Car Review: Alfa Romeo Stelvio

The Italian company’s renaissance continues

(Photography by Alfa Romeo)

When I first heard about the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the brand’s first ever SUV, I thought to myself, “Ah. I know what’s going on here. Alfa are owned by Fiat, who now own Chrysler, which owns Jeep. So the new Stelvio must be some sort of Jeep hurriedly rebadged as an Alfa, with all the good and the bad that that implies. If they’re really cynical it’ll be built in America and inherited the worst genes of its parents.” I had a chilling recollection of something called the Alfa Romeo Arna; a Nissan Cherry built in Italy, so combining Japanese flair in styling and the Fiat group’s famous reputation for reliability and attention to detail. The worst of all worlds.

The handling lives up to the styling, not always a given with an SUV (Alfa Romeo)

How wrong I was. About the Stelvio, I mean. This attractive new SUV is, as far as I can judge, a pretty accomplished piece of work, based on the new Alfa rear-wheel drive platform seen in the excellent Giulia, and very much made and styled in Italy, which is what you want from your Alfa, after all – an Italianate BMW, if you will. I tested the 2.2 Turbo Diesel version with part-time four-wheel drive and found it an impressive drive. In “Milane Edizone”, a sort of launch special to excite interest in, admittedly, yet another SUV thumping on to the market, it gives the aspirant SU driver all the kit they’ve a reasonable expectation of. So that’s heated electric seats and steering wheel, leather around the seats and dash, some nice aluminium trim, reversing camera, a powered tailgate and warning beeps for your blind spot and if you happen to drift out of lane (a especially low-pitched burp emanating from the dash to perk you up on such occasions). It’s a medium-sized SUV, this, meaning it’s far too big for use in town, but not quite as gargantuan as some of its competitors. For example, I found myself in a jam simply because I was trying to drive up a narrow street with a Volvo XC60 and an Audi Q7 blocking my way at the end. Gridlock. This issue of how car inflation has contributed to city congestion and problems parking hasn’t received enough of an airing, I feel. We may be getting to a bit of a tipping point here as the march of the SUVs continues.

The gear change paddles: elegant but a bit pointless

There’s not much to fault in the cabin, as it happens. The most obvious flaw is the way the “racing” long paddles for the gear change, tucked in either side of the steering wheel, obscure the stalks for the lights and the wipers, so that when you think you’re flashing someone to pull out at a junction all you end up doing is dropping a gear instead. The paddle change, as an alternative to using the mandatory 8-speed automatic transmission, is fine, but a bit pointless, given that the Alfa’s diesel will only work itself up to 4,500 rpm. I’d rather do without them, on the whole, elegant as the paddles are.

The other drawback is the controls for the infotainment system, which use the same sort of system as VW Group: control knob on the central console between the front seats which you twiddle and push to, for example, change radio station or input an address. It is not easy to use and feels old-fashioned in the age of the iPad. The interior is perfectly well put together, but it is also rather sombre and, well, a bit dull for an Alfa. I could easily have been in a Hyundai or an Audi, say, which is good (tasteful and straightforward) and bad (not many talking points). They should take a look at what Range Rover and Volvo are doing to promote style. And yes, I would specify my Stelvio in red leather and wood trim.

The spec

Alfa Romeo Stelvio  2.2 Turbo Diesel, ‘Milane Edizione’

Price: £46,235 (range starts at £38,490)
Engine capacity: 2.2-litre diesel; 8-sp auto
Power output (hp @ rpm): 210@3,750
Top speed (mph): 134
0-62 mph (seconds): 6.6
Fuel economy (mpg): 58.9
CO2 emissions (g/km): 127 
​BIK rate: 25%

Alfa are fortunate in having a signature family “face” – the grille and front styling – that is easily scaleable and can be grafted onto to virtually any bodywork with ease and harmony. Contrast that with, say, Porsche, whose Macan and Cayenne SUVs still look hideous, or Mercedes-Benz’s GLA and GLC, where everything that can go wrong with the styling has gone wrong. No one should accuse the Alfa or being derivative, either. The Kamal concept SUV unveiled back in 2003 bears a close resemblance to the Stelvio, and does rather beg the question of why it took Alfa 15 years to get it to market. Money, I suppose.

Drivers have the choice of three settings (Alfa Romeo)

Anyway, I liked the haunch they’ve given the rear wheel arches and the pseudo coupe low roof, and I am pleased to say the handling lives up to the styling, not always a given with an SUV. There’s a little dial that offers the three settings available to the driver – wittily labelled “dna”: dynamic, natural and advanced Efficiency (or economy). They genuinely give the car very different characteristics, and the “dynamic”, ie performance, setting is the one I think most drivers will set as their default, and it offers an almost thrilling acceleration with a well-damped, comfortable ride and, I should add, a remarkably refined and quiet diesel engine (maybe because it isn’t allowed to rev all that high). Petrol options are available, too.

The car is named after the Stelvio Pass up in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland with its 75 hairpin bends, and I think it would be most at home there. They’ve tried to keep the Stelvio’s weight down to the sort of level usually found in the class – about 1.6 tonnes, and this helps this SUV, an inherently unwieldy concept, to be that bit more agile. The engineers have also paid some attention to the sheer bulk of the thing, using plastics and aluminium panels on the grille, wings, tailgate and the engine and suspension to reduce weight. It pays off in performance, CO2 emissions and fuel economy. Usually the drive will go to the rear wheels, but the “Q4” system (Alfa’s answer to Audi’s “quattro” idea), means the all-wheel capability will kick in as and when it is needed, in slippery conditions, and it worked well in the recent snow, for example. However, no one should fool themselves into imagining this car has a great off-road potential. It is too unsophisticated technically and too low on the ground for that – I’m afraid you’ll still need a Range Rover Evoque or Velar, say, for that. As if you needed an excuse.

Plastics and aluminium panels on the grille, wings, tailgate and the engine and suspension reduce weight (Alfa Romeo)

So far, then, from being some cynical lazily chucked-together exercise of badge-engineered marketing, the Alfa Stelvio lives up to the best of the Alfa tradition, albeit in a novel market sector. If Jaguar, Porsche, BMW and Bentley can make SUVs though, there is no earthly reason why Alfa can’t. You should, as ever, weight the usual considerations in purchasing or leasing an Alfa – principally depreciation and reliability – in the balance, but, please, do give the Stelvio a try. I’d still prefer a Giuilia; though, because of the Stelvio, Alfa reportedly feel no need to develop an estate version, which would be the best of all worlds. Does the country need yet another SUV clogging up city streets? To be honest, of course not, but if there is to be one then it might as well be a “proper” Alfa.