Alfa Romeo Stelvio: new SUV unveiled in LA

By Miles Downard

There’s something about Alfa Romeo’s new revival plan that gets me rather excited. From the delectable Giulia QV to the renderings of the Giulietta hatch and now this, the Stelvio. All of the infamous Italian marque’s new offerings look an easy match for their respective rivals, something that cannot be said of previous attempts to revitalise the sometimes-ailing automaker. I’ve got a strong feeling we’re witnessing the return of a legend.

So, to the Stevlio. It’s named after the famed Stelvio pass in the Italian alps, said to be one of the best driving roads in the world (in fact it was featured in a Top Gear episode for just that reason). The car was unveiled at the LA Auto Show by Alfa’s new top dog, who happens to be an American, but more on that later.

The company didn’t muck about either, the car on show was none other than the Quadrifoglio version, QV for short. That denotes Alfa’s performance flagship. The Stelvio QV has the same Ferrari-derived 2.9 litre twin turbo V6 from the Giulia, putting out near 380kW and good for around 4 seconds from 0-100km/h. That’s simply eye watering performance.

The platform is the same as that in the Giulia, codenamed Giorgio, only here the Stelvio gets an all wheel drive system more fitting of its SUV nature. It operates in rear wheel drive most of the time, sending power to the front wheels when the ECU thinks it’s needed. There will be more down to earth models too; likely featuring Alfa’s 2.0 litre turbo petrol and probably a diesel.

Safe to say that the Stelvio looks rather good, keeping in line with the Giulia and other renderings the company has put out since the announcement of their new plans. That together with the performance mentioned above must have the likes of Jaguar, Porsche and all the other German’s quaking in their boots.

In fact the Stelvio is probably Alfa’s most important car. SUV’s are a huge market these days and accordingly Alfa will be hoping the Stelvio becomes their bread and butter, bank rolling all the other projects they have planned. That brings me to why Alfa launched the car in America – and in fact appointed an American at the helm. It’s a market the Italian automaker must crack to keep its head above water. I think the Stelvio has a brilliant chance of doing just that.

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