IF you buy an Alfa Romeo you are as likely to say that you don't care what's under the bonnet as BBC boss Chris Evans – who recently forked out £12m for a Ferrari – is to be content driving a Mondeo as his weekend car.

So the “don't bore me with that technical spiel’’ line is unheard of among the Alfisti, the passionate Alfa fantatics descending on Goodwood this July for the Italian brand's global centenary celebrations including the launch of the new Giulietta which will share some powertrains with the highly successful Alfa Mito.

And the Mito, already a hit among younger drivers, almost equally split between men and women under 40, has just leapt up the performance charts with a stunning engine innovation called MultiAir. What’s so special about MultiAir? Well the turbocharged 1.4 litre engine has been given a complete efficiency makeover boosting power AND economy by ten per cent, torque by 15 per cent, yet reducing emissions and consequently both road tax and benefit-in-kind income tax bills.

In engineering terms it’s like reinventing the turbocharger, and that's on a car that had already introduced switchable performance "mapping" with DNA modes. From a brand family that includes Ferrari, you can't help feeling that this innovation for the brand with the serpent badge – oh, and sister brand Fiat's Punto Evo – might have some Prancing Horse genes.

The DNA was already a first in the class – it gives the car three different types of driving behaviour, from normal everyday driving use (N) to D for dynamic and A for all-weather.