Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2023 Review | First Drive

There is a brand new Alfa Romeo Stelvio... ish. What we can just about say with certainty, is there is a refreshed, probably just about final Alfa Romeo Stelvio, here with a few visual tweaks and ready to see out the petrol era for the Italian brand.

To be clear right now, we at GRR are quite happy to spend a few more years with the Stelvio. It was, if anything, the car that began to change our minds away from the idea that all SUVs had to be either blocky, ready-for-function machines or just a little bit ugly. The Stelvio when it arrived was really rather pretty. And then we liked how it drove. So a few more years with this showcase of the new Alfa Romeo is fine with us.

Here’s the only real change to the 2023 Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Like the Giulia we drove at the same time, the Stelvio has had the lights from its little sister Tonale grafted on. Those are slimmer and slightly more elongated in look than the old ones and feature a triple-inset LED that is meant to ape the Alfa Romeo SV’s three-piece headlights. 

To my eye, the Stelvio’s face doesn’t work quite as well as it did originally, or as the Tonale does. That’s a showcase of the fact that one was designed fully around the new lights and the other has had them gently forced into place. The Stelvio retains the black surround to its Alfa Romeo grille, which was introduced at the last update, and its rear lights remain slightly smoked. Other than that, through two different upgrades, there has been very little change to the design of the Stelvio, and it manages to still not look tired.

We’re driving the Veloce spec of the newest Alfa Romeo Stelvio today – the latest version of the stonking Quadrifoglio will arrive later in the year. That means a four-cylinder petrol engine pumping out 280PS (206kW) and 400Nm (295 lb-ft) – all exactly the same as the stats in the Giulia Veloce saloon. 

Despite being heavier than the Giulia, the Stelvio manages the sprint to 62mph in exactly the same time – 5.7 seconds – thanks to a four-wheel-drive system that is standard. It’s all rooted through an eight-speed automatic gearbox which you can control through Alfa Romeo’s wildly pleasing metal paddles.

Power delivery is smooth, with a little lag, as peak torque doesn’t kick in until over 2,200rpm. But the throttle response is pleasing, and the gearbox is also nice and swift, meaning even in automatic mode you can mostly get the performance you want from the Stelvio. Its ace is still a lovely chassis, which makes the Stelvio feel like a much smaller car than it actually is. Not quite as pin sharp as the Quad – with damping tuned far more toward day-to-day use – but still able to produce linear and expected responses on a flowing road.

The Stelvio’s steering is just the right balance between heavy and light, not suffering from the higher ride over the Giulia, and responding well to the actions of the front axle. With the power heading to all four wheels, there is a slight hint of torque steer when you ask for all of the 400Nm, but nothing that’s going to send you shifting around like a hot hatch. 

The four-wheel-drive system adds a layer of safety to the experience that its rear-driven sibling doesn’t have at all times, and the Stelvio does a fantastic job of feeling like something with that famous badge on its nose. The mixture of that slightly rear-biassed all-wheel-drive system, which can pull the nose through a corner, and the standard limited-slip differential make the Stelvio feel like it can react in a much more nimble way than such a big car should have a right to.

When everything calms down the Stelvio Veloce never succumbs to feeling too harsh, and the steering isn’t so tuned toward performance that it becomes a hindrance around town.

Dark is the key word for what it’s like to spend time inside the Stelvio, or the Giulia or Tonale for that matter. There’s a lot of black – the seats, the dash, the doors, the roof – but the design swathed in that shaded hue is still a pleasant one. It does now feel a little lower-rent compared to the updated design we’ve seen in the Tonale, but some elements of its older approach still chime with us. 

The touchscreen for example is still built into the dash, not proud, and at 8.8 inches doesn’t feel overbearing in the cabin. The new positioning of the wireless charger that was introduced with the last update remains, and is a small thing I particularly like, while the seats – these are just the standard chairs and not the carbon ones you can get in the Quadrifoglio – are a nice balance of comfort and support. 

One place the Stelvio still triumphs not only over its smaller sister but on all its rivals is the lovely metal gear paddles behind the wheel. Unlike, say, Maserati’s overblown ones or Audi’s minimalistic plastic attempts, the Stelvio’s just feel light but sturdy to the touch and give a satisfying response to inputs. 

The infotainment is all in that 8.8-inch screen and can be controlled either through a finger or the rotary dial in the centre of the console. While Alfa Romeo’s software is simple to use, I still prefer the dial to the touch on the Stelvio, as it isn’t the fastest of responses at times. A 12.3-inch screen also houses all your dials and can be set up to look like an Alfa Romeo of old if you so wish.

Should you not want to deal with Alfa Romeo’s in-house systems – although the Sat-Nav and connectivity are perfectly good – there is Apple CarPLay and Android Auto as standard on the Stelvio Veloce. Also to be found in the £54,240 starting price are automatic wipers and lights, heated seats, sat-nav, DAB radio, start/stop, blind spot detection, lane keep assist, a limited-slip differential, heated steering wheel and more. 

Does the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce feel like the most cutting-edge machine the world has seen in 2023? No, it does not. But does that matter? I would argue that it really doesn’t. There’s very little that can feel quite as fun as the Stelvio in its class while also having the balance of performance and day-to-day usability that its hairiest sibling can struggle with.

With a giant boot and extremely enjoyable handling the Stelvio feels like a pretty perfect family car. Yes its materials don’t quite match some of its rivals and you would be correct in thinking that the gradual climb in price might match the market more than the car, but there is very very little option around that could make you feel quite so happy if you’re in the market for an SUV.