December 13th 2016
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio has been officially released, it is Alfa Romeo’s first SUV and it is aimed squarely at the American market. Alfa’s previous attempt at a crossover the Kamal was stillborn and although it had a fair chance of success being based on a front-wheel-drive chassis it would always have had its detractors. The Stelvio is based on Alfa Romeo’s Giulia platform and as such will be either 4×4 or rear-wheel drive. The top of the range version will share the Giulia’s 510 bhp v6 engine which will make it the most powerful SUV on the market by around 40 bhp. Lesser versions will be either 2.0 litre petrol or 2.2 litre Diesel with power outputs from 150 bhp
The Stelvio will have all the electronics carried over from the Giulia and as always with Alfa, these will be cutting edge, most of the management systems for the drive train will be produced by Bosch, with Fiat’s multiair system used on the 2.0L engine. In normal driving, the Stelvio will be rear-wheel drive but as traction is lost the computers will transfer torque progressively from the rear wheels to the front wheels. There is also an advanced mechanical limited-slip differential at the rear to delay the intervention of the electronic stability control systems.
All in all the Stelvio looks like being a very interesting car and as only the second of eight vehicles the future looks very bright for Alfa Romeo