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The Alfa Romeo Tonale is priced at less than $50,000 plus on-road costs in Australia – with the flagship plug-in hybrid variant topping out at $77,500.
2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Price and Specifications
Mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids are now on sale
Two variants are available, Ti and Veloce
Prices start from $49,900 before on-road costs
Alfa Romeo has announced pricing and specifications for the Tonale plug-in hybrid class, which will arrive in Australian showrooms in October 2023.
Priced from $77,500 plus on-road costs, the Tonale Plug-in Hybrid is based on the 'standard' Tonale Veloce with the addition of the 'Lusso Pack' upgrade – at a premium of $13,300
Alfa Romeo's first new model in six years, the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale small SUV, will arrive in Australian showrooms in February next year, priced from $49,900 plus on-road costs.
Now available to order, the Tonale is Alfa Romeo's rival to the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Volvo
The carmaker has scrapped plans not to offer a plug-in hybrid version in Australia and confirmed it will launch locally in late 2023 – around six months after the mild hybrid version, which was due in February 2023.
Prices start at $49,900 plus on-road costs for the entry-level Ti and rise to $56,400 plus on-road costs for the sports-themed Veloce – with two option packages available (depending on variant), Technology and Lusso.
The Tonale Hybrid model is powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 118kW and 240Nm, assisted by a 48-volt mild hybrid system (with a 15kW electric motor) to drive the front wheels via a seven-speed dual transmission. clutch automatic transmission.
Unlike other mild hybrid systems, the Tonale's electric motor can drive the wheels with the engine off at low speeds (under 15km/h) – but at 0.8kWh, the battery is smaller than in most 'full' hybrids, and electric driving range will be minimal.
Alfa Romeo quotes a combined fuel economy claim of 5.6 liters per 100km.
Meanwhile, the plug-in hybrid car which will be released at the end of 2023 combines a 1.3-liter turbo engine with a 90kW electric motor and 15.5kWh battery for a total of 202kW of power, which drives all four wheels in 6.2 seconds 0-100km/ hours, and a claimed electric driving range of up to 60 km.
For more details on the plug-in hybrid system, click here to read Drive's story about Tonale's global reveal in February 2022.
Standard features on the entry-level model include a 10.25-inch touchscreen (with new software for the Alfa Romeo brand), a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, wireless Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, matrix LED headlights, 18-inch wheels, and keyless entry and start.
While autonomous emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control are standard across the range, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are not – unlike rivals from Audi, BMW, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz.
To get this feature, buyers will have to opt for the Technology Package on the Ti or dig deeper for the Veloce model.
The Veloce also adds faux leather and Alcantara seats (replacing cloth and faux leather), 19-inch alloy wheels, red Brembo brake calipers, an adaptive suspension, and unique Dark Miron styling elements.
Tonale has been awarded a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP. Alfa Romeo Australia said an ANCAP rating – Australia's equivalent of Euro NCAP – would follow after additional local testing "in late 2022".
A variety of option packages and standalone add-ons are available.
The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale is available to order now and will arrive in Australian showrooms in February.
2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Australia Price
Tonale Hybrid Ti – $49,900
Tonale Hybrid Speed – $56,400
Tonale Plug-in Hybrid Veloce – $77,500 (new)
2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Hybrid Ti standard features:
18-inch diamond cut rims
The body kit is painted black with satin chrome accents
Folding heated side mirrors with gloss black glass covers
Matrix LED headlights with rolling indicators
10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, and digital radio
12.3 inch digital instrument cluster
Wireless smartphone charging
Six-speaker sound system
Keyless entry and start
Dual-zone automatic climate control
Six-way manually adjustable front seats with power lumbar driver
Alpha Connect Services
Chairs in fabric and faux leather with cream stitching
Leather-wrapped steering wheel
Soft-touch dash insert with cream stitching
The title is in black
Front and rear floor mats
Aluminum sports pedals
Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection
Lane-keeping assistance
Lane departure warning
Adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go
Front and rear parking sensors
Introduction to traffic signs
Driver drowsiness detection
Tire pressure monitoring
The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Hybrid Veloce adds (more than the Ti):
19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels
Adaptive suspension
Blind-spot monitoring
Rear cross-traffic alert
