It’s raining QVs at Alfa Romeo’s stand in Los Angeles, where besides the heavily marketed Giulia, the Italians debuted their first ever SUV, the Stelvio, in it’s in range-topping guise.
Aimed at the premium compact segment, the Stelvio is underpinned by the same architecture as its four-door sibling, from which it borrows its 2.9-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine, that was developed with the help of Ferrari.
The six-cylinder mill pushes out 505 HP and 443 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque, but unlike the rear-wheel drive Giulia, the Alfa Romeo’s SUV gets an all-wheel drive system, with a torque vectoring differential for better handling. As for the 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) sprint, the SUV needs just 3.9 seconds, and it will keep going up to 177 mph (284 km/h).
The Alfa Romeo Giulia QV has the exact same output, but reaches the 60mph mark a tenth of a second faster at 3.8 seconds, while also boasting a higher top speed of 190 mph (305 km/h).
Choosing between the two would have tilted the balance towards the sedan until a few years ago, but given the increased popularity of SUVs and crossovers in the US market (and not only), designating a clear winner could be more a challenging task.
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QV
ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QV
