The Stelvio Quadrifoglio is an SUV, ostensibly there is no way around it. But I think the best way I could describe the way it drives would be to say that it’s a really, really big hot hatch. Not a nimble, lightweight hot hatch of old, but one of those modern mid-sized muscular ones.
‘Our’ QV feels fast and nimble when it gets going, and traction off the line is astonishing thanks to the massively rear-biased all-wheel-drive system, which routes some power to the fronts when needed. The steering hides the size of the car well and there’s very little in the way of roll when things get a bit more radial.
But one of the incredible things about the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, is that despite being five metres long and 1.6 metres tall, it weighs in at just 1,800kg. That, for perspective, is roughly the same as the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 we drove recently.