Driving with level 2 assistance (traffic jam assistance)
Side parking sensors
360-degree camera
Dark Miron exterior styling elements, including the grille with a dark finish
Brembo brake calipers are red
Privacy glass
Black window trim
Perforated black Alcantara and faux leather seats with red stitching, embroidered 'Biscone' logo
Red stitching on the doors and center console
Aluminum sill plates and shift paddles
Auto-dimming side mirrors
The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Plug-in Hybrid Veloce adds (over the Hybrid Veloce):
Eight-way power-adjustable front seats with memory
Heated and ventilated front seats
Heated steering wheel
Perforated black leather accent upholstery
Dark gray stitching for the seats, front center armrest, and door cushions
14-speaker, 465-watt Harman Kardon sound system
Heated washer nozzles
Dual-panel panoramic sunroof
The $2500 Technology Package, optional on Ti (but standard on Veloce), adds:
Blind-spot monitoring
Rear cross-traffic alert
Driving with level 2 assistance (traffic jam assistance)
Side parking sensors
360-degree camera
Side rearview mirror with auto-dimming
The optional $4500 Lusso package, available on Ti and Veloce Hybrid, adds:
Eight-way power-adjustable front seats with memory
Heated and ventilated front seats
Heated steering wheel
Perforated black leather accent upholstery
Dark gray stitching for the seats, front center armrest, and door cushions
14-speaker, 465-watt Harman Kardon sound system
Heated washer nozzles
Standalone option:
Dual-pane panoramic sunroof (Ti and Veloce Hybrid, $2500)
The long-rumored Alfa Romeo supercar takes inspiration from the Tipo 33 of the 60s and is built on a Maserati MC20 chassis with a 607bhp binary-turbo V6 or 750bhp EV. The new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale has made its global debut, with the long-rumored and highly anticipated road-going supercar project by the renowned Italian brand finally becoming a production reality.
However, in reality, it is not as big as the name suggests, only 33 cars will be made. All have been sold, with order books filling up in 2022 during the initial scare at that year's Formula 1 race at Monza – fully 12 months before it was announced at the Alfa Romeo gallery in Milan. Although the price has not been officially announced, and according to CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, it will never be announced, evo sources suggest a pre-tax price of € 1.7 million. Each will be made to unique custom specifications, with three official colors on offer so customers can choose whatever color they want. The first examples will be delivered on December 17, 2024, with production ending in 2026. There will be no further Spyders or derivatives built.
The new 33 Stradale took direct inspiration from the 1967 car of the same name, a road-going evolution of the Tipo 33 endurance racing car of which 18 examples were built- although no one knows where chassis number 18 actually resided, and long- an inspiration to the car designers both inside and outside the Alfa Romeo company. The new car has been offered to customers with a powertrain option of a fully electric, battery-powered model or a version powered by an evolution of Alfa Romeo's binary-turbocharged V6 engine.
power unit
The petrol-engined option uses a 3-liter binary-turbo V6 engine, expected to produce 607bhp. Alfa Romeo has tried its best not to provide too many details regarding the engine specifications, only confirming that it is a development of the Giulia Quadrifoglio's 62.9 liter turbo-charged V engine and is positioned lengthwise in the middle of the car. The Maserati MC20's 3-liter binary-turbocharged V6 Nettuno engine was also a further development of the Alfa engine but with its own cylinder head, compression ratio, and pre-chamber ignition system.
The 33 petrol-engined Stradales will be rear-wheel drive only, with the same eight-speed double-clutch Tremec gearbox fitted to the MC20 compared to the Giulia's eight-speed ZF automatic, an e-diff will also be fitted.
The electric version will use an 800v architecture and will be equipped with a 102kWh battery (usable 90 kWh) and all-wheel drive, targeting a total power affair of 750bhp with an estimated range of 280 hp. Alfa's engineering team will decide whether to follow Maserati's MC20 Folgore with a tri-motor setup or just use one motor for each axle.
Interior
There is a choice of two trim schemes for the interior: Tributo (a nod to the original car, pictured here) and Alfa Corse (a more modern, racing-inspired look, swapping the aluminum spokes on the steering wheel for carbon fiber, for example), with materials including aluminum, leather, Alcantara and carbon fiber.
The wraparound seats take inspiration from the original 33 Stradale and are six-way electrically adjustable, and the wraparound sunroof echoes the cover glass section on the original car's doors.
Interestingly, there are no buttons on the steering wheel: controls are split between the center console and the roof, with a mix of mechanical switches and a retractable touchscreen. A further request from the client was that there be no visible screens or unnecessary technology, and this has been adhered to by Alfa. Behind the steering wheel, there is a 3D 'telescoped' instrument panel, with different views for Road or Track driving modes.
