WHY NO PORSCHE MACAN?
A 255bhp V6 diesel-powered Porsche Macan S Diesel would have filled the gap between the Jaguar and Alfa Romeo in this test very neatly, so why not include it?
It’s certainly not because we don’t rate the Porsche’s remarkable handling or its premiumbrand allure. Rather, as a comparison test run-in with a Jaguar F-pace last year proved, we don’t consider the Macan a true rival for these two family SUVS.
Porsche itself calls the Macan a unique fusion of compact SUV and sports car forms. The car’s concept allows it to handle and engage the way it does but it prevents you from using it like you might a proper family SUV. The Macan’s back seats are no larger than those in a compact crossover like a Seat Ateca or Nissan Qashqai, for example.
In fact, the Stelvio’s diesel powertrain is plainly more than a match for the F-pace’s in every dimension that counts. That may surprise a few people who have studied the specification tables (above right) but it’s unlikely to if you’ve been following our recent reports on Jaguar Land Rover’s other Ingenium-engined diesel models. Just like in all of its various relations save perhaps for the Land Rover Discovery, this 237bhp oil-burner falls short of your expectations on performance, flexibility and refinement in the F-pace – whereas Alfa’s 207bhp motor just seems more torquey and more responsive than you guess it’ll be.
The Stelvio’s 0.6sec on-paper advantage over the F-pace over the 0-62mph sprint is clearly represented in the real world, where the Alfa is quite plainly the quicker of these two cars. The F-pace hesitates in response to a decent waft of accelerator pedal, both from a standstill and when you want to pick up speed when rolling, but the Stelvio is quick to knuckle
down and get on with it. The Alfa feels strong and energetic through the mid-range, where the Jaguar seems more treacly, as though it’s saving itself for a high-revving payoff that never quite arrives.
But powertrains aside, there’s better news for both camps because, driven hard, both of these cars handle very well for their breed. They have remarkably high grip levels and a good cornering balance for cars of their size and profile. It’s not sports-saloon level stuff, granted. But it is the kind of poise that’ll let you bowl along as briskly as you’re likely to want to on the road and through familiar corners using plenty of power without running out of body control, having to manage understeer, or having your fun spoilt by a stability control system that nannies the experience half to death.
Which does it better? It depends on the road. On a smoothly surfaced one, well sighted and quiet enough to really open up on, the Alfa does. It’s more firmly sprung than the Jaguar, slightly more grippy and upright, and it feels more agile and incisive though faster bends. The Stelvio steers with greater pace than the F-pace, too. It’s a genuinely encouraging and precise car to hustle along and would be an even better one but for the flightyfeeling vagueness of that steering around the dead centre.
Come the bumps without which a British road wouldn’t be recognisably British, though, the Stelvio begins to come unstuck. The Alfa rides a touch excitably over uneven tarmac, suffering plenty of fidget and head toss, and it has little of the fluency or finesse of the cleverly damped Jaguar. There’s an equally noticeable, relative shortage of good suspension isolation here, too, and bumps often thump through noisily.
Back in the silver corner, a hefty, trustworthy, oily-feeling steering completes the sense of carefully polished dynamic superiority that the Jaguar conjures when you drive it back-to-back with the Alfa. When you consider the F-pace’s better-built, more luxurious and marginally more spacious cabin and boot, you can only come to the conclusion that – despite being outgunned by the Stelvio’s performance and out-handled by it in its way – the F-pace has done enough here. The Jaguar has proved itself the more complete premium product; our victor on aggregate, if you like, given that its defeats to the Alfa are probably by narrower margins than its victories over the Italian.
But know this: the Alfa Romeo Stelvio has arrived – and it has done so with a bang. It’s well priced; it has the sub-130g/km CO2 emissions that might just get it onto your company car scheme; and it’s a really gifted entertainer. Like the Giulia, it’s a bit of a punt but a hugely likeable presence, too. The Stelvio is an unexpected source of zest, energy and fun in a class that really needs it. It is very welcome. It can stay.