQ]

Well of course theres point. Everybody wants 8C and few will be able to get one, but many will be able to purchase "baby 8C". 8C was noting more than part of marketing campaign for MiTo. But, luckily there is rumored 8C gta and the 8C succesor sharing it's floorplan with ferrari california.

[MD]

For the life of me I cannot see the Aussie crowd buying the MiTo even with a blindfold. It's true the they do buy some of the ugliest cars on the planet mainly from Asia because they are cheap throw away transport. But this little sucker isn't in the cheap league but is a front runner in the Ugly Olympics.

...breaks my heart to see the name ALFA on it.

A slice of heaven it isn't. A slice of hell it is.

[Barry]

Not sure I agree with you here Mike..The final rendition of the MiTo is actually very pleasing to the eye..
I know that is going to be horrendously expensive here and that after sales will be worth nothing,but that aside I would seriously look at it personally...

[gords]

Hey Barry, long time!
I agree with you... when you look at it's competition here in Europe, I think they may have nailed it - given people in the market for an economical 'little' car an option for something with a bit of character.

Can u send me ur email/ tel no. We're planning on a trip home in feb and it'd be great to do dinner etc.
(BTW - we're not getting dogs on the flight deck just yet.... they've had problems with them peeing on the avionics and causing the same headaches as when we spill our coffee, but I hear they're working on it).

[Cassin]

Detailed review of the Mi.To:

For an excellent, detailed review of the Mi.To with lots of photos, take a look at the very British-style article in TopSpeed at:

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/alfa-romeo ... 53994.html

Looks like a great Alfa response to current market exigencies without sacrificing Alfa character. And it sure looks better than the VW Beetle or the Smart Car.

Has anyone in the group driven one yet?

[ALFA GTV6 GP]

Yes but you would have to be female, really really old or gay to drive one!

[Daniel]

My wife thinks it looks like a cartoon character beetle ("Bugs Life" style). Even Australian females look like they won't buy it.
I certainly wouldn't buy it, I'd rather save for the rest of my life to never afford the 8C.

[Cassin]

At 20k Euros (about $30k USD), it's a pretty steep price, compared to its competition. Other than opinions about its aesthetics, has anyone on the Forum driven one? Any opinions about performance yet?

[MD]

20k Euros equates to around $35 000 AUD give or take a coupe of beers. That takes the price of this car into the area of a wide range of cars available on the market here and I am sure even more so elswhere. Here's a few that could be on the menue, some a little more but offering far more value and some considerably less and offering a ton of charisma if that is what you want out of a small car. None could be said to equal the Alfa mechanicals in character and specs but is that all there is to it? Perhaps not, you be the judge...the last numbers represent OZ purchasing bucks. The Liberty is not exactly a scene stealer but it is a fine machine that is well made. However to me, the value here is the Ford XR6 which is a long wheel based local production car that britsles with specs and suits the OZ huge open spaces and interstate trips to do it with pace and gristle for just a few grand more (Euro).

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/ContentS ... &c=DFYPage

[PietereQ]

has anyone on the Forum driven one? Any opinions about performance yet?

I have. For what i can say in terms of acceleration it may be faster than a stock gtv6. Handling for a fwd car is very nice, if you try you can provoke the car to go sideways but electronics cuts in - unfortunately ESP cannot be turned off. It's hard to put all its merits in words so let me point few out:

-D.N.A system - controls, boost, suspension firmness, throttle response, clutch work, and steering sensivity - none of the cars in it's segment have those (we are actually talking about "upper class" city cars ; Mini Cooper S methinks is the only real rival for MiTo, maybe sirocco, but who on earth would ever compare vw to alfas

-New T-jet engines, mito with it's 1,4 turbocharged engine gets 155hp and 230Nm, Max torque is acheved @ 3000rpm, what i can say, this engine runs out of power around 5700rpm. Afair the range of t-jet engines is by now 120-220hp, (same guts) which means you could easily and safetly squeeze 20-30 hp more just with electronics.

-Weighs only 1140kg. Some of you may laugh but in Europe obsessed with - eco - safetly fetish that's a feather weight. Super-duper limited editon Megane Rs26 (or something like that)- being THE SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT VERSION is 1260 kg! now that's funny.

-Stock LSD. Called by alfa E-Q2 - unlike "normal" Q2 which is simply a torsen type diff, E-Q2 uses brakes to stop the spinning wheel to transfer torque/power via diff to the wheel which can maintain more torque - different approach but technically it's an "electronic torsen". hence 4 pot calipers and 300mm rotors.

-By far coolest interior available (my opinion) but seats smeel too much with grande punto

-Prices start at 16K Euros (for 1,4 78bhp naturally noteworthless here)

-In Europe with circa 20K Euros it's one of the cheapest alfas ever to be produced and in my opinion it's best value for money here. Just for the record Mini Cooper S starts at 24K Euros.

@MD

As for heaven I was naturally reffering to the 8C

[MD]

Ah, that's all very well. I never said anything about the technology. As a matter of fact, I pointed out that the above cars have little if any relevance to the Alfa mechanicals.

The issue for me is simple. It's butt ugly. The end.

[MD]

On topic but totally unrelated to cars..

Here's a kid with talent to burn. They don't come much more geeky but he's going' places..respect.


http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=fRnh50zpv ... re=related