Design
The styling of the new 33 Stradale was highlighted by Alfa Romeo design chief Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, who joined the company in 2021 after previously being design boss at Seat and briefly responsible for Dacia design at Renault.
Most of the bodywork is made from carbon fiber, with a structure that many people familiar with Maserati's MC20 supercar will recognize (ironically, a car that started out as a still-nascent Alfa Romeo project.). Using a carbon fiber monocoque with an aluminum subframe, the 33's roof structure is a blend of carbon and aluminum with a pair of carbon butterfly doors cut into the roof. The rear window is made from weight-saving polycarbonate.
Measuring an overall length of 4.6 cadences, the wheelbase is 2.7 cadences, with the 33 Stradale measuring 2.1 cadences wide from the rearview mirror tip to the rearview mirror tip. At 1.2 cadence, it's a squat, nimble car that adds a sleek feel to its original svelte lines. So you don't have to look, it's identical in size to the MC20 but the Alfa looks smaller and more refined.
The 33 cars will be assembled by traveling machine maker Superleggera, a historic name that markets itself in making low-volume, one-off commissions based on existing cars.
Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato has implied that a purpose-built, low-volume Alfa may be coming soon, stating 'The new 33 Stradale is the brand's first purpose-built car since 1969, and I promise it won't be the one made exclusively by the brand since 1969. last.' Although there will be no additional 33 derivatives.
There are no active aero surfaces on the car, a wish of customers who didn't want spoilers on their prized Alfa; However, Alfa Romeo claims low drag and negative lift at higher speeds – a drag coefficient of 0.375. The aerodynamic solution includes air intakes incorporated into the headlights to feed the radiator and channel airflow as well as aerodynamic wings that double as rear-view mirror supports.
The front and rear one-piece bodywork opens symmetrically in a mirror image to match the original, a deliberately theatrical touch that allows easy access to the 33's interior.
Performance and handling
Regardless of the powertrain chosen by 33 customers (when the car was announced, the split was between 70 and 80 percent choosing the V6 and the remainder choosing the EV option, although Alfa said some customers were considering changing their ICE orders from EVs to 'make a statement') claimed has a top speed of 200+mph, with the V6 reaching 207mph BEV at over 192mph, 0-62mph for both models will be under three seconds.
Alfa promises its cars will be at home on both the track and the road, with the Strada and Pista driving modes provided including a launch control function. Rounded double-wishbone suspension, active dampers (and a 50mm front axle lift for speedbumps, which can be activated below 25mph) are standard equipment. 20-inch alloy wheels are fitted at the front and rear, while the show car is equipped with Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires measuring 245/35 at the front and 305/30 at the rear.
The 33 Stradale is also equipped with a brake-by-wire system, operating Brembo-supplied carbon-ceramic brakes, with six-piston calipers at the front and four-pot units at the rear (painted in whatever color the customer desires), clamping 390mm and 360mm discs front /behind.
Development is underway at Alfa Romeo's Balocco test track, and F1 driver Valtteri Bottas is claimed to be involved in the car's development – although how fully involved remains unclear.
While Alfa engineers believe the 33 Stradale with V6 engine and DCT will weigh around 1,500 kg, 200 kg lighter than the Maserati MC20, the BEV is expected to weigh more than 2,000 kg.
Customization
Alfa Romeo assembled a 'Bottega' team of Tipo 33 designers, engineers, and historians, who spent several months working closely with the car's customers, to take their input and finalize various exterior design details and individual trim. Alfa Romeo says no two 33s are identical. For example, some cars may have 3D-designed front guards like those in concept car images, and others have a more traditional layout.
Customers meet at Bottega Headquarters in the Sala del Consiglio at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, where the original 33 is signed.
In addition, a 'Committee of 33' had been set up by Alfa Romeo, chaired by the heads of various departments within the company, and individual customer preferences for upholstery or body color had to be approved by the committee. Beyond special requests, such as visible carbon fiber, three body colors are planned: classic Rosso Alfa, Rosso Clearcoat, or a variation of Royal Blue.
A white/red tribute livery to Alfa's racing sports car is also an official choice. No word yet on whether Hot Pink or metallic purple is a committee-approved choice, but we won't hold our breath.
Customers also choose their own VIN for their car, which will be engraved on the central tunnel.
2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Character and chassis charisma are the Italian SUVs big drawcards, but does the sporting Stelvio Veloce have the smarts and the heart to live up to expectations?
