Antidote to the blob

|ts great looks mean you can forgive the junior Alfa its fundamental ordinariness.

|t’s inside that it starts to feel less ‘crafted in Turin’ than ‘provided by Jeep’

One final long drive gives me the chance to really nail down my thoughts on the Tonale – a car that, in short, feels like a missed opportunity.

First the good: despite my efforts to remain objective, the Tonale’s looks give it an inescapable charm. In a world where crossovers are getting ever closer to a medium-sized, ‘dynamic roofline’ blob, the Tonale is striking and elegant. Its lines are considered. From the Scudetto shield to its alloys, and those triple-curved lights, the Tonale has a character and charm rarely seen.

To an extent the romantic notion of Alfa remains intact when you start driving. In certain modes, its dials look just like the Alfas of old. Like the Giulia, the Tonale’s keen front end has incredible response and feedback through corners too.

Compare the Tonale to its siblings inside, however, and doubts creep in. The Stelvio and Giulia interiors are a little more thought-out, and feel more premium. It’s here that the Tonale starts to feel less ‘crafted in Turin’, and more ‘provided by Jeep’. Whenever people told me how great the car looked, I’d adapt a line from Dr Who: ‘It’s cheaper on the inside.’

Those rose-tinted spectacles are truly shattered, however, when it comes to driving the car in a more spirited way – mostly down to the temperamental gearbox. There’s just enough power to make driving this car fun, but the delivery is all over the place. And there’s just enough poise in the chassis and feedback from the steering to make that an actual shame.

If the hybrid power and ’box and engine were a band, they’d need a metronome – because the timing feels off and disjointed. Only putting the car into Sport mode makes the Alfa’s transmission remotely alert – and even then, it’s much better to take gearchanges into your own hands with the paddles. That makes driving this car at ten-tenths fun – but frustrating most other times.

Would I buy one? Not until it has the powertrain to match its chassis – and a little more of the exterior charm in the cabin. Still, my time with the Tonale has me looking forward to driving the next most important Alfa ever, the electric Milano crossover.