2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti Review

Alfa Romeo’s rebirth continues. Much revered by enthusiasts globally, Alfa Romeo holds a place in the heart of most car people, but not necessarily non-car people, and its sales have historically reflected that. Like any company, Alfa has high highs – the 4C sports car and Giulia sports sedan, for example – but some low lows too, like the MiTo. Tasked with carrying the brand into the future, can the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti satisfy both the heart and the mind of the automotive world, as such?

For the company’s bank account, it certainly looks good – over the past year, thanks to the Tonale, Alfa’s European sales have grown by 100 per cent and its global sales by 57 per cent as well. Originally revealed as a concept car in 2019, the Tonale went on sale globally in 2022. Read on to see our thoughts after a week behind the wheel of the Tonale Ti.

Price & Equipment: 8/10

For now, there are two Tonale models on sale in Australia: the entry-level Ti and the top-spec Veloce, though a plug-in hybrid variant is coming quite soon.

Priced from $49,900 plus on-road costs (around $56,500 drive away, depending on location), standard equipment on the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti includes:

• Dusk- and rain-sensing automatic all-LED exterior lighting
• Rain-sensing automatic wipers
• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Keyless entry and start
• Electric tailgate
• Heated and auto-folding mirrors
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents
• Cloth and leatherette upholstery
• Manually adjustable front seats with height adjustment
• Four-way driver’s electric lumbar adjustment
• A 10.25-inch touchscreen with live services
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• AM/FM/digital radio
• Wireless phone charger
• Four USB ports
• LED interior ambient lighting

Safety equipment includes:

• Six airbags
• Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection
• Lane keep assist with lane departure warning
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality
• Traffic sign recognition
• Matrix adaptive auto high beam
• Reversing camera
• Front and rear parking sensors

The Tonale earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on Euro NCAP testing from 2022. It scored 84 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 67 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 85 per cent for safety assist.

There are two optional packs for the Tonale Ti:

Lusso Pack ($5,500)

• 465-watt 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system
• Full leather upholstery
• 12-way electric adjustment for the front seats (with driver’s memory functionality)
• Heated windshield washers
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Heated steering wheel

Technology Pack ($3,500)

• Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert
• 360-degree camera
• Traffic jam assist
• Lane trace assist
• Side parking sensors
• Auto-dimming exterior mirrors

Also available is a $2,500 panoramic sunroof.

Exterior paint options:

• Alfa White (no-cost)
• Alfa Red ($1,600)
• Vesuvio Grey ($1,600)
• Alfa Black ($1,600)
• Misano Blue ($1,600)

There’s a long list of competitors to the Tonale Ti but we consider the Volvo XC40 B4 Plus ($54,990 + ORC or around $60,500 drive away) and the Audi Q3 35 TFSI ($50,600 + ORC or around $57,000 drive away) to be its closest rivals. From the outset, the Volvo looks expensive in comparison to the Tonale, but buyers must add the Tonale’s Technology Pack to match the Volvo’s standard safety kit, which closes the price gap, but then the Volvo still has features like electric front seat adjustment over the Tonale, which necessitates choosing the Tonale’s Lusso Pack, pushing the price up to around $67,000 drive away.

The Q3 35 TFSI and Tonale Ti are more closely equipped, though we think the Q3 35 TFSI offers more important kit to buyers like leather upholstery, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, while adding the good value $2,600 Comfort Pack offers even more kit over the Tonale Ti like electric front seats. Overall, we think the Tonale Ti presents good value, though we think it should have blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert as standard equipment.

Performance & Economy: 7/10

Under the bonnet of the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance through a 15kW/55Nm electric motor. The powertrain makes 118kW of power (at 5,750rpm) and 240Nm of torque (at 1,500rpm), while power is sent to the front wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. A 206kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine with all-wheel drive is also offered in North America – we wish that would come to Australia.

Calling the Tonale a hybrid, as Alfa Romeo does, is a bit cheeky as in reality, it’s not a proper hybrid like what we’ve become used to from Toyota. But having said that, it’s closer to that than most other mild-hybrid systems we’ve driven because it can be driven electrically at light throttle up to around 30km/h (depending on how much charge is in the battery) and the engine does shut off a reasonable amount when coasting or braking. The engine itself is quiet, but a bit characterless – some more noise in line with the usual Alfa Romeo sporty attitude would be a great addition.

The only transmission available in the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, with paddle shifters for more manual control. In some ways, it feels like a Hyundai Kia dual-clutch auto in that it gets confused at low speeds and the clutch take off point can be abrupt with more smoothness and refinement needed. Add that to the lumpy mild-hybrid and engine transition point and low speed progress can be frustrating in the Tonale. Calls for full acceleration can be met with around three seconds of nothing while the drivetrain decides on what to do.

