Driving Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio Quadrifoglio SUV, the Stelvio performance flagship
at $153,500. The styling striking with sculptured V-shaped Alfa grille, and the
best-looking automotive badge in the business, has real appeal, so too the
interior, a combination of leather, Alcantara and carbon fibre, beautifully executed
together with great instrumentation. But it’s the underpinnings of the Alfa Romeo
Stelvio Quadrifoglio that are standout. A Ferrari-developed 2.9-litre twin turbo V6
driving all four-wheels through an 8-speed automatic with shift paddles. The
drivetrain a high point – with four drive settings, Dynamic, Normal, Adaptive and
Race, changing steering weight, gear shift speed, suspension firmness, stability
control and exhaust volume – in Race mode all hell breaks loose with an
aggressive performance that as the name implies, is best for a racetrack.
Weighing 1830kilos it literally jumps to 100km/hour in just 3.8 seconds. A
stunning performance SUV and so it should be with such an exalted price tag.
But to me this is a collector model – by far the best Alfa Romeo I’ve driven in the
last 20 years, an Italian masterpiece – but it’s not perfect – I’d like a spare wheel
while the ride quality on very low-profile tyres can be tiresome but oh what a
drive. Warranty: Disappointing at three years/150,000kms. I’m David Berthon

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