MULTIMEDIA SYSTEM

Alfa’s hot Stelvio has arrived just as the Italian firm has got around to making its 8.8in Alfa Connect infotainment system compliant with smartphone mirroring. It will connect with both Apple and Android handsets and delivers quite a lot more connected services, through your phone’s data connection, as a result.

An infotainment system in a £70,000 car probably shouldn’t rely on your smartphone’s data connection as squarely as that, mind you. And in other respects, the Alfa’s Magneti Marelli-developed set-up doesn’t distinguish itself too well. It’s controlled through an idrivestyle wheel of the sort we would generally prefer to a touchscreen system anyway, but it still seems a bit more cumbersome to use than the best premium-grade systems. The navigation system is considerably less adaptable and detailed than it ought to be, and it’ll be a while yet before Stelvio owners will be treated to things like a fully digital instrument screen or a head-up display – both of which you’ve got a right to expect, at least as an option, on this kind of car.