Item: Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Rating: 3.5
Author: Matt Saunders

12 January 2018

It was during November 2014 that we caught our first glimpse of what seemed at the time a bizarre but simultaneously inevitable development: a sports utility vehicle from Alfa Romeo.

The test mule – a Maserati Ghibli, seemingly on stilts and with a truncated wheelbase – bore almost no resemblance to the final product seen here, but it heralded something of a departure in philosophy for a marque steeped in the passion of performance.

Bi-xenon headlights look sharp, which perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise given that they take the shape of a boning knife
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

For enthusiasts, at least, that was the bizarre bit.

It was inevitable because parent group Fiat had long harboured designs to reposition Alfa Romeo as a volume rival for the likes of Audi and BMW and naturally the most effective way to achieve that was by building a credible SUV.

A nice idea, sure, although given the undeniably pretty but dynamically flawed saloons the brand had given us during the preceding decade, it seemed a stretch to imagine that Alfa could competitively engineer arguably the most difficult of all the vehicle types.

What we didn’t know back then was just how good the Alfa Romeo Giulia saloon – the first vehicle in Alfa’s new era, introduced in 2016 in the form of the fire-breathing Quadrifoglio model – would turn out to be.

It had a peach of a driving position and maintained poise and stability in the face of challenging British roads.

Crucially, it was also attractive, and idiosyncratic, which meant Alfa had successfully executed a two-step-forward march without faltering back. Now consider that the new Stelvio shares much with the Giulia, including its design language and the majority of its engineering.

But back to 2014, because it was then that we summarised the unborn Stelvio’s mission statement.

It was to present itself as a dynamic competitor to the Porsche Macan while at the same time exhibiting the kind of design that has given the Range Rover Evoque such magnetic appeal.

Now, we get to find out whether that heady ambition has been realised.

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Alfa Romeo Stelvio

Good

Engaging handling

Punchy diesel engine

Charismatic styling

Bad

Quality of materials inside

Shortfall of refinement on UK roads

Poor residual values

DESIGN & STYLING

The pictures might not convey this but, dimensionally, the Stelvio is more super-sized hatchback than traditional SUV.

It’s marginally taller than a Macan and quite a bit shorter than a BMW X5, which illustrates that Alfa is attempting to purvey athleticism over any utilitarian ideals.

The by-wire braking system compensates for fade, which seems a bit misguided. You may never push the brakes that hard but, if you do, you’d be glad to know how they’re bearing up
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

The front end is all but a straight transplant from the Giulia saloon – a little chubbier, certainly, and less handsome for it – and it is linked to the steeply raked rear by a relatively high belt line.

There’s the hint of a shooting brake here and that’s no bad thing.

Underneath its unusually rigid body, the Stelvio is built on the same modular Giorgio platform as the Giulia and, scanning the spec sheet of our four-wheel-drive diesel test car, one figure in particular demands a second glance: a kerb weight of 1659kg.

That’s remarkably light, and hints at the use of aluminium for the suspension and much of the body. The Stelvio also employs a carbonfibre driveshaft, with the decision to use a brake-by-wire system chasing yet more weight out.

Filling out the Stelvio range beneath the flagship, vent-laden Quadrifoglio model – whose Ferrari-derived 503bhp twin-turbo V6 recently propelled it to a new Nürburgring lap record for an SUV – is a choice of either a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine or a 2.2-litre diesel.

Each is available in two states of tune, so you can have your non-QV Stelvio with as little as 177bhp or as much as 276bhp, with Alfa’s Q4 all-wheel-drive system mandatory across the range except in the base diesel model, which gets the option of a solely rear-driven chassis.

As with the Giulia, power is sent through an eight-speed automatic gearbox developed by German firm ZF and used widely among luxury car makers.

The suspension, meanwhile, features a passive set-up, with Alfa’s ‘DNA’ mode selector altering only the response of the gearbox, engine map, stability control (which cannot be entirely deactivated) and Q4 driveline. There’s also an absence of control gear alluding to any variable-terrain programmes, this car being pitched as a road-going SUV.

INTERIOR

The Stelvio adopts the tone set by the Alfa Romeo Giulia, which means its interior is stylish enough to impress at a glance but a disappointment in terms of materials quality and, in some instances, fit.

The hard plastic of the door cards and some play in the switchgear are particularly conspicuous, and although there’s plenty of space in the front, the ambience is a bit rudimentary for a car purporting to be a ‘luxury’ offering.