On the plus side, the mild-hybrid drivetrain does result in some pleasingly low fuel economy numbers. The claimed combined fuel consumption for the Tonale Ti is 5.6L/100km, which is lower than the 6.9L/100km claim of the both Q3 35 TFSI and XC40 B4 Plus – with CO2 emissions rated at 129g/km. In purely urban testing, we achieved a fairly respectable 7.2L/100km and that would likely drop further with highway driving included. The Tonale uses minimum 95RON fuel and has a 55-litre tank.

Ride & Handling: 7/10

Alfa Romeo is a brand that conjures images of driving a Spider down the Amalfi Coast and even in the brand’s Stelvio larger SUV, that would be an enjoyable experience thanks to its excellent dynamics. The Tonale, however, is different as it rides on a platform that’s shared with cars like the Jeep Compass and actually dates back to 2005. That’s not to say that it drives badly, but it’s certainly not the most involving or Alfa Romeo-like car to drive. The steering, for example, is odd – it’s quick and gives nice weighting at and just off centre, but aside from that, it’s too light.

The ride quality is not bad either, but it never really settles – that would be fine in a car with more sporting prowess than the Tonale, but in this case it should be softer. The Tonale is a reasonably good handler with good grip levels, but a Stelvio it isn’t. In terms of the rest of the driving experience, the Tonale does quite well. Its visibility is reasonable thanks to large windows, its road noise levels aren’t intrusive and we think its active safety technology is quite well tuned.

Interior & Practicality: 8/10

For a premium small SUV to appeal to buyers, an interesting, high-quality feeling and reasonably practical interior must be on offer and on that front, the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti mostly delivers. Its shapely dashboard looks good, while its central 10.25-inch and driver’s 12.3-inch ‘Cannocchiale’ screens look expensive, and add a high-tech feel to the cabin. There are certain parts of the cabin that look and feel excellent, like the lovely leather steering wheel and the tactile switchgear for the AC controls.

Having said that, it’d be nice if some of the materials could feel less like a Jeep and more like an Alfa Romeo. That’s no surprise given how much the Tonale shares with the Jeep Compass, but we think some of the materials in the Tonale could feel more premium. The centre console, for example, features sharp and hard plastic that can hurt knees when rested against – some soft touch trim used there would add more of a luxurious feel, and save knee bruising as well. We’d also love to see some more colour options inside the Tonale.

Centre of the Tonale’s cabin is a new 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation – as well as over-the-air updates and an inbuilt eSIM to allow owners to access features like remote engine starting from a smartphone app. The screen itself is mostly pretty good – its quick processor makes things fluid, it’s well laid out and easy to use, though we wish some of its icons were a touch larger to make it easier to use at speed. The 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system that’s part of the Lusso Package fitted to our test car is excellent, with a very rich aural quality.

We quite like the practicality of the Tonale’s cabin, which offers more storage space than both the Stelvio and Giulia that sit above it. There are large cup holders, reasonable door bins, a big glove box, a big box underneath the central armrest and a open tray underneath the dashboard with a wireless charger.

The rear seat of the Tonale is reasonably practical for the segment, particularly with headroom. Two six-footers will be fine, but a third won’t be very comfortable. The back seat features door bins, a centre armrest with cup holders, air vents, charging ports and map pockets – though no heated seats. There are also two ISOFIX points, and three top tether child seat points.

The boot of the Tonale Ti measures in at 500-litres with the rear seats up and a large 1,550L with them folded. The boot itself is nicely finished, while it features a few hooks and under floor storage for extra practicality. Underneath the boot floor is a space saver spare wheel.

Service & Warranty: 7.5/10

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty with five years of roadside assistance. Five years/75,000km of servicing costs an expensive $3,675 ($735 per service).

Both Audi and Volvo also offer five-year/unlimited km warranties with their new cars, but while Audi gives five years of roadside assistance, Volvo increases that to an awesome eight years. Both brands don’t quote pay-as-you-go service costs, but a five-year/75,000km service pack for the Q3 costs $3,330 ($666 per service) and $3,000 ($600 per service) for the XC40.

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti DiscoverAuto Rating: 7.6/10

Overall, the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti presents an appealling and worthy entrant to the premium small SUV segment, thanks to its practicality, efficiency, exotic exterior and interior styling, value for money, refinement and slick integration of technology. It also handles reasonably well, offers some cool features and, even at base level, is well equipped.

It isn’t perfect however, with a characterless and laggy drivetrain that needs work, some materials that need upgrading and extra equipment that we think should be standard on the Ti. And if you’re looking for typical Alfa Romeo character, however, we think suggest spending extra on a Stelvio as it drives nicer, is better finished and tugs on the heart strings harder. But as for qualities that buyers in the segment flock to it for, we think that the Tonale offers a lot to buyers and is well worth consideration.