Alfa Romeo MiTO JTDm Veloce

THERE'S a well-documented myth that Eskimos have hundreds of words to describe snow—the result of them being constantly surrounded by it, of course.

Well, that being so, us Brits should have at least a thousand different words to describe the plethora of poor road surfaces that we have to tolerate on our daily travels.

In contrast, what sort of thing do our cultured, European brothers from Italy come into contact with on a regular basis? Well, fantastic food, beautiful women and stunning cars to name but a few.

So what happens when you take the latest offering from a renowned Italian car manufacturer, in this case Alfa Romeo's baby MiTO, and expose it to our uneven British roads?

From launch, three specifications of MiTO—Turismo, Lusso and Veloce—are available alongside a choice of three petrol engines (turbocharged 155bhp and 120bhp and a normally aspirated 90bhp 1.4-litre) and two diesel engines (a 120bhp 1.6-litre and a 90bhp 1.3-litre).

Prices start at £10,995 and rise to £14,995 for the flagship 155bhp 1.4-litre Veloce or 1.6 JTDm Veloce diesel, tested here, which is capable of 59mpg and CO2 emissions of 126g/km.

The MiTO's appearance this is as much a concentrated shot of Italy as a treacle-thick cup of espresso coffee.

Bold and beautiful it stands out against virtually anything else on the roads, possessing the same impact that the reincarnated BMW/MINI did when it first began flooding onto our roads back in 2001.

Alfa Romeo's trademark shield-like grille dominates a deep-skirted front end, the bonnet reaching back in a pronounced V-shape, flanked by a pair of relatively small teardrop headlights.

Flared wheelarches and strong haunches give a powerful stance and shallow, frameless side-windows, with 'invisible' b-pillars, give a sleek, unfussy profile.

At the rear two small, round, LED packed light clusters echo those found on the stunning Alfa 8C Competizione sports coupe.

With the Veloce's 17 inch alloys, satin light surrounds and wing mirrors, no other hatchback can hold a candle to the MiTO in style terms.

First impressions of the interior are positive. The standard fabric seats (complete with embroidered Alfa Romeo logo) are stylish, if lacking support—in my test car they came with optional (£900) leather trim—and a carbon effect dashboard, a silver trimmed stereo surround and sculpted Alfa Romeo steering wheel, look and feel good.

Less tactile materials are used to line the doors, however, and that carbon effect dash reflects the sun to such an extent that you sometimes feel like you are looking out of the chequered eyes of a house fly... Thick A-pillars also restrict visibility.

Heading onto the road, the noisy clatter from the turbocharged diesel engine sits uneasily with the finessed MiTO form. It does create impressive acceleration, however, and the six-speed gearbox is smooth and accurate, if a little long of throw.

Through corners, grip is phenomenal but there's a sense of disconnection and uncertainty brought by suspension which, while firm, lacks the damping quality to contain mid-corner bumps (leading to a sense that it could skip off the chosen line), it takes time to trust the undoubted accuracy of the MiTO chassis.

Numb around the straight ahead, the steering reacts keenly after the first couple of degrees, but lacks feel, delivering little natural feedback.

Dialling the 'dynamic' setting into Alfa Romeo's three-mode D.N.A. adaptive dynamics system sharpens throttle response, steering weight and suspension, improving the diesel engine's responses ten-fold.

Diesel power suddenly feels like no soft-option, feeling quicker than the claimed 9.9 second sprint to 62mph and 123mph top speed and delivering impressive mid-range stonk. As an overtaking tool, there are few hot hatches as effortless as the MiTO JTD.

On a smooth road the MiTO is a genuinely rapid ground-covering weapon but the unsettled patter of the suspension over inconsistent British tarmac and the slightly vague steering still rob the driver of the thrills that the baby Italian is so close to achieving.

As a style exercise the Alfa Romeo MiTO is king of the road at the moment and some of the finer design details offer a hard-to-resist touch of class.

But on our pot-holed, broken and speed bump blighted British roads the MiTO's lack of damping finesse and communication with a driver sees it fall behind in dynamic terms.

In true Alfa style, however, the MiTO is packed with enough character alone for it to win over a hoard of new fans.