In June, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce sidled up beside the rest of the four-strong line-up to complete the range, which has recently arrived in facelifted form.
Slotting between the turbo-four Sport and the mighty bi-turbo V6 Quadrifoglio, it essentially adopts a high-power version of the former’s engine plus a smattering of performance and upmarket enhancements to create a variant promising luxury at a not-so-exotic price.
So far, all good. In the broader view, it gains credibility through the Giorgio underpinnings it shares with the Giulia, its reputation for dynamic alacrity at least as prodigious as its actual delivery.
No doubt, in years to come, the Stelvio and Giulia will be considered a purple patch of sorts in Alfa Romeo’s modern renaissance and a finite one at that, given widespread reports the rumoured $5 billion platform is around for a good time but not a very long time.
Unrelated, though relevant to the review, is sales of both Stelvio and Giulia in Australia have been fairly modest. And the current lore around Alfa Romeo is that it’s making absolutely cracking enthusiast-tinged cars that are unfortunately not being embraced by those they target quite as wholeheartedly as they perhaps deserve.
What this review needs to do, then, is to pull the romantically-named Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce’s various strings to decide, without too much in the way of rose-tinged romance, if it’s a quality sporting SUV.
At the third rung up on the Stelvio mountain (gettit?), the Veloce wants for $78,950 before on-road costs, or a bit over $85k drive-away.
It’s $9000 pricier than the Sport sat below it, but a formidable $68,000 less than the Quadrifoglio high-performer.
For the curious, the technically-related Giulia Veloce, as a four-door sedan, lobs at $71,450 list if you’re into it primarily for the Alfisti vibe.
The Veloce is offered in standard Alfa Red and Alfa White, with a choice of six ($2150) cost-optional colours such as our tester’s Vesuvio Grey or the Veloce exclusive Misano Blue.
There are three interior colour schemes to choose from, such as black, red and Chocolate (brown), plus an alternative Veloce Sport clover-leaf 20-inch rim style.
A panoramic glass roof ($3300), yellow- or black-painted calipers ($1000), Harmon Kardon 14-speaker audio ($1650) and spare wheel (replacing the goo kit, $800) are all optionally available.
We’ll dig deeper in the relevant section below, but the key hook for Veloce spec over the lower-grade Sport is largely mechanical. There’s a fair chunk of your extra $9000 investment wrapped up in the high-power engine, rear limited-slip differential, larger 20-inch wheels, and Alfa SDC active suspension.
Other exclusive goodies at the Veloce tier include a hands-free powered tailgate, leather dash and door trimming, ambient lighting, 10-speaker sound, and rear outboard seat heating to compliment the same feature in the first row.
Elsewhere, the Veloce shares with its Sport stablemate’s bi-xenon headlights with auto high-beam, rain-sensing wipers, power-folding and auto-dimming mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, rear privacy glass and a reversing camera.
Inside, there’s eight-way-electric front sports seats, leather trim, a 7.0-inch TFT driver’s screen, aluminium brightwork, dual-zone climate control, a heated steering wheel with column-mounted paddle-shifters, 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment, DAB+, satellite navigation, 10-speaker/400-watt audio, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring. Cruise control is adaptive.
Four-cylinder versions of the Stelvio have a five-star ANCAP rating based on Euro NCAP testing from back in 2017.
It received a commendable 97 per cent score for adult occupant protection, 84 per cent for child occupant protection, a pedestrian protection score of 71 per cent and 60 per cent for safety assist.
Some of the tech in play includes autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, blind-spot assist, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed control and the curiously named driver behaviour warning, which presumably triggers if you’re steering like a loon.
It gets six airbags and rear-seat ISOFIX anchor points. Again, cruise control is adaptive and hill descent control is also fitted.
The Italian SUV favours more classic styling than what you find in some tech-laden German rivals and, for some tastes, it’s better for it.
While some might describe the design as plain, there’s a richness to the ambience that’s pleasing and punches above its weight for the Veloce’s price, particularly when it comes to some of the material use.
The aluminium garnish is real and the leather is genuinely sumptuous, two specific areas where so often premium machinery tends to feel unbelievably cheap through fakery and cost consciousness.
Alfa has copped criticism in the past for some low-rent interior application and while there are still hints of parts-binning from mainstream sources, some effort has been put into Stelvio’s cabin in its recent update. On balance, it feels solid and exudes quality and class, particularly in the Veloce with its extended leather application across the dash and door trims.
