Behind the wheel Alfa Romeo Stelvio

THE Stelvio is Alfa’s very first SUV, and it enters into an incredibly busy segment. But having already knocked it out of the park with the excellent Giulia saloon, can Alfa repeat the recipe with the larger Stelvio?

Alfa Romeo, being a manufacturer of dynamically capable vehicles, has worked hard to ensure the Stelvio is geared towards ‘sporty’ driving more than other SUVs on the market today. As such, you’ll find it has perfect 50/50 weight distribution, and suspension set up to provide a more dynamic drive, rather than an overtly comfortable one. They’ve also carried over many of the features popular on the Giulia saloon. The gearshift paddles, for instance, are massive and crafted from aluminium, while the steering rack is quicker than you’d expect.

Though the Giulia is available with a range of engines, our test Stelvio came fitted with the most powerful unit, a 2.2-litre, 207bhp turbocharged powerplant. The performance is brisk, with the sprint to 60mph settled in 6.4 seconds, while the top speed is set at a respectable 134mph. Despite this, the Stelvio still has a claimed economy of 58.9mpg, while emissions are reasonable at 127g/km CO2.

Save for the very lowest-output cars, all Stelvios benefit from four-wheel-drive, aiding traction levels in poor conditions. Power is driven to them via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and there’s a decent amount of torque generated by the engine to keep the whole affair pushed along – 470Nm, in fact, which is a good slug of pushing power.

The ride suffers a little at low speeds, with its overall firmness transferring imperfections on the road surface into the cabin. It means when pottering around town the Stelvio feels a little unsettled. However, as you increase in speed, the car’s suspension begins to make sense, where it manages body roll well and allows you to corner confidently.

The steering is, as mentioned, quite quick too, and this gives the whole car an eagerness when turning in – again, another plus point when travelling at faster speeds. One aspect that threw up a few issues was the fuel gauge – on our car, the estimated fuel readout would change wildly, varying by hundreds of miles at any given time. At one point it showed 40

The Stelvio is Alfa Romeo’s first SUV and is focused on fully involving the driver