Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Unique style and the top speed
In 2020, a restyled version of the first generation was released.
Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a compact luxury crossover of the Italian brand Alfa Romeo, which has been produced since 2016. It can be either back-wheel drive (diesel models) or all-wheel drive (gasoline and diesel models). You could buy the first generation of the crossover in Israel in 2020.
The Italian crossover is named ‘Stelvio’ after the famous mountain pass in the eastern Alps, located at an altitude of 2.7 km. This mountain road with many sharp turns has been adored for a long time not only by sports car lovers but also by movie directory and producers of all kinds of shows such as ‘Top Gear’. Alfa Romeo dreamed of creating its own crossover for many years, and the concept car was released back in 2003. But, since this was the first experience of the Italians, known all over the world for their racing cars, it was decided to thoroughly approach the creation of a new model. And only at the end of 2016 at the auto show in Los Angeles, Alfa Romeo presented their new ‘SUV’ Alfa Romeo Stelvio.
The Stelvio Quadrifoglio, equipped with a gasoline 2.9-liter V6 bi-turbo engine producing 510 hp, was the most powerful compact crossover in its segment for 2016/2017! Acceleration to the 100 km/h takes only 3.8 seconds! The maximum speed is 283 km/h!
According to the executive director of Alfa Romeo Harald Wester, the compact crossover should ‘become one of the engines of the implementation of the company’s sales growth plan to 400 thousand cars a year.’ The management of FIAT, which owns the Alfa Romeo brand, announced that the new crossover will retain the sportiness in road habits inherent in Alfa Romeo cars. A lot of work will be done to improve the quality, reliability, and lower operating costs of the crossover.
First generation
It has been produced from 2016 to the present (data for 2020). The first Stelvio with serial number 949 is built on the same platform as the Julia sedan and is available in back-wheel drive and clutch-activated versions. The front suspension is double-wishbone, the rear is multi-link. The all-wheel drive transmission is, in fact, quite typical for this class of cars. The car is back-wheel drive in normal mode, and the front axle is connected, through a multi-plate clutch if it is necessary.
Exterior
The design of the new Stelvio is based on the concept of 2003. It turned out stylish, attractive, and aggressive! There are indeed many similarities with Julia in the exterior of the crossover, you can even say that they are almost identical, but the Stelvio has a 5-door station wagon body and a slightly raised seating position.
Aggressive front end is the main feature of the sports crossover. There are narrow LED headlights, an embossed hood, and a branded triangular grille at the front. The air intakes on the front bumper deserve special attention. On the side, the strongly swollen wheel arches stand out, especially the rear. Stamping lines on top and bottom and chrome piping around the glass are eye-catching. A huge trunk lid with a small wing in the middle plus a spoiler at the top are at the back. The rear optics are almost identical to the front ones in shape, their design is slightly different, but they look excellent! The rear bumper is simply a design masterpiece: the stylish recesses and extensions in its lower part are quite unusual. There is also a massive plastic insert at the back, into which large chrome tailpipes are integrated. There are two tailpipes, but there are 4 of them in the Quadrifoglio trim version.
Interior
The interior design, on the one hand, is unique, on the other, it is very in the style of Alfa Romeo. For example, instruments have a vertical home position of the meter arrows. As for Julia, the engine start button is located on the steering wheel. There are 5 seats for passengers inside. The front row is two leather seats with a little lateral support, you can install a Recaro for extra money. The back row is represented by a good leather sofa which is comfortable for 3 passengers. The interior is trimmed with leather for the most part, but there are also wood and chrome inserts. The steering wheel is a 3-spoke, sporty, equipped with massive paddle shifters, and, as mentioned above, there is an engine start button. Also, there are buttons for controlling the multimedia system.
The dashboard is clear, comfortable, and stylish. It has two deep grooves with large analog gauges for the speedometer and tachometer. The large monitor of the informative on-board computer is located in the middle. The center console has a 10-inch touchscreen display for the multimedia and navigation system. The Italian automaker has created a special application that allows you to control the system using your smartphone. Below the air deflectors is a large, intuitive climate control unit. The console is made entirely of wood, with a small gear selector and three round panels. One panel is responsible for multimedia, the other for working with radio stations, and the third for the choice of driving modes.
Stelvio Quadrifoglio
The new Alfa Romeo Stelvio has several gasoline and diesel modifications. But the flagship is a charged version of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, equipped with a 2.9-liter V6 biturbo gasoline engine, producing 510 hp., as the top-end Julia. And it was the most powerful compact crossover in its segment for 2016/2017! Mercedes GLC, Audi Q5, BMW X3 / X4, Jaguar F-Pace, Porsche Macan did not even come close to offering such dynamics figures at that time. Acceleration to the 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds! And the maximum speed is 283 km/h!
The Quadrifoglio option also involves an active rear differential with two multi-plate clutches (for thrust vectoring), reinforced suspension, and brakes. Brembo ceramic brakes and even carbon-framed Recaro front seats are offered for extra pay.
