AT THE WHEEL
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Let’s get to the bottom of what this ‘Italian passion’ is all about. Founded by Frenchman Alexandre Darracq in 1910, the company was named A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, which translates into Anonymous Lombard Automobile Factory). Alfa began its association with racing as early as in 1911; and it took its cars in a sporty direction. It is renowned for good design, often collaborating with famous design houses like Bertone, Giugiaro, Pininfarina and Zagato to style its products.
The famous quadrifoglio or four-leaf clover has adorned Alfa’s performance models since 1923. The quadrifoglio story makes for an interesting piece of trivia, which started with one of the four highly skilled drivers in Alfa’s ‘Corse’ team.
Ugo Sivocci was having bad luck; and even though he was a master driver, something unexpected would always happen to keep him away from the podium. As a good luck charm, he painted a quadrifoglio on the side of his car – and from then on, Sivocci raced to victory until he was tragically killed when testing a car that didn’t feature the four-leaf clover.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) knows well enough that the Stelvio needs to compete with the big boys in a segment that isn’t cut out for novices. So has it come up with a product that’s worthy of being recognised as a modern compact crossover?
Design is something that Alfa as a brand has excelled in by being several tiers up from the Germans, Japanese and
South Koreans. Stelvio’s evolution from the 2003 Kamal SUV concept (not a mistake) is evident, although it’s sort of modernised with creases and sharp edges compared to what was cutting-edge design back then. The proportions also seem to have stretched. The Sivocci has many styling cues that tie it to its running mate Giulia.
Despite being designed for perfection, the interior does employ some less than perfect materials especially around the door cards where there’s hard scratchy plastic. We assume that the company had to cut costs somewhere. Accommodation is adequate for front passengers while the rear legroom lags behind the competition.
Meanwhile, the body hugging bucket seats in the Quadrifoglio are an indication of its potency. This version has an attractive carbon fibre trim on the dash and doors but the infotainment system isn’t easy to navigate – instrumentation isn’t the virtual type that’s becoming the norm nowadays.
That said, here’s a lovely place to simply sit in… and
drive. Think of it this way: you won’t have time to ponder the cons because you’ll be busy enjoying the road, which turns into a track when you’re behind the wheel!
The Stelvio has the standard safety tech features like forward collision warning and emergency braking, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning and lane keeping assist.
And it’s a driver’s car (compared to a traditional crossover) in the same league as Porsche’s Macan. This also means that it has a harder suspension compared to some of its peers. As they say, you can’t have your cake and eat it too!
In what is a fiercely competitive playing field, we feel the Stelvio is able to compete with the likes of Audi’s Q5, Mercedes’ GLC, BMW’s X3, Volvo’s XC60 and Porsche’s Macan. But Alfa’s brand image and perceived unreliability may prevent the Stelvio from achieving substantial sales.
However, it’s a no-brainer for the enthusiast. So which one are you? Do you think with your head or heart?