2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio Review

We recently saw the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue revealed in all its V12-powered SUV glory. Finally, there’s a car with a prancing horse badge with four doors and earth-shattering performance. But what if we told you that an almost-Ferrari SUV has been on sale since 2015? That’s the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio and its magical Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6.

The Stelvio has hardly set the sales charts alive with just 203 sold in Australia this year so far, but that makes it a total hidden gem in our opinion. Here’s a stylish, good quality and relatively practical mid-size SUV that drives like a supercar with breathtaking performance. But there are other super fast SUVs that exist for the same sort of price, so should you consider the Stelvio Quadrifoglio? Let’s find out.

Price & Equipment: 8/10

While you can get a new Stelvio for around $90,000 drive away, the Quadrifoglio is priced at almost double that: $159,000 plus on-road costs (or around $170,000 drive away, depending on location).

Standard equipment on the Stelvio Quadrifoglio includes 20-inch alloy wheels, automatic lights and wipers, bi-xenon headlights with corner lamps, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, leather upholstery, 16-way electrically adjustable front seats with driver’s memory functionality, heated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, an 8.8-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, a 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, a wireless phone charger, keyless entry and start with an hands-free tailgate, heated and auto-folding mirrors, roof rails, multiple driving modes, adaptive dampers and an active exhaust system.

Safety equipment includes six airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning with lane trace assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed control, auto high beam, driver attention monitoring, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

Options for the Stelvio Quadrifoglio include a $3,300 panoramic sunroof, $1,950 21-inch alloy wheels, $15,950 carbon ceramic brakes and $8,350 Sparco racing seats (which lose the electric adjustment and heating of the standard seats). The only standard colour is ‘Alfa Red’, while ‘Vesuvio Grey’, ‘Vulcano Black’ and ‘Misano Blue’ are $2,150 extra and ‘Etna Red’ and ‘Montreal Green’ at $4,000 extra. The ‘Trofeo White’ colour of our test car has been discontinued.

There are a few competitors to the Stelvio Quadrifoglio: the Jaguar F-Pace SVR (from $149,900 plus on-road costs), the Mercedes-AMG GLC63 (from $178,015 +ORC) and the BMW X3 M Competition (from $169,500 +ORC). All of these competitors offer equally great performance, with 0-100km/h sprints under the four-second mark, as well as large wheels, body kits and interiors full of leather and carbon fibre.

The F-Pace needs a good $15,000 worth of options to match the Stelvio’s standard equipment list, while the German super SUVs pack a lot more kit, they also cost a lot more money. Because of that, we think the Stelvio offers a good value for money in the sports premium SUV segment.

Performance & Economy: 9.5/10

Under the bonnet of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is a twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine that’s also used in the Giulia Quadrifoglio sports sedan. It makes a huge 375kW of power (at 6,500rpm) and 600Nm of torque (between 2,500rpm and 5,000rpm). Those figures combined with the Stelvio’s relatively low weight for the segment (just 1,830kg) and its all-wheel drive system mean that it hits 100km/h from a standstill in just 3.8 seconds and rockets to a top speed of 283km/h, making it one of the world’s fastest SUVs – quicker to sprint than the V8 F-Pace and only 3km/h slower at the top end.

While we love the thunderous V8s of the F-Pace and GLC63, the Ferrari-derived V6 engine in the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is glorious. It sounds great, it’s got significant shove everywhere in the rev range and did we mention that it sounds great (especially in race mode, which opens up the exhaust)? When you’re going through the gears, you cannot do anything but smile and you’re made aware of just how capably sporty the Quadrifoglio is – its Nurburgring lap time of seven minutes and 51.7 seconds proves just how quick it is too. You also get a whiff of some Ferrari magic through the great engine and unlike rivals, it really stirs the soul in a way that just cannot be explained.

The only available transmission in the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is an eight-speed torque converter automatic gearbox from ZF with huge and wonderfully tactile paddle shifters for manual control. It’s a fantastic gearbox – it’s completely intuitive in its nature, it’s lightning quick to shift gears and only the vague action of the joystick controller takes away from it.

The Stelvio Quadrifoglio officially uses 10.2L/100km of fuel on a combined cycle, though despite its cylinder deactivation technology, our fuel use in mixed driving was 16.4L/100km – though those driving an F-Pace SVR will likely use even more fuel than that. It must use 98RON premium unleaded and has a 64-litre fuel tank.

Ride & Handling: 9.5/10

Sitting on the same ‘Giorgio’ platform as the Giulia sedan, the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio rides and handles wonderfully well. Thanks to Alfa Romeo’s DNA system (that’s dynamic, normal and all-weather drive modes, plus race in Quadrifoglio models as well), the Stelvio Quadrifoglio offers a wide range of talent from relatively soft and supple in normal mode to razor sharp and ferocious in race mode.