It features a nice wheel, pleasing analogue instrumentation, and robust switchgear, all minted with an Italian flavour. Ditto the massive paddle shifters, mounted to the column like some sort of nationalistic preference rather than the arguably more function wheel-mounted method, if thankfully far enough away from your knuckles as to not annoy.
The seats are nice, albeit with massive side bolsters that clearly serve body-hugging purpose more than they do long-haul comfort. If there is adjustment in the so-called Power Bolsters it’s very subtle, no matter how much you fiddle with the seat buttons.
They also suit slimmer body types, which could well be a deal-breaker for prospective owners.
Letting the cabin down a little is the 8.8-inch infotainment system. It seems as large as the dash fascia aperture will allow without a major redesign, and its petite screen is sharp but not very intuitive to use.
Its touch inputs are pleasing – augmented by an old-school rotary-type control controller – but the content is simple, the sat-nav is plain and it’s not the slickest or quickest system out there. The jump in volume between radio and app streaming, too, is pronounced, though the sound system is excellent.
In short, if you’re after lots of dazzling big-screen eye candy, look elsewhere (towards Audi’s Q5 perhaps).
The console is a mixed bag. Pros include the key slot and inductive phone charging plate tucked neatly under the arm rest, though cons are the incredibly deep cupholders that countersink your drink and a USB port that forces you to run cables along the console length in a haphazard nature. Nitpicking, but still annoying.
Rear accommodation is moderately roomy with a real plus-two vibe to the seating, and contours favouring the outboard positions.
There’s a strong tilt to the base but plenty of comfort and support from the 40:20:40 folding bench. Air vents, dual USB-A ports, seat heating controls – it’s fully formed and a nice place to spend time, helped in no small part by that sumptuous leather.
Like row two, the boot space piles on the goodness, with a handy elasticised luggage net, grocery bag hooks and remote seat folding levers. It’s deep and very usable, offering 525 litres of space standard or more concise 499L if you option a space-saver spare wheel, which expands to around 1600L.
Functional and classy, the Stelvio Veloce’s cabin is a real highlight.
Motivation is provided by the high-power version of the range’s 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol four. Here, the engine format outputs 206kW and 400Nm, that later figure from 2250rpm, whereas lower-grade Stelvio variants adopt a version that produces a much more modest 147kW and 330Nm.
It’s backed by a ZF-sourced eight-speed torque-convertor – rather than a dual-clutch – and its paired with an on-demand, rear-biased all-wheel drive system that can shuffle up to 50 per cent of the torque to the front axle via an active transfer case. As mentioned above, the Veloce version has a self-locking mechanical rear limited-slip differential.
The Veloce gets Alfa SDC Active suspension, which is marketing spin for what’s ostensibly electronically-controlled adaptive damping for the aluminium-rich double-wishbone front and multi-link rear design.
The powertrain and suspension are switchable via the drive controller its maker calls Alfa DNA.
Performance is a claimed 5.7 seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint, much swifter than the 7.2-second figure for the base Stelvio and Sport with the lower-output tune. Top speed is said to be 230km/h.
Despite the performance advantage, the Veloce’s combined consumption claim is the same as lower-power versions, at 7.0L/100km. On test, we found that mixed driving returned figures in the nines. Unsurprisingly, it requires premium fuel for its 64-litre tank.
Sub-6.0-second performance when spanked and 7.0-litre frugality when treated gently make for compelling numbers, but surely something has to give somewhere in the transition between the two. And it does.
First, the good bits. Inconspicuous on the form guide is that the Stevlio boasts 50:50 fore-aft weight distribution, more through the carmaker’s efforts than sheer luck.
Ditto its weighbridge ticket which, in under 1700kg kerb, is measurably more lightweight than some of its portly competitors. The Veloce has the right building blocks for dynamic talent, even before any of the driving-focused engineering plies its trade.
Chuck it through a corner and the Stelvio Veloce is very good. It points confidently, drives out of the exit ‘on the rear’ in a pleasing manner and, perhaps at its most impressive, is reactive and obedient in the mid-corner where it’s easy to adjust the chassis attitude and trajectory with your right foot.
No, it’s not quite the athletic champ that is the technically-related Giulia Veloce – which I’ve driven recently – but that’s completely understandable given the SUV is shifting more inertia than its sedan stablemate.
In the DNA system’s ‘D for Dynamic’, there’s ample enthusiasm and just enough pep and obedience from the powertrain to do the chassis a good degree of justice. The engine, in particular, works hard for its keep, though it does deliver enough shove to transmit the desired purpose.
