SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


The mechanics of emotion: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2.0 Super

It could surprise you

Posted: 20 February 2018

The numbers
Base price: R810 000
Engine: 1995 cc, chain driven SOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 206 kW at 5200 rpm
Torque: 400 Nm between 2250 and 4700 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 5.7 seconds
Maximum speed: 230 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 10.6 l/100 km
Tank: 64 litres
Cargo: 525 – 1600 litres
Ground clearance: 206 mm
Turning circle: 11.7 metres
Wading depth: 480 mm
Maximum (braked) towing capacity: 2300 kg
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km
Maintenance plan: 6 years / 100 000 km

To the uninitiated, we were in trouble; on a forest trail far from anywhere, fraught with humps, ditches and wash-aways. And facing a steep hill littered liberally with big, loose stones.

Farm Girl, our backseat passenger, was wide-eyed and braced. The challenge, in her beloved pickup with selectable 4x4 a dial’s-twist away and with low range and difflock right at hand, would have been a no-brainer. But we were in an Alfa Romeo, and in a bad place.

It was, granted, a Stelvio SUV with reasonable ground clearance, decently plump tyres (235/60 R18 Goodyear Eagle), fair approach and departure angles and a slightly girly kind of all-wheel drive. It’s the type that relies on a torque-sensing clutch to distribute power between front and rear axles as needed and up to a maximum split of 50:50. Its default drive mode is 100 percent to the rear. There is no low range gearing, no terrain response and no difflock.

Truth to tell Stelvio is, first and foremost, an asphalt road burner. AWD is there as a handling aid and to get through snow or light mud. The 200 mm (with passengers) ground clearance is for steep driveways and, possibly, posing on pavements. It’s not meant to take the place of anyone’s farm truckie.

Back to the trail: We chose our route carefully, avoiding the biggest rocks and deepest gullies, to plod through, over and past. It was actually dead easy because we knew beforehand that soft-roaders are generally more competent than they are given credit for.

After a short section of freeway, it was back onto dirt. The country miles past the vegetable farms are rippled and can rattle your fillings out if the car isn’t set up right. Stelvio has very competent all-steel suspension and provided we kept speed up to about 80 km/h (off-road driving instructors don’t recommend anything quicker than that because gravel surfaces are not good for adhesion) it proved very comfortable. We tried it at 60 km/h too, but then felt some of the shockwaves. And who drives an Alfa at 60 unless obliged to, anyway?

The winding blacktop that followed provided an opportunity to work the car a bit harder. We noted 2100 rpm at 120 km/h in eighth, excellent gearbox responses and good roll-on ability. That’s thanks to turbocharging and the fact that its wide torque band is still waiting to be used. Manual override, using the stick (paddles are standard on Limited Edition or a R7000 option on Super), gave us a chance to use the middle ratios and its glorious power range to best advantage. As we noted in our launch report, it’s an Alfa to drive.

With the fun part over, there was more gravel along the back way between the Dargle road and Fort Nottingham. This stretch’s speciality is short, sharp impacts caused by small stones embedded in the road surface. Apart from shaking up kidneys, it can set a car with sloppy shocks bouncing sideways. The Stelvio did neither, although the comments regarding speed and harshness applied here too.

Practicalities: The tailgate, adjustable to three heights, opens at the press of a button on the key fob or in response to a tab on the driver’s door. The loading bed is at 65 cm and offers two lights, four lashing rings, a pair of bag hooks, a 12-volt socket and remote releases for 60:40-split seatbacks. A load-through that includes the rear armrest can be laid down separately by pulling on a tab from the inside, making the final split 40:20:40. The spare is an inflatable 195/75R18 space saver, so if you know beforehand when you’re “going bush” you might want to pump it up and keep it in the boot. It shares a well with the battery and the sound system amplifier as part of the manufacturer’s efforts to keep the car’s balance at close to 50:50.

The back seat area is above average on headroom, generous with leg space and accommodates feet comfortably. Apart from the usual three belts and head restraints, comfort items include a pair of cup holders in the armrest, repeater vents but no heat controls, a good selection of storage spaces, grab handles, a pair of USB sockets, a rear dome light and individual door lock releases.

Up front, both chairs are mechanically adjustable with the passenger enjoying elevation control as well. Should you want power adjusters, fancier leather and seat warming, your choices are to buy the Limited Edition in the first place or add those features by way of options.

The tall console houses an armrest with microscopic storage space and USB/aux plugs; three rotary controllers for music, the menu selector dial and dna (dynamic, natural and advanced efficiency i.e. econo) settings; the short gear lever and electric parking brake. HVAC controls include speed defrosters front and rear and are easy to use. The menu of electronic “things”, including satnav, is manageable without causing brain burn.

The glove box is rather small and filled with the owners’ handbook, but door bins are more generous. There is also a little stash box in front of the driver’s right knee. Apart from that, the list of standard features can be found in the launch report so if there’s anything you don’t know yet, have a look there.

Summing up, Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a big, powerful and comfortable city SUV with excellent handling and good poor-weather capabilities. It could surprise you with its off-road skills too.

Test unit from FCASA press fleet


Pics are all of Limited Edition

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.