Shortage of telescopic steering column adjustment seems a bigger problem than on the Giulia. Most testers cited it as a bugbear here
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

Given that our test car is a high-spec model, with leather and aluminium in abundance, Mercedes-Benz and BMW certainly don’t have much to worry about yet.

It is refreshingly uncluttered, though, with a transmission tunnel that’s home to just three dials (DNA mode selector, infotainment volume and BMW-iDrive-style rotary controller) and two buttons, along with the gear selector. You also get a thin-rimmed steering wheel with enormous, Ferrari-style paddle shifters mounted on the column and a lovely starter button that sits within the spokes.

It affords a good view of the tachometer and speedometer, which are separated by a 3.5in digital readout. Continuing the driver-centric theme are seats that are decently bolstered, low-set (a feeling augmented by the Stelvio’s high belt line) and comfortable.

Good seat adjustability means drivers of nearly all shapes and sizes should manage to find a position that affords a good view of the road ahead, although the range of telescopic steering column adjustment should be greater.

However, close your eyes and you’d swear you were sitting in a moderately focused performance saloon, which is a neat trick by Alfa.

You pay the price for the Stelvio’s undeniably elegant, sweeping roof line, though. The rear seats will feel a little cramped for taller passengers, despite positioning occupants strangely low, something that in turn limits forward visibility.

The same Alfa Romeo Connect infotainment system found in the Giulia saloon is used in the Stelvio, which means you get an 8.8in display paired with a rotary controller that’s located on the transmission tunnel.

The display itself is a slightly odd shape, being wide but short, and it feels as though it’s buried within the dashboard. The graphics aren’t as crisply rendered as those of German rivals, either, although the system does respond promptly and is easy to negotiate.

Notable by their absence are Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which are now available even in the latest superminis.

But the good news is that navigation and European maps come courtesy of TomTom and they can operate without a GPS signal thanks to dead-reckoning technology.

Overall, functionality is good, presentation less so.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

2.2-litre Alfa Romeo Stelvio diesel engine

The Stelvio’s low kerb weight promises ardent performance for a diesel SUV with enough power to be considered only ‘warm’ by the standards of today’s hatchbacks.

Indeed, Alfa’s claim is that it takes just 6.6sec to breach 62mph from rest, which looks good value next to the 6.3sec of the substantially more powerful – and expensive – Macan S diesel. Top speed, meanwhile, is pegged at 134mph.

The Stelvio’s lateral grip isn’t huge and patience is key to make the apices of tighter corners
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

With temperatures only a few degrees above freezing and in damp conditions at MIRA’s test facility, our test car duly delivered, recording 6.8sec to 60mph, in the process underscoring its maker’s claim.

Weight aside, the four-wheel-drive system and the four-cylinder Multijet II diesel’s 354lb ft slug of torque from just 1750rpm are largely to thank for that turn of pace, with that torque characterising the on-road performance.

This engine isn’t notably reluctant to rev out at least by four-cylinder diesel standards, but its best work is undoubtedly done between 2000rpm and 3500rpm.

Short-shifting through the eight ratios of the automatic transmission is no chore, though, with fresh gears engaged quickly, smoothly and with no small amount of satisfaction if you’re calling for them manually by using the paddle shifters.

The diesel’s response to throttle inputs is also adequately sharp for this type of car. It’s a characteristic facilitated by Alfa’s decision to fit an electrically controlled variable-geometry turbocharger.

Of course, strong performance alone is not enough to carry a car with such a broad remit, so it’s decidedly a good thing that this engine is refined once up and running.

That you can sit at 70mph in eighth gear with the crankshaft performing just under 1700rpm means very little unwanted noise intrudes into the cabin from the engine bay.

Our test figures also indicated a touring economy of 49.7mpg, which yields a conveniently leggy range of 530 miles, given the 64-litre fuel tank.

Diesel is somewhat under the cosh in the UK and it might be tempting to look towards the petrol engines Alfa offers for the Stelvio.

They straddle our 207bhp test car in terms of power, but neither can match the fuel economy of the diesel unit, and nor are they capable of providing the kind of understated urgency that suits more athletic SUVs so well.

RIDE & HANDLING

Worthy of a real sports car.’ That’s how Alfa describes the Stelvio’s handling characteristics and, in this case, it’s a statement largely devoid of Turinese hyperbole.

The Stelvio’s particular variety of tightly controlled pliancy comes as a very welcome surprise in this segment and is made all the more enjoyable by a fundamentally rear-driven chassis that seems to find natural balance through corners both daringly quick and nonchalantly steady alike.