It’s a similar story with the novel brake-by-wire system in terms of stopping power, even if the wooden pedal feel leaves a bit to be desired.
You’ll really want to grab the Veloce’s scruff and aim for your preferred back-country twisties for one per cent of the ownership experience as a sort of pay-off. That’s because for the 99 per cent of the rest of SUV-owning humdrum, the Stelvio’s on-road character isn’t quite so impressive.
In ‘N for Natural’ or ‘A for Advanced Efficiency’ (aka Eco), the turbo four becomes quite inert and lazy in a clear effort to reduce consumption. It’s a similar story for the ZF-sourced automatic, which is less than perfectly clear in its shift calibration and hovers the engine unusually high – on or above 2000rpm – because that’s where peak torque clocks on.
In short, the high-power engine only feels anything like it in D and with the right foot welded to the carpet, characteristically and sonically.
The wooden brake pedal gets to point of annoyance around town, because its unnatural feel is tricky to modulate, particularly at low speeds and during stop-start driving. The steering, too, becomes vague and disconnected, if pleasingly light to use and satisfyingly direct.
As if not to deviate from theme, the default suspension tune (in N or A modes) is incredibly elastic. By that, I mean it’s overly cushy to the point of becoming wallowy, an almost super-soft air-suspension vibe that lolls about excessively.
Prodding the damper adjust button, atop the DNA rotary controller, appears not to affect the SUV’s boaty state at all.
It would be acceptable if the suspension returned the sort of well-measured ride comfort as, say, the Giulia (in any of that range’s suspension configurations). But the Stelvio’s 20-inch wheels thud and jar across sharp-edged road imperfections and speed humps transmit a little too much of it through the cabin.
The Alfa Romeo family hauler isn’t alone in the premium SUV circles struggling with overly sharp primary ride and overly soft secondary ride – Aussies love big wheels and these symptoms are the big downsides. But still, it’s not great however you choose to cut it.
Despite its slightly disconcerting nature at a cruise, the Stelvio still offers the sort of premium vibe you expect, with decent noise suppression and a general sanguine nature about it, be it on back streets or out on the open road.
One strange foible is that the active lane-keeping seems to rarely, if ever, bring any assistance in the 60-80km/h band – major multi-lane road speeds – where most drivers will inevitably need it.
The Stelvio is covered by a very basic three-year warranty capped at 150,000kms.
That said, capped-priced servicing extends through five years, with fairly typical intervals of 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.
Interval costs are $345, 645, $465, $1065 and $345, which averages out to $573 per year across five years.
That the Stelvio Veloce piles on the charisma (powertrain notwithstanding) and brings a distinctively Italian vibe that’s almost the antithesis of generic…erm, Germanic SUV ethos is a big lure.
It packs in a lot of tech for the money even if it skimps a bit on the superficial stuff most owners take notice of, such as infotainment. It brings a sporting pitch and delivers large doses of it if you treat it with red-blooded enthusiasm.
However, in attempting to be both fiery and nice in equal measure, it’s not terribly resolved as an everyday prospect for runs to the shops or school, right down to the seats.
The Stelvio is the likeable and somewhat compelling alternative to the usual upmarket SUV suspects and is priced honestly for its pitch, too.
It’s not for everyone, although in many ways it’s better for it. But it would be measurably more likeable through a pragmatic lens if its maker polished up some of its around-town tardiness.
Few carmakers inspire such unwavering loyalty and enthusiasm from those who buy their products as Alfa Romeo – and few have been guilty of taking that passion for granted in the past.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. In the 25 years since the last rear-wheel-drive Alfa sedan, the 75, ceased production, we have seen the once world-leading Italian automotive powerhouse underinvest and ignore the sporting values of its brand – and what was seen as the company's flagship product. fate has declined
Alfa Romeo gave us a procession of relatively plain-handling front-wheel-drive cars, such as the Alfa Romeo 156, Alfa Romeo 147, Alfa Romeo 159 and Alfa Romeo Brera, while its German rivals began to fully capitalise on the dynamic advantages of a rear-wheel drive layout.
