Steve And Nicolette Say The Stelvio Quadrifoglio Is Track Ready

The all-new Stelvio has already made a name for itself as a driver’s SUV…and at a price that’s far more attainable than you’d think with a starting MSRP of about $43,000.

So when shopping Alfa’s first sport-utility, you might wonder why one model costs almost twice that much?

Hi, I’m Steve Hammes…

…and I’m Nicolette Viscusi and this is the Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

There are a number of these crazy-fast SUVs on the market right now and I’ve driven most of them. Like this Stelvio, the vast majority are based upon car – not truck architectures – and benefit from modern chassis tuning techniques to deliver a taller 5-door vehicle that’s truly track ready.  Better yet, contemporary engineering prowess allows you to have your cake and eat it too with 500+ horsepower engines that still deliver 23mpg highway.    And the Italians are suddenly all in.  Besides this souped-up Alfa; Masearti, Lamborghini and soon Ferrari will all have at least one high performance SUV in their stables.

Priced from around $80,000, this Stelvio gets a Ferrari heart transplant; a screaming 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 capable of 505 horsepower – the same motor in the Giulia that I drove last year so I can attest to its uniquely Italian personality.

Marked with a 4-leaf clover, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio is billed as the world’s fastest SUV, claiming the title after lapping the famed Nurburgring racetrack in record time.