Meet Alfa Romeo's first SUV, the Stelvio

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a Giulia based SUV, and it debuts in 503bhp fast form

Meet the first ever Alfa SUV. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio has been something of an inevitability for a while, such is the importance of a hiked-up car to premium carmakers, and the Los Angeles motor show has seen it unveiled at last.

Your thoughts will immediately turn to its styling. It certainly has some; the front end is very blatantly inspired by the Giulia, while the rear end has glimpses of Porsche Macan in its proportions, with Alfa styling elements bubbling away at the surface.

At 4.6m long, it’s on par with a Macan too, though it’s notably wider, topping two metres. Live near a width restrictor? Might want to find a new route to work.

As the loopy quad exhausts might tell you, it has been unveiled in range-topping Stelvio Quadrifoglio form, which means a more assertive bodykit than standard, with flashes of carbon inside and out.

It also means a 503bhp 2.9-litre V6 turbo engine, developed with Ferrari know-how, and nothing short of spectacular in the Giulia Quadrifoglio. It’s linked to the eight-speed auto also seen in the saloon, and retains a Race mode, however incongruous that appears in an SUV. With a 0-62mph time of 3.9 seconds, top speed of 177mph and torque vectoring, Alfa claims that it’s the fastest SUV in history. It also confidently plans to smash the SUV Nurburgring record in the near future. 

There will be more mainstream engines, too. Alfa has confirmed a 276bhp 2.0-litre petrol turbo, and you can bet your boots – stylish rather than utilitarian, we’re betting – that there will be diesels, too. Those will sell in the biggest numbers in Europe.

Alfa reckons naming the Stelvio after one of the world’s most glorious roads is a hint at how much fun this car will be to drive. It borrows heavily from the Giulia (sensibly, as that’s brilliant) though comes with a ‘Q4’ all-wheel-drive system, which sends 100 per cent of the Stelvio’s power to the rear wheels in most circumstances, shuffling up to 50 per cent to the front axle should it sense any slip. That’s important for ensuring it still has the RWD fun Alfa seems so keen to rediscover, and which the Giulia is very adept at.

Power can be distributed across both sides of the rear axle thanks to torque vectoring, sharpening things further, while electronically controlled dampers keep the suspension under control. Alfa also boasts of perfect weight distribution, which we’re to assume is 50:50. Carbon componentry means it should weigh less than SUV rivals, though in most cases that ought not to be a difficult task.

Details are relatively light so far, then. Anything fuel economy related and top speed or price figures are conspicuous by their absence. But we’d argue the idea of an Alfa SUV might be enough to digest for the time being.

So spew forth your thoughts in the comments box below. Important car, this. Should the Macan, Jaguar F-Pace, BMW X6, Maserati Levante et al be worried?

Alfa has never made an SUV before, but the demand for these vehicles simply isn't slowing down, so enter the Stelvio (which is named after a famous Alpine mountain pass).

It's a Porsche Macan-sized SUV with design language that riffs on the Giulia, the latter Alfa's new saloon - that feels like it's been around for some time, but which we're still waiting to drive in the UK.

Shown in LA in its range-topping Quadrifoglio Verde form (that's Cloverleaf in British), the Stelvio is Alfa pushing hard the sports part of Sports Utility Vehicle. The QV model gets the Giulia QV's 2.9-litre V6, making 510-horsepower and driving through an 8-speed auto box. It's going to be Porsche Macan Turbo fast, too, this Alfa.

It's also Macan Turbo-sized, despite perhaps appearances to the contrary. The main response to the Stelvio at the Los Angeles show was how small it was, particularly in height. It bears more of a resemblance to a hatchback on steroids, than a genuine SUV. But it's not a crossover.

Part of the reason for this is the gargantuan 22-inch wheels the Stelvio QV wears. Bigger wheels have an impact of making you feel that the actual car is smaller than it might seem. But at just 1650mm tall, the Stelvio is low for an SUV. And with the ground clearance on offer, you'll be better off on the Nurburgring than you will the muddy field of your country fair.

It's perhaps no surprise the Stelvio bears a strong resemblance to the Giulia, given they shares the same platform and many components. With rear-wheel drive biased chassis, and a purported focus on driving dynamics, the Stelvio should be great to drive then. That low height and corresponding centre of gravity will probably help out too.

However, despite wearing the Alfa shield, and being painted in an evocative red (which tends to trip critics into automatically stating that a car is beautiful) in the metal we found the Stelvio a little underwhelming. It looks derivative and brings very little new to the SUV party

In design terms, the Stelvio manages to appear both overly soft, and yet too flat - like the design hasn't been properly worked through in 3D. Italian car brands traditionally don't use clay to develop their new models, whereas other brands do - which is seen as the best way to refine surfaces. For Alfa, we think that approach shows. Around the rear three quarters, in particular, the Stelvio looks stodgy and the body ill-connected to the rear wheel.

Inside, however, the Stelvio's cabin is sporting, featuring a similar architecture to the Giulia. That means a rotary control, not touchscreen centre display (should be easier to use on the move), alongside heavily cowled Alfa dials for speed and revs, which flank a digital display.

The start button is on the steering wheel, and the seats grip you tight and feel snug and low. It's a sporty driving position inside, for sure. We didn't manage to get into the back seats, but the boot space looks class competitive, which is good news for families.