Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2023 review: Q

Sexy. That is the predominant descriptor that’s been used when people see the Q. It boasts a sleek shape but is surprisingly large once you get up close to it.

There are nods to the classic Alfa Romeo pointed nose and grille but the air-intake vents on the bonnet (and they’re real, not for show) make it look mean.

The curves are in all the right places, with the rear being just as nice to look at as the front.

Being the top-of-the-line model, it sports the four-leaf clover badge, which confirms what’s under the hood. Add the unique 20-inch wheels, with sporty red calipers and quad exhausts, and it frankly, just looks cool.

However, the interior isn’t as flashy as you might expect for the price point. It’s sophisticated and polished but the dash and air vents could easily be from inside a Mini Cooper, and the trim isn’t fully leather, there’s some synthetic mixed in there, which might annoy purists.

I highly recommend getting it in ‘Etna Red’ or the insane ‘Montreal Green’. Why choose a safe colour when you have such a cool canvas to play with?

Fun, fun and more fun. The power of the twin-turbo, 2.9-litre, V6 engine is outstanding. To put it in perspective, it can apparently do 0-100km/h in 3.8-seconds, with what feels like no effort.

So, it is a sports car but it also has all-wheel drive capability, which makes it a pretty good all-rounder for families wanting the versatility.

The eight-speed auto transmission is smooth but you still get the satisfaction from hearing the engine rev as it shifts gears. The suspension is quite stiff, as you’d expect, but not uncomfortable.

It hugs the road and there’s barely any passenger movement when you hit a corner but even in a tight turn, the sports seats secure you into place. However, it’s louder inside than you might expect and it’s not just engine noise – expect wind and road noise to be a constant hum.

The steering is responsive and the sports steering wheel itself feels lovely under hand. The gear-shift paddles are monstrously large but you do get used to them.

The Stelvio is simple to park and the reversing camera view is clear, even if it’s small, but I’m just surprised that at this price point that it doesn’t have a 360-degree view camera.

Both front and rear passengers will benefit from generous headroom and legroom. The internal space is a real plus but the storage solutions in the cabin are lean.

If you’re after lots of pockets and cubbies to store spare nappies/wipes/gear, then you’re out of luck. You’ll be hard-pressed to fit a 0-4 rearward facing child seat without squishing a front seat passenger, too, so this will suit small families with forward facing kids best.

The boot is a good size for this type of SUV and with all seats in action, you’ll get 525L (VDA) but that can jump up to 1600L (VDA) if you pop the back seats down.

The level load space makes it easy to slide gear in and out but, to get all this space, you do compromise on not having a spare tyre. Instead, you get a puncture repair/inflator kit.

With all seats in action, you’ll get 525L (VDA) of boot capacity. (Image: Tom White)

The level load space makes it easy to slide gear in and out. (Image: Tom White)

The Stelvio is rather easy to operate once you get used to the power output and how lightly you need to touch the accelerator. The tech is simple (too simple) and the lower profile height of the car means kids can get in and out without your help.

My six-year old son had a fabulous time in this and enjoyed a good view from the large rear windows. The extra dark tinting helped with glare for him, too.

The amenities in the backseat are good but not stellar. For example, you have directional air vents but no climate control. Map pockets but no other storage cubbies other than a very skinny storage bin in each door.

Once you start looking closely at the Q, you start to see little things that don’t reflect the price tag, like manual levers to pop the back seats down instead of electric ones, heated front seats but no ventilation function (and nothing at all for the rear passengers). Also, the boot has a powered tailgate but it’s quite slow.

The Stelvio comes with some expected safety features, like AEB with forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping aid (but not lane departure warning) and blind-spot monitoring.

The reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors assist with parking but the safety features list feels leaner than other family SUVs on the market.

It only has six airbags and that doesn’t include a drivers’ knee airbag or front centre airbag.

At the time of this review the Q hasn’t been rated with ANCAP (and probably won’t be) but the base model Stelvio achieved five-stars back in 2017.

There are ISOFIX mounts on the rear outboard seats plus three top tether child seat mounts but you’ll only be getting two child seats in.

There’s not enough space for front passengers when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed, which will hinder families with young children.

Considering everything else about this car gets you excited, the tech is a let-down.

The 8.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system (which is also operated by a rotary dial) is easy enough to navigate but the graphics are boring.

The screen also feels small because it’s so skinny. It can be laggy as well, which is not what I expect at this level.

It has Android Auto and it was easy to connect my iPhone 8 Plus to the Apple CarPlay but it feels a bit cheeky that it’s not wireless.

There’s a dedicated phone pocket with wireless charger pad and USB-A port that’s hidden in the middle console, which keeps things neat and tidy. Backseat passengers get a couple of ports, too.

The tech might irk you over time.

There are two variants for the Stelvio, the Veloce (vee-lo-chay) and our range topping model. As it stands, the Q will set you back a healthy $160,700, before on-road costs, but this is a high-performance SUV, and you’re paying for that capability.

The Stelvio comes with Alfa Romeo’s standard five-year/unlimited km warranty but you do get five years roadside assistance, so that’s a nice bonus.

It has five years capped-price servicing available but services are expensive and average out at $1329 over the period of the capped price plan.

Servicing intervals are reasonable, though, at every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever occurs first.

The official combined fuel cycle figure is 10.2L/100km but make no mistake, this is a sports car with an engine that likes to be fed and watered with the very best.

I probably had too much fun driving this because my average fuel use was a hefty 12.6L/100km AFTER doing mostly open road driving. I guess if you’re in the market for a car like this, you might not care too much since the compromise is getting that sports performance.