When we think of a class-leading performance SUV, our mind usually goes to the Porsche Cayenne and Macan, but apparently Alfa Romeo’s range-topping Stelvio Quadrifoglio is the new performance king in the SUV world.
Doug DeMuro takes us for a tour around the Stelvio Quadrifoglio and, like other reviewers before him, he’s impressed by the Italian performance super-SUV.
After all, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio rides on the same platform with the Giulia, which has been the benchmark for handling and driver involvement in its segment. Under the bonnet there’s an angry-sounding, Ferrari-developed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 with with 503hp (510PS) and 443lb-ft (600Nm) of torque. An eight-speed automatic with big steering paddles is the only gearbox available.
The chassis features bespoke adaptive dampers, stiffer springs, thicker anti-roll bars, while the rear-biased all-wheel drive system gets a torque-vectoring differential. Add the six-piston Brembo brakes that sit within the 20-inch alloy wheels and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio appears to have all the hardware necessary to back up its bold claims.
Alfa Romeo claims that the Stelvio Quadrifoglio can hit 60mph (96 km/h) from a standstill in 3.9 seconds, while keep your right foot pinned down and it won’t stop accelerating until it hits 176mph (283km/h).
Surely an Italian SUV with 505hp should be riddled with quirks and other weird features, right? Well, not really as everything in the Stelvio is pretty straightforward, as you’ll see on the video that follows.