Motoring: Catch it while you can

For the 2024 model year, Alfa Romeo celebrates Quadrifoglio’s century-long performance legacy with a 100th-anniversary model. Accordingly, this small sporty SUV is lovingly adorned with commemorative badges, gold-painted brake calipers, a carbon fiber grille, mirror caps, gold interior stitching, and carbon fiber accents. You may find it interesting to learn the namesake derived from Italy’s Stelvio mountain pass, which is located in the Italian Alps near the border with Switzerland. The road through the pass is renowned for its many challenging curves and switchbacks. The name is a not-so-subtle hint about the race-inspired SUV’s performance and handling.

A bit of history. In the dealer lot, walking around the car, be sure to take notice of the four-leaf clover badge on the fenders. The word Quadrifoglio translates to four-leaf clover. In 1923, Ugo Sivocci, one four Alfa Romeo racecar drivers, hand-painted one on his Alfa Romeo RL racecar for luck in the Targa Florio race. Sivocci won the race. So he continued to paint the badge on his race cars. During a practice run for the Italian Grand Prix, he hadn’t yet painted the Quadrifoglio on his P1 racecar when he crashed.

It should come as no big surprise to learn that the Alfa Romeo Stelvio is imbued with sports car DNA. Powering through corners and curves, the all-wheel drive keeps the P255/45YR20 BSW tires (mounted on 20-inch forged alloy wheels) glued to the pavement. In a word, handling is superb. Available only in AWD, Stelvio rides and corners so well, thanks to suspension components being mounted onto an aluminum frame, further stiffened by a high-strength steel body. The rigid platform pays big dividends in both cornering and overall rider comfort.

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Under the hood resides a ferocious, Ferrari-derived twin-turbocharged V-6 engine with 500 plus horsepower. Wonder how fast Quadrioglio runs? This Alpha Romeo boasts a zero-to-60 mph elapsed time of 3.6 seconds and an eyeball-blistering top speed of 176 mph. With sports carlike performance, it’s comforting to learn Stelvio’s performance tires and robust brakes slow the SUV from 70 mph to a dead stop in a mere 157 feet.

In the driver’s seat, we find steering column-mounted paddle shifters. Alfa Romeo’s DNA Pro Drive System allows a driver to choose a performance level. Natural Mode is appropriate for daily commutes, while Advanced Efficiency Mode focuses on, well, overall efficiency. Race Mode disables traction and stability control while activating the turbo over-boost and opening the dual-mode exhaust. The roar of the throaty exhaust will set your pulse racing. Also, with Race mode activated, expect a firmer ride and razor-sharp throttle response.

The 8.8-inch infotainment display, accessed via a center console rotary controller, features crisp graphics and an intuitive menu. Audiophiles will enjoy listening to the standard 12-speaker, 900-watt Harman/Kardon audio system. Both Android Auto and Apple Car Play cellphones are compatible. Built-in navigation and wireless phone charger are standard. Wi-Fi hot spot is optional. I liked cruise control for the way it allowed setting speeds as low as the teens, letting one to creep along when necessary.

The compact SUV seats five. Both front seats are 14-way power-adjustable. Other goodies include ambient interior lighting, a heated steering wheel, and a front-seat cushion. The back seat is comfortable, albeit nearly tight. All the way in the back resides a respectable cargo area. And, of course, folding the seats opens up even more storage.

Finally, after the 2024 model year, Stelvio Quadrifoglio will leave the U.S. market. So, if interested, now would be a good time to visit a dealership.

Automotive journalist, Tim Banse, wrote The Gazette’s Motoring car review column from 1989 to 2013 and has published stories in Popular Mechanics and Yachting magazine. He’s toured carmaker factory floors in the U.S. and Japan and raced cars at Riverside, Watkins Glen, and Michigan International Raceway press events. He’s stood close enough to a crash test to feel the shock wave reverberate off his chest. His first car was a vintage ‘56 Chevy Belair.