Now for the brave new dawn. As part of a huge investment plan running until the end of the decade, Alfa will renew its entire range, putting each new model in a market-leading position on power-to-weight ratio and driver appeal.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia is certainly a relatively light, advanced and powerful saloon offering the kind of material construction, suspension technology and powertrain sophistication that not only brings it into the compact executive saloon segment in a particularly strong position, but should also allow it to remain competitive with its German rivals for years to come. The car’s underbody construction is predominantly steel, with aluminium and composites used in places to save weight. All Giulias get aluminium suspension arms and subframes, cast aluminium suspension towers, aluminium doors and wings and a carbonfibre driveshaft.
The Quadrifoglio version adds a carbonfibre bonnet and roof to that material mixture, as well as a carbonfibre front splitter with active aerodynamic functions.
Alfa Romeo quotes a kerb weight for the Quadrifoglio of 1580kg, which does indeed give it the class-leading power-to-weight ratio for which Alfa aimed, judging by the company’s claims (and ignoring the even more niche-market Vauxhall VXR8 GTS, whose base car, the Holden Commodore, goes out of production this year).
But a word of qualification here: if the Giulia really is the lightest super-saloon on the block, it probably won’t be by much.
We weighed the car at 1700kg on MIRA’s scales, making it 125kg less than the 2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 but also 90kg more than the 2014 BMW M4 DCT.
Holding up the other end of the Alfa’s 318bhp-per-tonne figure is a twin-turbocharged V6 which makes 503bhp at 6500rpm and 443lb ft from 2500-5000rpm. Alfa’s engineers describe the all-aluminium unit as being ‘inspired by’ Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8.
The fact that the motors share identical – and slightly oversquare – cylinder bore and stroke measurements, an identical 90deg bank angle, very similar compression ratios and turbochargers supplied by IHI would all suggest the relationship is closer than they’re letting on.
Other features include adaptive dampers, a torque-vectoring rear differential working through a pair of clutches that can send 100 percent of drive to either rear wheel, double-wishbone front suspension, a weight-saving ‘by-wire’ electromechanical braking system and a new Magnetti Marelli central electronic chassis management computer, the function of which is to make the car’s various secondary electronics work in harmony.
It all sounds like the stuff of a car ready to upset the German super-saloon hierarchy.
All UK cars come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard, and our test car had 19in alloy wheels and carbon-ceramic brake discs fitted as options.
There was a time when you would have expected an Alfa Romeo to have an idiosyncratic driving position, partly due to the swap to right-hand drive and partly due to Alfa not thinking hard enough about such things.
No such dramas today. The Giulia’s seating position is straight and can be near or far and low or high. It has a perfectly sited steering wheel of brilliant size and girth, and which extends further than that of any rival. It’s even pretty round, by the standards of the class. It probably helped that our test car came with £2950 carbonfibre-backed Sparco seats (we haven’t yet tried a Quadrifoglio without them), but lesser Giulias still have a sound driving environment, which extends to readable dials and mostly logical switchgear.
If you’re looking for the last word in infotainment and connectivity, however, you’ll not find it here, but the heating and ventilation dials are at least straightforward.
Rear accommodation is fine. Those Sparcos take up a little leg room and present a hard surface for your kids to bang their knees against, but let’s face it, this is a Giulia Quadrifoglio, so you can live with that.
Likewise, although we’d rather not have to, the fact that the rear seats can’t be folded on this version and that the boot’s opening is small and its cavity constricted.
On the Quadrifoglio, all these things are forgiveable; on lesser Giulias they wouldn’t be. NTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Model tested:
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Price:
£61,000
Price as tested:
£73,655
Driver’s headroom
1020mm
Driver’s legroom
1150mm
Throttle pedal offset
180mm
Rear headroom
920mm
Typical rear legroom
720mm
Boot height (seats up/seats down)
480mm
Boot length (seats up/seats down)
950mm/na
Boot width (seats up/seats down)
850-1140mm
Boot capacity (seats up/seats down)
480 litres/na
There’s a reason that the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio’s interior foibles seem as petty as they are, and it’s to do with the way the car drives. In the past you might have found an Alfa with a breathtaking engine but so-so handling, but as we’ll see, that isn’t the case any more.
It’s not that the engine is the bad sibling in this relationship – any motor that shares this much with powerplants that come out of Modena is unlikely to be.
The V6 fires to a purposeful, if not spiteful, idle, with the impression that air is being moved around in gruff amounts.
It's no Mercedes-AMG C63, but it is the equal of a BMW M3 when it comes to suggested intent. Ditto when you pull away, particularly if you twist the DNA drive mode selector to D (for dynamic), which increases the exhaust woofle, sharpens the throttle response and affects which gear the transmission opts to put itself in.
