Rob's rust-free alfa page - guaranteed
What it saysWednesday, July 16, 2008
Interesting but full of rubbish
The Mi.To looks great, and is at long last the right size: ie, not a luxo-barge. There's an interesting read behind this link:Martinelli left F1 at the end of 2006, specifically to head up Fiat’s engine department. As such, he’s had a winning hand in Alfa Romeo’s new peach of a petrol plant, a lively lag-less little 16-valve 1.4-litre turbo that also does duty in the Fiat Grande Punto and Bravo, albeit with 4 kW less than Alfa’s 114.
Just beware, it's full of idle rubbish like: Let’s face it: Alfa is not what it used to be. With the exception of the 159, 156, Giulietta and a handful of Quadrifoglio or GTA models, the brand has sadly been scarred over the last 30 years by a long and steady decline.
Obviously not a fan of the amazing Alfasud sedan, ti and Sprint Veloce, the wolf-in-sheep's clothing Alfetta sedan, the Alfetta GT and GTV, the GTV6, the lovely Nuovo Giulietta, the 75 (AKA Milano), the 33ti or almost anything since! OK, the ARNA was a bit sad, and the 145 wasn't all that it could have been, but honestly...! ALFA Romeo must surely wonder what they have to do... isn't the latest crop, the 147, 156, 159 and Brera enough?
Apparently not. Most shocking of all was to find that Alfa had gone soft since its brief mid-’90s renaissance. Steering got dopey, gearchanges sloppy and ride mushy.. "Dopey" steering must refer to the 147's turning circle, not sure what else it could be. Sloppy gearchanges? Has this guy driven a rear-transmission Alfa? That is sloppy. And a mushy ride? Alfas soak up the bumps, and roll. Not as bad a French car, but obviously so. Only the hardened-edge of the GTAs truly eliminates the bodyroll and high-speed comfort of the classic Alfa. Yet they still run fast and corner hard. That is the essence of it.
I can remember swapping from a stiff-as-a-post Ford Escort with "Rally Pack" to a stock 1982 Giulietta and being amazed at the body roll. It put me off until I realised I was going 5-10kmh faster around sharp corners in the dry, twice that in the wet -and much faster again over bumpy roads that I had previously had to slow down on... simply a better suspension setup.
Yet most people when given a car to drive are clots and clods with no finesse and can't see or feel what they have... which is why we shouldn't trust anyone else's opinion, certainly not mine, just your own.
Just beware, it's full of idle rubbish like: Let’s face it: Alfa is not what it used to be. With the exception of the 159, 156, Giulietta and a handful of Quadrifoglio or GTA models, the brand has sadly been scarred over the last 30 years by a long and steady decline.
Obviously not a fan of the amazing Alfasud sedan, ti and Sprint Veloce, the wolf-in-sheep's clothing Alfetta sedan, the Alfetta GT and GTV, the GTV6, the lovely Nuovo Giulietta, the 75 (AKA Milano), the 33ti or almost anything since! OK, the ARNA was a bit sad, and the 145 wasn't all that it could have been, but honestly...! ALFA Romeo must surely wonder what they have to do... isn't the latest crop, the 147, 156, 159 and Brera enough?
Apparently not. Most shocking of all was to find that Alfa had gone soft since its brief mid-’90s renaissance. Steering got dopey, gearchanges sloppy and ride mushy.. "Dopey" steering must refer to the 147's turning circle, not sure what else it could be. Sloppy gearchanges? Has this guy driven a rear-transmission Alfa? That is sloppy. And a mushy ride? Alfas soak up the bumps, and roll. Not as bad a French car, but obviously so. Only the hardened-edge of the GTAs truly eliminates the bodyroll and high-speed comfort of the classic Alfa. Yet they still run fast and corner hard. That is the essence of it.
I can remember swapping from a stiff-as-a-post Ford Escort with "Rally Pack" to a stock 1982 Giulietta and being amazed at the body roll. It put me off until I realised I was going 5-10kmh faster around sharp corners in the dry, twice that in the wet -and much faster again over bumpy roads that I had previously had to slow down on... simply a better suspension setup.
Yet most people when given a car to drive are clots and clods with no finesse and can't see or feel what they have... which is why we shouldn't trust anyone else's opinion, certainly not mine, just your own.
Labels: Alfetta, Ford Escort, Mi.To
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
There's an Alfa in here somewhere
- Not a lot of Alfa content, but just enough to satisfy, and a great pictorial blogpost focused around Mugello...."Aloha and Welcome to *Liam's Wild Ride* , the Official Website of Liam Shubert. This is the chronicle of my travels, adventures, and experiences while I'm busy working in MotoGP! Please enjoy the places, faces, and especially, the Races!"