Dynamically, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is as good as SUVs get, and boy is it good. Thanks to its rear-biased all-wheel drive system that’s largely rear-wheel drive (at least until there’s slip detected and it sends some drive to the front wheels), the Stelvio Quadrifoglio offers up a communicative and grippy chassis, which was helped by the optional 21-inch wheels on our test car. The steering offers a good level of feel, and it’s well weighted as well. We also like how quick the steering rack is.

It’s relatively light for a large performance SUV, and that pays dividends when cornering. The Stelvio Quadrifoglio is light on its feet and with its meaty steering, it’s bloody good fun. It’s also very, very fast and very capable of extremely fast cross country driving. The brakes are also nice and powerful, though the brake pedal feel can take some getting used to thanks to a light initial pedal feel.

Thanks to the 21-inch wheels on our test car, the Stelvio’s ride quality is very firm, no matter what the surface or drive mode selected – which somewhat detracts from the luxurious nature of the Stelvio. If you’re in race mode, you can select a softer damper mode, but it’s still firm. The rest of the Quadrifoglio driving experience is usual Stelvio: sub-par visibility but with low road noise levels and a nicely solid feel on the road.

Interior & Practicality: 8/10

Like the interior of the standard 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio models, the Quadrifoglio’s cabin is good quality, intimate and feels special – though it hardly offers the latest in technology. The quality is great with supple leathers, soft plastics, tight switchgear, suede and real carbon fibre throughout the Quadrifoglio’s interior creating a very rich feel. The flat-bottomed steering wheel is a particular highlight with its leather and suede rim, while the red starter button and alloy paddle shifters add some subtle visual drama.

The Stelvio’s cabin is not the most practical interior, though. The door pockets are small, however there’s a reasonably-sized central bin with a wireless charger, as well as a reasonable glovebox and big cup holders in the centre console. Special mention must go to the Stelvio’s seats too, however, as they are wonderful. Adjustable in 16 different ways, they’re comfortable, supportive and very body-hugging – so much so that larger folk may not fit comfortably in them. But when you’re punting the Stelvio hard on a backroad, they’re perfection.

Centre of the Stelvio’s cabin is an 8.8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation and digital radio. It can be used as a touchscreen or with the control wheel on the centre console, which is great. The graphics are a touch dated however, and the screen resolution needs improving to reach the heights of some of its rivals. The grainy reversing camera is the worst part of the screen – especially when sister company Jeep, let alone rivals such as the BMW X3 M have better systems.

The sporty focus of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio hits home more in the back seat, where the space on offer is not huge. Legroom and headroom for six-footers is tight and a GLC or F-Pace offers more space in the back. The rear seat is well featured, however, with vents, USB ports, a centre arm rest with cup holders, heated seats and reasonable door pockets, though no separate climate zone or sunshades in the windows. 

The boot of the Stelvio measures in at 525-litres with the seats erect, and 1,600L with the seats folded flat – noticeably smaller than the F-Pace’s 793L/1,842L space, but still a reasonable size. There are some practical touches such as nets, seat releases, a 40:20:40-split for the backrest, a 12V socket and hooks to hang bags off. There’s no spare wheel at all, just a repair kit.

Service & Warranty: 7/10

Since we last tested the Stelvio, Alfa Romeo has upgraded its warranty in Australia and it’s now a five-year/unlimited km offering with five years of roadside assistance included. Like other Alfa Romeo products, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s service intervals are once-yearly/every 15,000km and five years/75,000km of servicing costs a huge $6,644 ($1,329 per service).

Alfa Romeo’s rivals all offer the same five-year/unlimited km warranty, except BMW, which persists with a lacklustre three-year/unlimited km offering. The Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s rivals offer differing service intervals: the F-Pace SVR is once-yearly/every 26,000km, the GLC63 is once-yearly/every 25,000km and the X3 M is once-yearly/condition-based. A five-year service plan for the F-Pace SVR costs $3,750 ($750 per service), $6,550 for the GLC63 ($1,310 per service) and from $2,010 for the X3 M ($402 per service), making the Stelvio comfortably the most expensive to service in the segment.

The 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.4/10

As with pretty much every other Alfa Romeo ever made, the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio enters your heart with its character, its sonorous engine, its addictive performance, its keen driving dynamics and cabin full of exotic materials. Yet while it’s not exactly a frugal purchase, it makes a reasonable amount of sense to your head as well, offering good value in its segment and a long list of standard equipment.

Of course, it’s not perfect with its hefty service pricing, very firm ride quality and that it misses out on a lot of tech offered by its competitors. But because it has such a strong effect on your heart, is that really an issue? We think not, and if you had your hopes on a Ferrari Purosangue but can’t afford it, we think the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is a wonderful substitute. In fact, we’d buy it over any of its competitors.