Alfa Romeo launches microsite for Mi.To
Wait. Hadn't Alfa Romeo chosen Furiosa as the name for it's new Junior? Nope. It seems that they changed their mind. Alfa Romeo has launched a new microsite to promote its smallest model which is now named Mi.To. Besides mito being the Italian word for myth, the site says that they chose the name because Alfa Romeo is a brand which has a lot to do with the cities of Milano, where Alfa Romeo was born, and Torino, Fiat's city. Molto intelligente, isn't it?
The Mi.To is based on the Fiat Grande Punto (yes, the same used for the Opel Corsa), and will include some of the same powertrains as can be found there, including the new 1.6 Multijet diesel engines with jaw-dropping mileage figures. It will be put on sale during the second half of this year. Alfa expects to shave off some potential Mini buyers by saying me, too.
There's a video for you after the jump.
Gallery: Alfa Romeo MiTo
[Source: Autoblog en español]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 10:35AM (3/20/2008)
any chance of the new camless engine going on this model as well?
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Nick 12:16PM (3/20/2008)
Im sure it won't come to the US, just like all the other great European cars I'd like to buy. (Peugeot 206)
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rgseidl 12:41PM (3/20/2008)
@ Karl-Uwe -
if you mean the turbocharged parallel-twin SGE900, that's not a camless design. It features the new multi-air system that uses both cams and hydraulics to implement continuously variable valve lift.
Note that with just two cylinders, torsional vibrations of the crankshaft will be much greater than if there were four. The first order can be dampened with a two-mass flywheel featuring Sarazin pendulums, but higher orders are transmitted into the transmission and ultimately, to the wheels. This tends to produce droning noise, especially at low to intermediate engine speeds.
Alfa considers itself a premium brand, so I doubt the SGE900 engine will be available in the Mi.To unless Fiat decides to build a series hybrid E-REV version (unlikely IMHO). Of course, if oil hits $200 a barrel, all bets are off.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 10:48PM (3/20/2008)
I'm going to wait for these things to come out and be tested before I speculate on noise and vibration. The exact same was said for the multijets at the time and in the end noise and vibration levels proved to be (and still are) one of their stronger points.....
Yes, I guess the sporty image of the Alfa models would make it quite unlikely. Still, with the current green push I'd like the current downsizing to go even further, by chopping off the larger engine sizes and going further down. The Bravo platform (where e.g. 1.3 multijets are not offered) would also suggest this isn't going to happen, irrespective of the Alfa image....
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