2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio

The Stelvio’s swept back and rounded design flows from the triangular “scudetto” grille. It’s flanked by horizontal headlights with wide LED brows above and large air intakes below. Rounded edges lead into upper and lower side character lines that rise toward the rear to provide a sense of motion. Slim taillights play off the headlights, and the Stelvio gets either dual or quad exhaust to highlight its performance bent. 

The sporty look of the driver-centric cabin starts with a small-diameter flat-bottom steering wheel that sits in front of large speedometer and tach tunnels. The exterior’s rounded lines show up in the dash and the sculpting on the doors. Red leather seats add flair and play well against the available gray wood, aluminum, or carbon-fiber trim.

Rear-wheel drive is standard on the base model and all-wheel drive is optional. All other models have all-wheel drive. 

How fast is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio?

It’s quick in its base form and thunderous as the Quadrifoglio. The standard engine is a 2.0-liter turbo-4 that spins out 280 hp and 306 lb-ft of torque. It’s even quicker than expected, launching the Stelvio from 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds and pushing the SUV to a 144-mph top speed. It has slight lag off the line, but power comes on quickly, and stays at the ready thanks to a quick-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission.

The Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s twin-turbo 2.9-liter V-6 turns conjures 505 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. It barks and growls as it supplies power to unlock a 3.6-second 0-60 mph time and a 176-mph top speed. 

While the Quadrifoglio is the track star, every Stelvio has a very quick 12:1 steering ratio that teams with a perfect 50/50 weight balance to provide agile moves with controlled body lean. A torque-vectoring rear differential is available with the base engine and standard for the Quadrifoglio to put the power efficiently to the pavement when exiting turns. The brake-by-wire system can feel wooden, but the brakes are strong.

The Quad also gets larger brakes, adaptive dampers, additional cooling, and wider tires to flatten the handling, add more grip, and provide overall rack capability. 

Every Stelvio comes with a drive-mode selector that loosens or sharpens the reactions depending on the driving situation.

The rear seat, however, suffers from a tiny 31.9 inches of leg room, like you get in steerage class on a discount airline. Head room is fine back there and you could fit three across, but that’s embarrassingly little leg room. 

Cargo space isn’t bad at 18.5 cubic feet behind the front row and 56.5 cubes with the rear seats down. It’s smaller than many competitors, but still quite useful. 

Leather upholstery comes standard and the rest of the cabin materials match the Stelvio’s price point. The Quadrifoglio model costs much more, but it also gets additional leather surfaces and carbon-fiber trim.

The 2022 Alfa Romeo comes standard with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, active blind-spot monitors, automatic high beams, and front and rear parking sensors. Also offered are active lane control, a driver-attention monitor, traffic sign recognition, and a traffic jam assist system that can control the steering, brake, and throttle in certain low-speed highway situations.

The Stelvio Sprint may be the base model, but it’s anything but base and we think it’s the model to pick. For $46,645, it comes standard with leather upholstery, 10-way power-adjustable front seats with 4-way lumbar adjustments, front and rear heated seats, navigation, wireless smartphone charging, interior ambient lighting, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, satellite radio, an 8.8-inch center touchscreen, Brembo brakes, adaptive headlights, a power tailgate, and 18-inch alloy wheels. We’d spring for the additional $2,000 for all-wheel drive.

How much is a fully loaded 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio?

The Stelvio Quadrifoglio starts at $88,445, $6,100 more than last year. It adds a 14-way adjustable sport seats, a 900-watt Harman Kardon audio system with 14 speakers, carbon-fiber interior trim, adaptive dampers, bigger Brembo brakes, a two-mode exhaust system, a torque-vectoring rear differential, and bigger summer performance tires on 20-inch wheels.

Stelvio infotainment

Drivers can control the Stelvio’s infotainment screen with touch controls, voice commands, or a center rotary dial. It’s relatively easy to use and an improvement versus the clumsy initial system, but it doesn’t stand out among better systems offered by rivals. 

Same for the Stelvio’s warranty, which is 4 years or 50,000 miles for the whole vehicle and 5 years or 100,000 miles for the powertrain, plus a free first engine service.

Opt for rear-wheel drive, and the ratings increase slightly to 22/29/25 mpg.

The Quadrifoglio has far more power and much lower fuel economy at 17/23/19 mpg. 

Every Stelvio requires premium fuel.