Stelvio’s stability control in Dynamic mode and the 4WD system let the car slide around the quicker bends
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

Given that the hardware beneath the curvaceous body is largely carried over from the Alfa Romeo Giulia saloon – as is that car’s quick steering rack – perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised by this, but the manner in which this car permits just enough body roll to communicate its grip level clearly and then quells it before it becomes superfluous or starts to affect balance of grip is impressive. The car’s handling poise and response are near the top of the class.

It all means that although the hip point in the Stelvio is 190mm higher than in the Giulia, it feels much less than that, and you can find yourself subconsciously committing to corners with a zest that you would normally only attempt in a car with a far lower centre of gravity.

There’s some compromise for that handling prowess. Brought about in part by stiffer than average suspension springs and anti-roll bars, the chassis lacks the ability to glide fluently over rougher road surfaces in the manner of, say, an Audi Q5.

At a cruise, it also has a tendency to fidget – not to an unbearably noticeable extent, but this characteristic is certainly ever present.

Conversely, the Stelvio also seems to lose a degree of its composure when the road asks stern successive questions of the damping. It’s not hard to imagine that its refinement issues would be remedied to some extent by the fitment of 18in wheels – our test car sported 20in items, as per Milano Edizione spec – and its versatility would be improved by the use of adaptive dampers. However, the lightness and shortage of feel in the steering is probably less easy to cure.

Ultimately, versatility is where this car’s ride and handling falters. On reasonably smooth roads, it’s close to unbeatable for driver satisfaction. Buyers in this segment will want a broader repertoire, though, and on B-roads and motorways, Alfa has scope to improve this car’s appeal.

The Stelvio’s ‘DNA’ controller allows you to set the stability control and four-wheel-drive system for Dynamic and All-weather driving modes either side of Normal – but there’s no way to disable the stability control entirely.

Not that you really need to in order to drive the car quickly and smoothly on the track. The body control is good by SUV standards, as is its well-balanced grip level, although you need to be used to the fast and relatively light steering.

Alfa’s slightly grabby by-wire braking system sometimes makes it difficult to stop with the utmost confidence and feel, but the car adopts a nicely neutral and adjustable attitude on the way into corners, and its driveline juggles torque cleverly enough to get you out without pushing on towards the outside verge.

The BMW X4’s wet circuit time was set before recent resurfacing but, on a perfect like-for-like comparison, it’s hard to imagine the BMW being quicker.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

You’ll pay a premium of just £800 for the more powerful of the two diesels, and given that they both return the same claimed fuel economy, that’s not a particularly difficult decision to make.

In terms of specification, the standard car doesn’t come too generously equipped, so you’ll probably want to upgrade to either Super or Speciale trim, in which the Stelvio remains competitively priced.

Expect the Stelvio to take a bit of a hit in terms of depreciation compared with its German rivals
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

However, you should ask yourself whether you’re the kind of person who should consider the Stelvio at all.

For all the good work that Alfa Romeo has done in translating the dynamism of the Alfa Romeo Giulia platform into an SUV, it seems to have come at the cost of refinement, which is a hallmark of the best cars in the class and regarded as a priority for some buyers.

With a family to transport, would you trade some involvement behind the wheel for serenity and a better-appointed cabin? In a premium-brand SUV, it’s likely that you would.

Consider also that while our Stelvio test car usefully undercuts its rivals from Porsche (Macan S Diesel) and Audi (Q5 3.0 TDI quattro) if you’re buying new, it’s expected to suffer the effects of depreciation more acutely. On the flip side, that makes a used Stelvio in a high specification a very tempting proposition.

VERDICT

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Alfa Romeo Stelvio

Good

Engaging handling

Punchy diesel engine

Charismatic styling

Bad

Quality of materials inside

Shortfall of refinement on UK roads

Poor residual values

Alfa Romeo is not the first marque beloved by purists to fall for the financial temptations of the rampant SUV segment. BMW, Jaguar and Porsche were all quicker on the draw and have benefited significantly as a result.

However, we’d suggest that none of those companies has been as successful as Alfa Romeo in translating its brand values to an elevated platform – and certainly not at the first attempt.

Spry-handling SUV is likeable, if short of the class’s usual refinements
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

The Stelvio is unusually attractive among its vanilla peers and unusually rewarding to drive. Its interior quality needs work but its powertrain is compelling and it undercuts premium rivals on price too. It will find numerous buyers, and rightly so, but in the future, the question is likely to be whether it could have found many more.

Alfa Romeo has achieved a rare dynamic feat in tuning the way its first SUV handles, but this has come at the cost of ride refinement, which is a price that many potential customers may be unwilling to pay. Subsequent iterations will need to address this before the Stelvio challenges for class honours.