- An Alfa Montreal 'company car'? And a secret test track (not!)
- Oh please no, Alfa, don't do it..."Alfa will built its first SUV : the Alfa Romeo 149 SUV
The new project will come alive in 2010 and it will be in the same class as the Audi Q5, Mercedes GLK and Volkswagen Tiguan. The 149 SUV will be a sporty car with the Alfa branded design. The engine is thought to be a 2.0 l 300 hp engine" - In 2 minds - a Brera ruined or improved? "Prodrive decided that while the Alfa Romeo Brera was an excellent supercar in its own right they would be able to turn it into perfection. Thus was born the Alfa Romeo Brera S."
- We'll believe it when we see it: Marchionne believes the only way to sell Fiats profitably in the U.S. is to build them in North America. He said he's "having discussions with everybody," though he also didn't rule out building a factory. While Fiat has an existing partnerships with Ford (F), another potential alliance partners is Mercedes-Benz (DAI), which is interested in building passenger cars in North America in addition to the SUVs it builds in Alabama. Nissan (NSANY) has excess plant capacity at its Mississippi plant, and seems interested in replacing some of the SUV capacity it has there with passenger cars. Fiat already shares engineering with Ford on the U.S. automaker's Ka minicar in Europe. Ford is expanding its small car manufacturing in Mexico to build the Ford Fiesta, and would also be a logical partner.
- Everyone wants to know us now: "GM, the UAW, state and local government should take the initiative to begin a dialogue with Alfa's parent company, Fiat. Fiat already does business in Wisconsin with its Case-IH business in Racine. State tax and development incentives should be offered to secure the Alfa factory and align with this premium global brand. A Janesville Alfa Romeo plant could be a high-tech infused facility with a forward-thinking, attractive product -- but the city and state will have to lobby for it, and not a moment should be wasted." But GM and FIAT, again? This guy has no understanding of recent history. eh?
- How about Canada then? "With bad news of auto plant closures spreading across the province, Queen's Park retains a glimmer of hope that Ontario is in the running to land an Alfa Romeo factory. Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello called a May 21 meeting in Turin, Italy, between Premier Dalton McGuinty and executives from Fiat, Alfa Romeo's parent company, a positive step."
- And lastly, the MiTo photoshoot and a cabrio...
Labels: Alfa, links, Mi.To, Mugello, US
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Is the Mi.To for real?
Wow. Now that's a classy small car.
I thought it was a joke at first. Mi.To? As in "me-too"? You have got to be kidding me! Oh dear. Name aside, at least the car looks good, and it's the right size (at last - haven't I asked for a REAL small ALFA for years!?!). But that name! It apparently stands for Milan.Torino, reflecting Alfa's heritage location as well as the more recent reality of production at FIAT's works in Turin. But dear oh dear, please change it before selling it. (Interestingly slashgear.com got a bit confused about all of this foreign geography and said: "The name, Mi.To comes from the two designers for Alfa Romeo, their names being Milan and Turin". Hmmm, does it really?)
Autoblog praised the styling: If you tried to morph an 8C with a Fiat 500, you wouldn't be far off, but the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo appears to have bridged the gap with considerable finesse.
Caradvice.com said this about the platform and engines: Using the same platform as the Fiat Grande Punto, it will be available with a variety of engines from an entry-level 1.4-litre unit to a 171kW turbo adaptation for the GTA.
Z-cars has the press release on its post, and said this on dimensions:Sporting a compact yet curvaceous and dynamic shape, the Mi.To measures in at 4.06 metres long, 1.44 metres high and 1.72 metres wide thus making it a direct competitor with the likes of BMW's MINI.
Fullboost said nice things as well (although they must stop printing gushing press releases as copy - or is it just a bad translation from Italian?): The Alfa Romeo Mi.To’s family heritage can be seen in the grille, headlights and LED taillights, along with the frameless side windows endowing it with a coupe appearance. It could genuinely be called a mini-Alfa Romeo 8C. Technologically, the Alfa Romeo Mi.To promises to be highly innovative with the debut of the Alfa Romeo DNA system, the next generation of electronic stability control and a first in this class. Controlling the engine, brakes, steering response, suspension and gearbox, the Mi.To can be set to offer a super-sporting dynamic range of responses, a normal setting for city use and a special high grip setting for snow, ice and mud conditions. This remarkable new technology will set a new safety standard when allied to VDC, ABS brakes and a design developed to achieve the highest EuroNCAP crash test rating.
There's more here at Fairfax: Alfa Romeo is taking the fight to BMW and its successful Mini, showing pictures of its Mi.To, a compact sporty hatch that the company is billing as a mini-Alfa 8C.
And yes, Alfa have a blog on the subject as well. And carscoop have more pics.
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