on the heels of the engaging Giulia luxury sports sedan the Italian Alfa
Romeo brand is bringing to the United States its first sport utility vehicle
the stell vo now the SEL vo competes roughly with things like the BMW x3 the
Infiniti qx70 particularly the Porsche Macan and the Jaguar FP now two things
tend to distinguish alpha males one is how they look and even though this is a
design you don't see that much in America it's been around for decades
this shield grille and overall front-end design it manages to make the vehicle
look really distinctive in the US market without looking ugly the other thing
that alpha males are known for is how they drive so let's take a look for the
first time and how the stell vo takes to the street unfortunately the full
performance Quadrifoglio version of Salvio doesn't come until 2018 they're
launching starting now essentially June July and dealerships near you with the
regular sell vo and silvio TI what we have here is the first catch of the day
the sell vo ti equipped with the Sport Package when the Giulia sedan came out
it started out in the Quadrifoglio version which is the performance version
they flipped it for the SEL vo and I was a little disappointed at first until I
found out that the regular sell vo and spell vo TI which is what we're driving
right now has 0 to 60 times of roughly five and a half seconds which is pretty
darn good overall the powertrain is pretty
impressive it is a 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder has 280 horsepower and 306
pounds feet of torque now specs say that that torque peak
starts at about 2,000 rpm it feels like it's probably a little bit higher than
that when you stand on it from a stop it does tend to take a little bit of time
to get going like it needs to get through first gear but it definitely
delivers after that point one of the strongest aspects of the Stelvio is its
powertrain not just strong in terms of horsepower but
the way the transmission behaves it is super super responsive it up shifts
quickly it down shifts quickly and you feel it when you're in an automatic mode
but you can really see it if you go into manual and use the paddles the paddles
come in the optional sport or performance packages I'm just you know
whacking these paddles and the tachometer needle just jumps immediately
and it's not to say there aren't other vehicles out there that have quick
reacting transmissions but more often we see this in dual clutch automated
manuals this is more of a conventional automatic transmission from ZF the
supplier in Germany and many manufacturers use this transmission but
I got to tell you it is not this quick in those vehicles as it is here and I
also like how big these paddles are they're big aluminum paddles attached to
the column so you always know where they are even if you're in normal driving
you're you know turning it at an intersection or something like that the
steering wheel is turned more than a few degrees
you still know the paddles are there pretty much start to finish if you're
going to have an automatic transmission and attempt to make the car sporty the
Stelvio does it right a quick reacting automatic with really big metal paddles
attached to the steering column that's the way to go
estelle vo handles really nicely the specs say that the weight distribution
is 50/50 front rear actually feels like there's a
fair amount of understeer going into a corner which is okay it's safe q for
all-wheel drive is standard but technically the layout of this platform
is a rear-wheel drive architecture so you really have the feel of a rear-wheel
drive car even though it is all-wheel drive all the time it sends all of the
torques of the rear wheels but can't send as much as 60% to the front when
it's needed overall the steering is is nice and
precise but it also isn't quite as light as it felt
Julia I thought that the steering in the Julia sedan was over boosted in this it
feels a lot better matched and there is an adjustment when you choose the
different modes dynamic mode will give you the least power assist and a little
bit more feedback than the natural and advanced efficiency settings now along
with all the positive aspects of driving the sylvio there's one that I think is a
negative and that is the braking now the actual braking force is good it'll bring
the car to a stop you get standard brembo 4-piston front and single piston
rear calipers good hardware it's the pedal feel that I'm not crazy about
feels kind of numb to me and not particularly linear so now I'm driving
what might look the same it's a different stealthy oh this is a base
model it is not the TI and it doesn't have the optional Sport package so what
that means is it has a base suspension which is not tuned for sport so between
the softer suspension and the taller sidewalls on the tires
this definitely rides softer and I felt considerably more body roll in the
curves than this one so I would say if you want a sporty ER vehicle definitely
go for the sport option package and you're not really giving much up the
ride quality in the Selvi oti with the sport package was perfectly comfortable
I wouldn't say soft but comfortable a sophisticated ride
not at all punishing bears noting even though this doesn't have the paddles you
can still pop the lever into the manual mode and the transmission behaves just
as quickly it responds just as quickly as it did in the version with the Sport
Package the interior is pretty nice generally speaking the materials quality
is good for this price one of the best things you get is real genuine leather
standard in all Silvio's and that is not the case in all luxury cars especially
and luxury cars I also find these seats to be quite comfortable this is the
Sport Package equipped Selvi oti so it has more adjustments and sport of your
seats but even though it has these tight side bolsters they aren't outrageously
tight for a guy my size and it does come with the little thigh extension as well
one nice plus about these seats is even though their sports seats or sporty
seats they don't give up the adjustable head restraint even though the design is
sleek overall visibility is pretty good in the Salvio eight pillars are a little
bit thick but you can work with it the d pillars are also a little bit thick but
a backup camera is standard as our rear sonar sensors one small downside we
notice is that the image for the standard backup camera is pretty small
you've got an eight point eight inch display here this is the upgrade display
and it runs from here to here somehow they use only this much of it for the
backup camera they use a little bit more space than as necessary for the graphic
representation of the car that shows you what the sonar sensors in the back are
seeing when you're backing up now as an option you can also get front sonar
sensors point being this graphic app that doesn't have to be so big I'd
rather have a nice big backup image having been in the Giulia sedan recently
I was really pleased in the Sylvio to find that the controls the multifunction
controller here has a better feel and sound in the Giulia that was more of a
rickety feel and sound in this case it's much better though I have to say the DNA
control for the driving modes probably a little better than the Giulia but not
quite as solid as I'd like one thing that does carry over from the Giulia
unfortunately is the spring back turn signal lever automakers are getting away
from this even BMW which started it has gotten back to the kind where you move
it down and it stays there until you make your turn and then it pops back up
complicating things further this one if you hold it after a few clicks
it stops collecting even though you're holding it down it's just a weird thing
wouldn't bother you right now and once you buy the car and own it in my father
overall the sell vo delivers on Alfa Romeos promise of style and drivability
and alpha is being quite aggressive with the pricing with a starting price of
just under forty three thousand dollars with the destination charge for the base
sell vo you get a lot you get the all-wheel drive you get the backup
camera the rear sonar you get apple carplay Android auto bi-xenon headlights
power liftgate four USB ports lots of stuff that people want these days and if
you compare that with competitors the jaguar FP starts at essentially the same
price but that is with the diesel engines nice and efficient but if you
want a sporty SUV you're going to have to go with the gas engine and that's
going to cost you more and as for the Porsche Macan for that you pay five
thousand dollars more and you get less sporty SUVs are definitely not a new
idea but somehow the stell vo makes it feel that way
you