Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio 2018 UK first drive

Not so long ago, the notion of an Alfa Romeo SUV touting more than 500bhp didn’t just seem unlikely, it was a fantasy of almost Wellsian proportions.

What few of us bet on was an insatiable global appetite for high-riding cars and Alfa’s recent – and so dearly welcome – rejuvenation as a purveyor of proper drivers’ machines.

The madcap result is the Stelvio Quadrifoglio seen here, which faithfully reproduces the blueprint set down by the Giulia Quadrifoglio saloon but adds a driven front axle and substantially more ground clearance to the mix.  

It means you get the same rasping Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6 tuned to 503bhp, and the same curvaceous, pugnacious exterior styling - only now with brutal wheelarch extensions, bonnet vents and a propped-up, puffed-out stance that’s perhaps just a little bit frightening if your existing notion of an SUV is a diesel Qashqai.

What we’ve been waiting to discover is whether you also get the same fluent, indulgent handling as the saloon on British roads. That is traditionally the first sacrifice at the altar of a raised ride-height, and while this car has previously impressed us enormously on the glass-smooth roads of Jebel Jais in the United Arab Emirates, the salt-caked, rutted roads of the Brecon Beacons ask of it rather more challenging questions. 

Not German, and obviously so. In our test car are generous levels of carbonfibre so glossy you can see your face in it – very Italianate – with shapely fillets along the dashboard and doors. There are reams of leather, too, though Alfa has snuck in quite a lot of plastic beneath your eyeline, which isn’t very becoming of a £70,000 car.  

There’s also contrasting stitching (pretty, but not always perfectly aligned, it must be said) and as in the other Alfa Romeo Stelvio models there’s a refreshing lack of switchgear. Build quality? Questionable, certainly. Character? Present in abundance. On the whole, it’s comfortable and attractive, though seats that gripped a little firmer and set your hips just a smidgeon lower would make it even better.  

Now, here’s the thing. Get stuck in behind the carbon and Alcantara steering wheel and the Stelvio feels genuinely adjustable, which flies in the face of convention for tall, heavy cars of this type. True, it’s a trait that today is usefully amplified by scrabbly winter tyres, but you can’t fail to notice the pervasive rear-driven chassis balance of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Has an SUV ever exhibited such delightful poise? We'd say probably not.

It stems from the fact that the car is entirely rear driven until the 285-section rear tyres begin to over-rotate. At this point, up to half the 443lb ft of available torque is sent to the front axle and in doing so unlocks quite freakish real-world pace. That’s what strikes you about this car – the phenomenal rate of cross-country progress that’s possible when four-wheel drive and significant but superbly controlled wheel articulation meet with an engine this explosively potent.  

The official claim is 3.8 seconds to 62mph – just a tenth shy of a PDK-equipped Porsche 911 GTS – and the QV feels good for it. And then there’s the noise. Downsized and turbocharged this engine may be, but in the car’s more aggressive Dynamic mode – and even more so in all-systems-off Race – it delivers a truly devilish tune with rip-snorting upshifts. Best of all, it doesn’t sound too contrived.