On part throttle, mind, there’s an occasional hesitancy: sometimes it gives you more than you ask, sometimes less, but it’s very slight and only just enough to prick your consciousness.
The eight-speed auto’s movements are nicely matched, although at anything more than a gentle cruise we found we wanted to take charge ourselves via the column-mounted shift paddles.
Do so and the Alfa fairly flies. In perfect conditions and on new tyres it will hit 60mph from rest in under four seconds, but as a two-way average, with two people aboard and fully fuelled, there’s nothing wrong with the 4.5sec the car returned in our hands.
Turbo lag becomes negligible once you have 3000rpm or so wound on, and the V6 runs to a soulful 7300rpm, with a noise that’s smoother than that of an AMG V8 but is more involving than an M3’s.
Its gearbox operates with greater smoothness than that in either the AMG, which has a clutch instead of a torque converter, or the M3, which uses a dual-clutch automatic.
The Giulia mooches through gears with the ease of a tight torque converter auto, and is arguably better for it.
The Giulia stops well, too, even on worn P Zero Corsas and in the wet, although brake pedal feel as you come to a halt could be improved.
Initial feel is good, as is retardation, but often after you stop you have to adjust pedal pressure to prevent the Giulia creeping forwards.
Alfa Romeo is finally bringing back the iconic GTA nameplate with the new Giulia GTA and GTAm, so this is an as good time as ever to remind ourselves which was the last Italian model to wear the fabled badge.
The last production GTA models were the 156 and the 147, which rewrote what was possible for an FWD car with their naturally aspirated 3.2-liter V6 sending 250 HP to just the front wheels but the very last car to wear a GTA badge was the Mito, the company’s small hatchback tasked with challenging the dominance of the Mini in the premium small segment.
Sexy New Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA And GTAm Coming With 532 HP, Less Weight
Alfa Romeo presented the Mito GTA as a near-production concept at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, featuring a more aggressive bodywork with various styling changes and the company’s then-fresh-off-the-oven 1.75-liter turbo four-cylinder engine with direct fuel injection kicking out 240 HP and paired to a six-speed manual transmission.
The Alfa Romeo Mito was based on the same platform with the Fiat Grande Punto and the Opel Corsa, offered in a range of turbocharged petrol engines that included both Fiat’s charismatic 0.9-liter two-cylinder TwinAir unit and the 1.4-liter four-cylinder with outputs up to 170 HP in the range-topping Quadrifoglio Verde trim.
The Mito’s mini-8C looks split opinions back then and we imagine they still do while the interior felt cheap in places where it couldn’t hide its Fiat origins. However the more powerful versions of the Mito were quite capable little hatches, especially when fitted with the more advanced active damper setup. Alfa Romeo claimed that the Mito GTA was capable of hitting a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h), with the classic 0-62 mph (100 km/h) coming in just 5 seconds. If the Italian brand’s hot hatch reached production, it would be not only significantly quicker in acceleration than what could become its main rival, the Mini John Cooper Works GP, but it would beat most -if not all- hot hatches of the period in that aspect as well.
As with every Alfa Romeo GTA, weight reduction was one of the main topics; body parts like the roof panel and the tailgate spoiler were made out of carbon fiber, with engineers making liberal use of aluminum in the suspension, braking components, and chassis.
The show car also made heavy use of underbody aerodynamics, featuring a giant rear diffuser with the exhaust tips being fully integrated like a proper race car, a redesigned front bumper with bigger air intakes, a deeper splitter and a new version of the Alfa grille with the badge migrating on top of it.
The prototype was sitting 20 mm lower to the ground than a standard Mito, featuring an active suspension setup, with the shocks being electronically controlled to offer class-leading dynamics during fast driving and maintain good levels of comfort in everyday use. The front suspension featured a revised geometry thanks to new aluminum arms while the rear end featured special bushings.
The interior was stripped of its rear bench seat, placing instead a strut brace that also acted as support for the racing harnesses. A pair of lightweight bucket seats together with a different steering wheel and gear lever completed the tone, with the cabin completely dressed in Alcantara and red piping.
The Alfa Romeo Mito GTA was a hot hatch almost ready to roll off the factory gates but the financial crisis of the period made it hard for the Italian automaker to justify the development costs. Fiat opted instead to spend its money towards the new Abarth model range with the Punto and the 500 models and the 4C sports car, killing the dream of a lightweight Alfa Romeo hot hatch that on paper honored the GTA badge 100 percent.
