With the Quadrifoglio high-performance sub-brand confirmed as having a future in an all-electric era still to come for Alfa Romeo, the Italian company takes the opportunity to give its two internal-combustion Quadrifoglio cars one last round of updates to keep them fresh for a few more years. That includes the Stelvio SUV, which gains a bit more power, some chassis mods, new lights and an improved interior. Is all this enough to keep the Stelvio Quadrifoglio challenging for honours in the upmarket SUV battle?
In the metal
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio has always looked good and so needed only mild airbrushing in order to keep it looking fresh. Said cosmetic work pretty much amounts to the '3+3' Matrix LED headlight units, the most easily identifiable distinguishing feature of a 2024 Stelvio. The fact the Quadrifoglio now has these headlamps ties it in with the rest of its own range, as well as the current Giulia and Tonale product lines, while it also harks back to an unusual 1990s Alfa SZ and RZ. Anyway, the handsome Stelvio still has masses of presence.
Within the passenger compartment, the hottest Stelvio now has real, uncoated carbon-fibre trim elements embedded into most of its main surfaces, while the driver benefits from a new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. The 8.8-inch infotainment is carried over, though, and that is starting to feel and show its age quite badly, but overall, the material quality in the big Alfa SUV is now generally superb. Further, there's good room in the back seats and a boot measuring 500 litres (give or take), so as there's no estate version of the Giulia then this is as practical a super-rapid Alfa Romeo as you're going to get.
Driving it
Alfa Romeo has fitted the updated Stelvio Quadrifoglio with a new mechanical limited-slip differential, instead of an electronic torque-vectoring affair on the rear axle. However, it still benefits from the Q4 all-wheel-drive set-up, which blesses it with remarkable off-the-line traction. Despite weighing 1,850kg, when the Giulia Quadrifoglio clocks in at a much more svelte 1,660kg, it's the mighty Stelvio which'll run 0-100km/h faster - 3.8 seconds plays 3.9 seconds for the rear-driven saloon.
Power from the Stelvio Quadrifoglio's wonderful 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 has also been tickled up to 520hp, a gain of ten horses from the older versions, while the suspension has been given a tune-up to cope with the SUV's new hardware and its moderately increased output.
Now, let's be clear - we've always liked the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. A lot. Its secret is that aforementioned kerb weight. In the wider scheme of performance cars, a weight of 1.85 tonnes isn't exactly light; for a high-power SUV like this, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is. Anything even remotely similar in outlook and performance is the wrong side of two tonnes.
It's not without a few minor drawbacks, however. The first is its ride comfort. We were expecting a higher-riding, heavier vehicle on longer-travel suspension to be the better one at soaking up poor road surfaces (in comparison to the Giulia), yet the Stelvio Quadrifoglio can be a bit fidgety and intransigent on really rucked-up tarmac, even with its dampers in their softest setting. Don't switch the SUV into Dynamic or Race on the road, either, as it's just too firm for such shenanigans.
Like most modern cars with a primary focus on entertaining their driver, the damping of the Stelvio seems to come into its own with more speed dialled into things, so that on smoother, freer-flowing country and trunk roads or the motorway, it's impressively controlled for ride quality. But we think the low-speed lumpiness is down in part to the unsprung mass of its large 20-inch alloys.
There's also a pay-off to be made in the handling stakes if you want the added traction of Q4. The Stelvio is not quite as playful as its saloon relation, with more of a feeling of the nose pushing on when you're reaching the limits of grip, and less of an ability to change the attitude of the car using the throttle and the rear-axle balance. This is most odd, because one thing we've always said of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio - ever since its launch way back in 2017 - is that it's one of the most rear-led SUVs we've ever driven. It normally feels like a two-wheel-drive machine, not something with all-wheel drive, but now there's less of a sensation of that coming through from the big Alfa.
But maybe we're doing this all wrong. Comparing it to the product in its own house which uses the same mega engine, only in a lighter, lower frame and sending all its power rearwards, is like a Valencia to a Granny Smith. They're not the same type of, uh, automotive fruit.
And when you focus your attention back onto SUVs, there are few finer to drive in the world than the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Slightly crunchy urban ride aside, this thing's a delight to be in. The 2.9 V6 engine remains a masterpiece and while you can't honestly sense what the additional 10hp has brought to the party - it has only really changed the most meaningless metric of all, the top speed, by 2km/h in favour of the newer version - you won't be bothered about that for a second, when you hear what the twin-turbo unit is like spinning out to 7,000rpm or when you feel how hard it can kick in the midrange. It's a stunner.
Same for the chassis, which remains involving enough that you realise there are extra facets of its character to be learned after kilometre one of driving it. It's a refreshing experience to drive the Stelvio Quadrifoglio and know you're going to peel back various layers of its handling the more you travel in it. It helps, of course, that this super-SUV is equipped with mesmerically good steering, a decent set of brakes and phenomenal paddle shifts - the best we've ever used in anything at any price tag you care to pick - controlling a slick, likeable eight-speed auto.
And it is quiet and comfortable, in the main, on the road, Alfa having done an excellent job of mechanically isolating disturbers of the cabin peace such as tyre roar, wind noise, suspension thumping and drivetrain grumbling. It's not the most refined SUV you'll ever travel in, granted, but for something with a sub-four-second 0-100km/h time, it's absolutely more than acceptable in terms of ride comfort and rolling refinement.
Great on the roads, good on track, the updated Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio remains one of our favourite high-riding, high-performance vehicles of them all. Just try not to look too closely at the Giulia Quadrifoglio sitting in the same Alfa showroom if you decide to go and buy the SUV...
What you get for your money
At the moment, the price for the 2024 model year Stelvio Quadrifoglio is still to be confirmed by Alfa Romeo Ireland, although it will 100 per cent be well beyond the €100,000 marker, partly as a result of its high CO2 output of 267g/km. This'll make it expensive to run, too, so we expect the Quadrifoglio to be an incredibly rare sight on our roads - if not the automotive equivalent of one of those mythical horses with a horn coming out of its bonce.
In mitigation for its high list price, the standard equipment list you get on this flagship SUV is lengthy, generous and studded with the sorts of truly desirable equipment you'd expect on a six-figure-plus car in the 2020s; put another way, there are very few options available for the Stelvio Quadrifoglio which will push its windscreen sticker higher, and owners will want for very little in the way of creature comforts and advanced driver assist safety systems.
Summary
The moderate upgrades for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio have definitely improved this speedy SUV, even if we think it's not quite as engaging and comfortable as it once was. Nevertheless, if you want an utterly thunderous SUV with invigorating handling and plenty of comfort dolloped on top, then aside from the ideologically similar yet soon-to-be-replaced Porsche Macan, you're not going to get anything better than the Stelvio - unless you splash out an inordinate amount of additional cash to get in something like an Aston Martin DBX or Lamborghini Urus. And that's some thoroughly esteemed company for the 2024MY Stelvio Q to be mixing in, we're sure you'll agree.
