WHICH IS the greater God? The God of Power – this is the God of hedonists and Clarkson - or the God of On-road Balance? And before which altar do you stand?

Or is the greatest God a middle God; one where power and on-road balance sit in equilibrium, and each the equal.

This is more the European path to sporting performance – how else do you explain badges like Abarth, Gordini, Cooper S and any number of super-minis from nearly every manufacturer?

And this is the Alfa MiTo.

Whether in its Sport or standard iteration, Alfa’s newest and impossibly fashionable entry into the premium small car stakes, the MiTo, blends sportscar handling with larger car interior comforts, and places them behind one of two potent and intoxicatingly free-spinning jewel-like engines.

Neither too little power, nor too much, and with nailed-on sports-hatch handling or forgiving urban compliance available at the touch of a button, the MiTo is filled with charm and is simply impossible not to enjoy.

Sure, it’s not perfect; its compact size and pricing means it’s not for everyone, but it comes heavily featured with both technology and creature comforts.

And with design features drawn from of the delectable 8C Competizione, it does, and will forever, turn heads. It will also probably do better than the projected 240 MiTo and 360 MiTo Sports sales Alfa Romeo Australia is banking on over the first full year.

Here, the MiTo is going head-to-head against the MINI – there’s a pedestal that won’t easily be shaken - and, at a slight stretch, the Renault Clio Sport.

It’s a surprising package the MiTo; not only because there is just 1.4 turbo-charged litres under the bonnet; but also because of the premium configuration shoe-horned into its compact dimensions. This, and its irresistible on-road dynamism.

And why just 1.4 litres? Because cars with engines under 1.4 litre capacity attract significant tax and environmental concessions in Europe.

As Alfa Romeo Public Relations Manager Edward Rowe said at the MiTo’s launch, “In Europe, the tax and environmental regimes that favour smaller more fuel-efficient cars, have created a new buyer segment.

“They are category jumpers. They may be coming out of larger models, but they want all the features and luxuries they had before.

“This is also the buyer that we’re targeting with the MiTo in the Australian market. It will only ever be a three door. It is designed as a niche model for style and performance with a much higher level of standard equipment built into every single car.”

A vigorous reaching run over a combination of freeway, secondary roads and broken bitumen in both MiTo and Mito Sport models gave us a very good opportunity to put Alfa’s new super-compact warrior twins to the test.

And each shone like a beacon.

Styling

With the Alfa 8C for inspiration, the MiTo was never going to have anything other than arresting lines. It is all Alfa, and fashionably ‘different’… from its Roman nose to its pert tail, the MiTo is as spunky as all get-out.

Photos really don’t do it justice. The camera flattens the nose and the deep curves over the bonnet. In the metal, surprisingly compact, it reeks of Italian style.

With Alfa Romeo trademark shield grille, deep and wide air-dam, low nose and high ‘shouldered’ tail culminating in 8C-style round LED tail-lights, it also signals its red-blooded sporting intent.

The MiTo – like every Alfa before it – lets the world know it is a car for keen drivers.

And whereas the MINI stands out from the crowd for its deft marriage of retro and modern lines, the MiTo makes its statement with stylish originality.

There is a single-mindedness to its lines that startle at first – those widely spaced ‘eyes’, the deep curve of the nose, the stretched low air-dam at each side of the grille – but then quickly grow on you.

To these eyes, it’s a very appealing car and one that will make anyone feel good at the wheel.

The Interior

Inside, the individuality and sporting theme continues, especially in the well-appointed MiTo Sport with the faux carbon-fibre dashboard, embossed buckets, satin-finish metal surfaces, and, common to both models, the well-connected and ‘just right for feel’ multi-function leather-trimmed wheel.

For the past decade, Alfa has been building some of the most appealing and stylish interiors in the business. The MiTo does not disappoint here.

It is a well thought-out and nicely designed interior. While as black as a coal-miner’s armpit in the test cars, the flow of the lines and textured surfaces throughout the interior work to create a modern and nicely integrated cabin feel.

Too much black? Both MiTo and MiTo Sport can be ordered with coloured dash and interior inserts. A feature more widely specified by European buyers.

Ahead of the driver, behind the comfortably-shaped steering wheel, large clear instruments sit below a typically appealing Alfa binnacle.