Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti 2019 Review

The more I observe the Alfa Romeo Stelvio's physical form, the more I like it.

When I first drove this particular vehicle in Italy with cohort John Mahoney on one of Italy's most dangerous roads, I wasn't too enamoured with the exterior design. But I think I know why. In Italy everything on the road is a bit curvy.

Have you seen the Lancia Ypsilon? It's like the love child of an inanimate sphere and a slice of panettone.

But in Australia the SUV landscape is inundated with boxy, angular SUVs. It could be argued that the Mercedes-Benz GLC has a few curves, but it is far more conservative than the Alfa Romeo Stelvio design. When it comes to the Stelvio’s design, I'm with Bruno Mars: "It's what I like!"

The Stelvio stands out from the crowd with its bold visuals and will certainly appeal to buyers who don't want to blend in. With the arrival of the up-spec Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti – Turismo Internazionale – with its big 20-inch alloy wheels, the wagon now has the muscle to match its bold image.

At the heart of the Stelvio Ti is a lusty 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that pumps out 206kW at 5250rpm and 400Nm at 2250rpm. Translated, these figures mean the circa-$80K SUV has plenty of low-end squirt, making it a diddle to drive in the suburbs and especially during the cut-and-thrust nature of commuter traffic.

What is usually a grim 45-minute drive to and from work through Melbourne's northern suburbs for this scribe became a little more interesting in the Stelvio because this also one of the more nimble SUVs available today.

On the open road the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti is even more fun. Engaging driving dynamics and a sensation of being light on its feet -- as opposed to top-heavy and overweight like some models -- made it rewarding to drive enthusiastically.

The all-wheel drive Stelvio changes direction very nicely, tracks cleanly through corners and has a dexterous character that almost eggs you on: "Go on mate, I got plenty more grip!".

Alfa Romeo's insistence that there's a touch of sports car in every vehicle it builds rings true here, partly due to the rear-biased AWD system and 50:50 weight distribution.

The fitment of a mechanical limited-slip differential is unique to the Stelvio range in Australia (until the wild $160K Q arrives) and gives the curvaceous Italian more stomp when blasting out of corners.

Ride comfort is impressive for a car that has such a flat, composed attitude through corners and is aided by switchable adaptive dampers, in this case a $2200 option. Slot it into dynamic mode for a firmer, more responsive drive, then dial it back to normal when you're plodding around the 'burbs.

Propelled by a turbocharged, intercooled four-cylinder 1995cc petrol engine, it has a sweet spot between 3000 and 5000rpm which gives the SUV a serious turn of speed. If you want to get on it and really start rifling out of corners, you can – and again, the LSD is very handy for such pursuits.

The whole shebang is all the more rewarding thanks to the Italian engine's aural character, too. At idle there's a subtle gurgle from the tuned four-pot powerplant that builds as the revs rise.

Slapping the gorgeous aluminium paddle shifters for another gear elevates the car-to-driver connection. That said, I wish the shifters rotated with the wheel. When you're deep in a corner that tightens, it becomes tricky to drop a gear in manual mode.

While I'm griping, the brake pedal felt a bit slushy, requiring a fair old right foot stomp to get strong bite. The brake callipers are painted red for this model but I just wish they heralded improved brake pads or something to match the extra urge from the engine.

Gearbox response from the (ZF) eight-speed automatic is snappy when you're going for it, yet smooth and controlled when trundling around in traffic. There's even rev matching on down-shifts which makes the experience surprisingly sporty for an SUV in this price bracket.

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti has a class-exclusive carbon-fibre driveshaft which is reduces rotating mass and should lead to better power deliver and fuel economy. It certainly feels fleet, with a claimed 5.7sec 0-100km/h dash, while a 230km/h top speed is unlikely to be tested on public roads in Australia.

Claimed fuel economy is a meagre 7.0L/100km but after a week of testing in a range of different scenarios – and certainly not driven like nonna – the result was 11.6L/100km.

Perhaps the best way to describe the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti is to draw a parallel with a high-performance wagon, rather than a high-riding SUV.

Just like the exterior, the interior of the Stelvio Ti has plenty of charisma. Like the closely related Alfa Giulia sedan, the engine start button is on the steering wheel – hello Ferrari – and to caress the aluminium paddle shifters is to experience quality craftsmanship.

The next interior items to catch the eye are the power-operated sports seats, which feature the sort of side bolsters you'd expect in the loco 375kW twin-turbo V6 Stelvio Q model. Together with the bold steering wheel, aluminium pedals and a nicely integrated 8.8-inch infotainment screen, it makes for a sporty atmosphere inside the cabin.

The front seats are heated, as is the steering wheel, and equipment levels are pretty good with adaptive radar cruise control, a 10-speaker sound system and tinted windows as standard.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility make fiddling with your favourite tunes or podcasts easy, and Google Maps are better than the standard sat-nav, chiefly because of real-time traffic updates.

The dual-zone climate-control was effective on hot days while the front and rear parking sensors and reverse camera make parking the almost 4.7-metre long Italian rig fairly straightforward.

Expected safety features such as autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and lane departure warning are standard, but I was kind of hoping for semi-autonomous steering via lane-keep assist. Sometimes you just want to relax a little more on long freeway drives.

A powered tailgate, 499-litre boot and split/folding rear seats gives this Italian sportster a good degree of practicality but where the Stelvio outshines its rivals is in the safety department.

OK, so it's doesn't have all the latest techno-wizardry and 'only' six airbags, but it has one of the strongest passenger safety cells in the business, and was awarded a 97 per cent score for adult occupant protection by Euro NCAP and therefore five-star safety rating by sister group Australasian NCAP.

A three-year warranty with roadside assist is par for the course and there's a relatively small number of options compared to its German rivals like the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Audi Q5.

These include a panoramic sunroof ($2400), a high-end 900W 14-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system ($1500), anti-theft alarm ($750), active suspension ($2200) and several paint jobs.

In terms of exterior colours, only regular red and white are no-cost options, while metallic paint adds $1300. That includes colours like Vulcano Black, Racing Green, Silverstone Grey, Misano Blue, Stromboli Grey, Montecarlo Blue, Vesuvio Grey, Imola Titanium and my favourite, Basalto Brown.

There's also triple-coat premium exterior paint finished in Trofeo White and Competizione Red, which will sting a little at $4500.

Few cars are perfect and after a week in the saddle of the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti, there were a few bugbears. For starters, there's no auto hold function, where the car automatically engages and disengages the park brake when stopping and going from traffic lights, for example. For a vehicle with a push-button park brake, this is almost unforgivable.

Also the infotainment system is a bit plain-Jane when vehicles like the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 offer the sort of visual depth you'd expect on the latest Xbox game on a 4K mega TV. Also, some of the plastics around the gearshifter – and the gearknob itself – felt a little underdone.

But these are not deal-breakers and by and large the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti represents strong value for money with a luxurious yet sporty interior, not to mention the kind of driving dynamics that will raise a few eyebrows across the border in Germany.

There are little things that made me stop and stare too, such as the number plate that's shifted sideways to give the classic grille space, and of course those curves on the rump and flanks that are like few other SUVs.

The poor man’s Ferrari Purosangue? Perhaps. But either way, it's an intriguing alternative to the cookie-cutter SUV designs that inundate Aussie roads.

How much does the 2019 Alfa Romeo Stevlio Ti cost?
Price: $78,900 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 206kW/400Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 11.6L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 161g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP