Italian SUV on steroids: The Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio Review & Road Test HD

The Alfa Stelvio is an SUV that has character, amazing power and is extremely entertaining to drive. Performance SUVs with over 400bhp and sub-3.5sec 0-60mph times are very rare beasts, in fact that may all change soon, as they they seem to be thriving, with new models appearing far more frequently nowadays. So how did Alfa take a regular Stelvio, itself one of the few SUVs with some character a driver can engage with, and turn it into the family friendly fire breathing monster known as the Quadrifoglio? Well, Alfa Romeo’s engineers, led by Roberto Fedeli, whose accolades include Ferrari’s 599, F12 and 458 Speciale, oh and not forgetting the fabulous Giulia Quadrifoglio, set about developing not only a rival to the Macan Turbo, but a world class SUV. The new Stelvio has 503bhp, a sub three and a half second 0-60mph time and a 7min 51sec Nürburgring lap time, which means basically the Stelvio Quadrifoglio eats Porsche SUVs for lunch. Beneath the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s aluminium bonnet is the 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6 as found in the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Power is the same, at 503bhp, and the eight-speed ZF gearbox has been recalibrated to suit both the increase in weight over the saloon and the four-wheel-drive transmission. It’s the first time this engine and gearbox combination has been offered with Alfa Romeo’s Q4 drive line. Default mode for the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is rear-wheel drive, and it’s only when the system detects an angle of slip or a loss of traction that it will direct up to 50 per cent of the engine’s torque to the front wheels through a carbon fibre propshaft. A limited-slip differential, active torque vectoring and Alfa’s Pro-DNA switchable drive mode system are also all standard.Left in automatic mode the gearbox delivers each ratio with an instant seamless shift, but, as with the Giulia, you’ll want to use the beautiful aluminium paddles fitted to the steering column and change gear yourself. Unless you’re in Race mode, the gearbox doesn’t change as you approach a corner; instead it waits for you to get on the power before kicking down. The Stelvio Quadrifoglio costs from £69,500. Alfa priced its SUV against Porsche’s 434bhp Macan Turbo fitted with the Performance Package, making the Stelvio cheaper than the Porsche. The only other two small, similar powered SUVs for the Stelvio to do battle with are the Jaguar F-Pace SVR and the Mercedes-AMG GLC63. The latter being closer to the Stelvio’s power with 469bhp. Dont Forget to THUMBS UP & SUBSCRIBE to The Player channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSs... Full written article can be found here: http://theplayer.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/_the_player Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplayer.co.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrandiejones