2024 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce Review

It’s hard to believe that the Alfa Romeo Stevio has been around for 8 years because it’s still one of the most beautiful luxury medium SUVs on the market. Park one at a motor show floor today and it’ll look as fresh as when it was first unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. It just never ages.

As the Italian marque’s first production SUV, the Stevio has enjoyed modest success compared to its German and Japanese rivals. It’s still a left field option, albeit a very good one. After a lengthy production run, it’s finally updated in 2024 and along with it a slight price hike to $84,450 plus on-road costs.

Understandably, the exterior, which has been sculpted to perfection from day one, gains just a minor nip and tuck. The headlight and taillight clusters sport new motifs, while the wheel arch mouldings and side skirts are now painted gloss black. The latter is a step forward for the base Ti variant, which previously had matte black panels, but a step backward for the Veloce model tested here, in my opinion at least. The previous Stelvio Veloce had body coloured wheel arches and skirtings which looked more sporty and resembled the full blown Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Perhaps, more differentiation between the top dog and the regular models was Alfa Romeo’s rational behind this change.

For a model that is approaching a decade old, you’d think that the interior would be given an overhaul to better rival the competition. Unfortunately that isn’t the case here. The interior of the Stelvio is pretty much carried over from before, save for a wireless phone charger, a new 12.3-inch fully digital instrumentation cluster and an updated infotainment system that now support wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The digital cluster does look pretty modern compared to before but it isn’t as customisable as rivals while the centre touchscreen is very small in today’s standard, especially in the luxury segment. There also isn’t any mood lighting strip to set the tone at night.

Nevertheless, the interior still feels very premium and I just love the styling and curvaceousness of the dashboard. The steering wheel feels great to hold and looks very sporty with its wheel-mounted engine start button. Behind the wheel is a pair of fixed column-mounted aluminium paddle shifters that wouldn’t look out of place in a Maserati. Like the exterior the interior is unmistakably Alfa. Build quality is pretty decent, too.

Interior space isn’t what you’d call spacious, especially in the rear where it feels a bit tighter than cars like the Marc GLC and Audi Q5. There’s also a fairly large drivetrain hump which the middle rear passenger will have to deal with. Comfort levels are certainly better in the front than at the rear.

Other premium cabin features include a 14-speaker Harman Pardon sound system ($1650 option) which plays your favourite tunes with superb clarity and depth, a pair of heavily bolstered sports seats for the front row which are power adjusted and heated, panoramic sunroof ($3300 option) and powered tailgate.

Speaking of the tailgate, the boot opens up to a voluminous 499 litres of cargo capacity, expandable to 1600 litres with the rear seats folded down. Under the flat boot floor is a space-saver spare tyre.

Under the sculpted bonnet, the 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine is carried over unchanged from before, not that it has to as it produces a healthy 206kW and 400Nm. Mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, also intact, the most powerful Stelvio variant apart from the Quadrifoglio dashes from 0 to 100km/h in just 5.7 seconds. For a daily driven family SUV, there’s really not much else to ask for.

The engine is quintessentially Alfa, hard revving all the way to its 5250rpm limiter and sounds pretty enthusiastic along the way. It’s really suited to the sporting demeanour of the Stelvio and it feels really nice to wring out on a stretch of good, challenging roads. The gear changes are crisp and quick as well, adding to the sporting sensation.

If you’re used to torquey German engines, you may find the Stelvio needing a bit more revs down low to get going, owing to its relatively high 2250 peak torque. But that’s the point. It likes to revs and it feels very sporty in doing so.

Being an Alfa, there’s no doubting its dynamics. This is one of the best handling medium SUVs around. The rear bias all-wheel drive system makes for quite an engaging drive with sharp turn in from the lively chassis. It doesn’t feel its height, certainly not its weight (not that it’s heavy at just 1619kg). It’s almost car-like in handling. The quick steering is beautifully precise, the brakes are strong and the engine is punchy. This is an SUV for the driver.

But the family will approve it as well for its ride comfort. Indeed the adaptive dampers are expert in smoothing out road imperfections without completely isolating road feel from the driver’s palms. You can take it on a long interstate road trip without worrying everyone needing Tiger Balm at the end of the trip. It’s that nicely balanced.

The Stelvio’s reported real-world average fuel use of 9.9L/100km at the end of my week-long road test with nearly 400km of mixed roads clocked is about what I’ve expected for vehicle of this class, but it falls quite short of the rated 7.0L/100km. Like all other premium SUVs in the segment, the Stelvio runs on RON 95 premium unleaded fuel.

Alfa Romeo matches other luxury players in offering the Stelvio with a warranty period of 5 years with no cap on kilometres. The Stelvio’s service interval of 12 months or 15,000km is also pretty standard.

Verdict

2024 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce pricing and specification