TechSmart 121, October 2013 TechSmart 123, December 2013 | Page 28

FEATURE

Alfa

Hot hatchbacks come in two personas – those
that flaunt their sportiness in your face and
those who downplay it with an understated
design. The QV falls under the former, and
employs some Irish luck (plus a rocker switch)
to exaggerate its driving appeal.

W

hen staring at the Mito 1.4 QV Sport, you would not think it was
anything but a garden variety Mito hatchback, since its underplayed
styling provides few hints of its sporty nature. You do receive some
stunning alloy wheels, a splash of carbon fibre on the dashboard, and a
strange sight on an Italian car – Irish cloverleaf badges on the sides.
These coincide with the green stitching on the leather covered steering
wheel, handbrake, as well as the seats, and is actually the biggest tip-off
for the Alfisti (Alfa Romeo enthusiasts) that this is not an ordinary Mito.
Why? Well, because QV in the car’s name stands for Quadrifoglio
Verde, Italian for cloverleaf – Alfa’s equivalent of VW’s GTI badge or
Ford’s ST moniker.

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The DNA of a true hot hatch
Beneath the finely sculpted Italian bonnet, lives a 1.4 litre turbocharged
engine that is mated to a far too uncommon sight in our test cars these
days – a 6-speed manual transmission. This powerplant churns out
125 kW and up to 250 Nm of wheel-spinning torque, which is enough to
rocket this Mito to 100 km/h from standstill in a brisk 7.5 seconds. The
top speed of the QV is a see-you-in-jail 219 km/h.

A Jekyll and Hyde transformation occurs
when you put the car in dynamic mode, since
the lively powerplant comes into its own.
Next to the gear lever resides a rather gimmicky DNA rocker switch to
select the dynamic driving mode. In this setting, the drivetrain delivers
250 Nm of torque rather than the 230 Nm available in the other driving
modes (normal and all-weather).

December 2013 | TechSmart