Alfa Romeo MiTo range gets a revamp for 2011

Romeo has rationalised the Alfa MiTo range for 2011, cutting it down from 17 versions to nine and adding three new engines.

The proper Alfa nutters aren’t overly fond of the MiTo. They don’t see it as a real Alfa, perhaps because it doesn’t break down every five minutes and it’s front wheel drive.

We’re slightly on the side of the FWD thing but in a small, mass market car FWD it’s the layout of choice. As for the belief that an Alfa isn’t a real Alfa unless it’s fragile, the less said about people who think that, the better.

Fortunately, Alfa has seen the sense in making the Alfa Romeo MiTo a properly good compact hatch with enough Alfa DNA to make it stand out from the crowd. As a result they have on their hands a small car with a big chunk of appeal and residuals as strong as a MINI‘s. Unheard of for an Alfa.

Despite the sales success Alfa has on its hands with the MiTo, there’s always room to improve. So Alfa has decided to rationalise the range on offer, cutting it back from an excessive 17 versions to a more manageable nine.

The Turisomo and Lusso versions have gone, to be replaced by the Sprint, the Cloverleaf and Veloce get transformed in to the Distinctive and Quadrifoglio and the starting point is now called Progression. Prices have been reduced too, with the entry-level  1.4 8v Progression costing £12,250, and the top-end  1.4 TB MultiAir 170bhp Quadrifoglio Verde £17,955.

It’s not just trim levels that get tweaked, as there a three new engines on offer too. A 1.4 litre 78bhp with stop/start, a 1.4 litre MultiAir with 105bhp and the 1.3 litre JTDM-2 oil burner with 85bhp.

Probably sensible rationalisations on a range that was doubtless too complicated. But are we alone in thinking it would have been nice to keep trim levels like Veloce and Lusso, rather than having daft names like Progression and Distinctive attached to an Alfa?

And does that makes us closet Alfa nutters?

Alfa Mito Model Range 2011