Was on the fence about one of these. But now that my best friend depreciation has joined the party; I can pick up a very nice low mileage example for $25K. SOLD
When people see someone rolling a pallet of shittickets out to their car they feel a sense of empathy/disgust at the gastrointestinal issues the guy/lady must have. Last time this happened to me I just smiled and told onlookers that "I just got back from Mexico"
Driven Car Reviews Aloha Tom when are you going to review the 2018 Lincoln Navigator Yacht Club? Thank you and god bless I love Costco it's my favorite place to shop
Because he is too professional. TFL videos shot by a drunk waving a consumer camera have more views because they cater to simpler tastes. Just like modern TV. He can stay professional, while having more pizzazz like Vox's videos; he needs to hire someone versed in After Effects or something.
Easily the best SUV made today. Much prefer the nimble steering and feel in the Stelvio against the Macun. The styling and performance in the Alfa is amazing
We drove both the Macan Base, and the Stelvio. The base Macan was 57,865 and while we liked it a lot, we didnt like it that much. In comparison, the Stelvio was quicker, felt every bit as precise, and was 14K less at the point of purchase, with no grinding needed. We got the Ti Sport AWD with 20 inch wheels, and Sport seats, and couldst be happier. I would have been happy to buy the Macan, but once we drove the Stelvio both my wife and I felt the Stelvio was the clear winner.
So Tom, How did you enjoy your trip? "What Trip?" you ask That Trip. 6:33 An annoying joke from my construction days that I "fell" for repeatedly but never had the opportunity to use. Great content as usual. Loved the bit at 4:55 "because I lost my cord". Relate-ability is through the roof on this one, Tom. Sincerely Tom from Vancouver.
Hey Tom, great video, hope you was okay after your incident. I had my eye on it, took one for a test drive & I had the same thoughts on it. Well built. Defiantly gives other brands a run.
Love the styling, very unlike other cars. The triangle is classic and keeps things interesting and the wheels are super sharp in my opinion. It's also the most powerful and fastest 0-60 base engine in class! Just wish the interior seemed a bit nicer for the price.
well, i'm from Europe and i can tell you Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a hell of a car, it can have issues but i gues it goes for all cars sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not, but stelvio is really a good car they have made this one stronger, and alfa don't have the same problems as they where know'n for in the 80's it's a good car !
Tested the TI sport, loaded, with heated seats, was 51,000 in Ca they are giving 6000 off, think we are very close to purchasing one, we liked it besides everyone here in Silcon Valley has a BMW, Audi and Mercades , why not, time for change and I like the dash without a box sitting on top of it, think that is just a cheap way of getting around a dash with all built in.
I drove the Ti at an event in Palm Springs on February 18. I have to agree with everything Tom says here. The new 2-liter motor has a nice startup sound, but the exhaust is quiet like a Subaru. My wife found the back seat to be spacious for a compact SUV. I found the turn signal stalk to be quite annoying. Same with the electronic shiftier. I do look forward to experiencing a variant of the turbo motor in the 2019 Jeep Cherokee.
If anyone has the knowledge of why this engine has two coolant recovery reservoirs (they seem to both be coolant as they have identically-colored fluids), I'd really like to know. Thanks!
first things first, Thank You for the video. I found it enjoyable to watch and it was very informative. :0) I'm looking at a 2018 Ti Sport AWD right now, asking price $21,591, I know that's a great price, but I'm gonna see if I can get them down a bit, plus I'm waiting to hear if they have a military discount. oh, and it's got 89k miles on it. Thanks again, great video. :)
With a zero to 60 time so low, I find the horsepower rating questionable. I bet it would be higher on a dyno. Maybe it is the AWD getting power to all four wheels, but 5.4 to sixty seems pretty fast for 280 hp at 4000+ pounds.
it is part of it! it is also the 306 lb ft of torque, the 8 speed quick shifting transmission, brake launching, and an excellent turbo system that uses a water to air intercooler (meaning less heat soak when you are idling at a stop light). It is a very good car!
Excellent review. It is an appealing vehicle. The is the ONLY WAY a brand like Alfa will survive... building cars people actually might buy... so buy it!
Surprised about the "Cliche Italian Reliability" comments....I've owned some pretty unreliable German cars but somehow they get a pass and are allowed to be "overengineered".... 911 with an IMS bearing failure (Disastrous...new engine please) M 5 with a Rod Bearing failure at 40000 miles....(New Engine Please) M 3 with a subframe crack .....Yikes , not covered under warranty 3 Series high pressure fuel pump failure...3 times !!! In comparison... 1991 Alfa Romeo 164 S...84000 flawless miles....Timing belt changed every 30000 miles ... Exotics need more maintenance, but let's not confuse that with reliability....
I own VW turbo, not too impressed with reliability. Also have a 164 LS, engine at 136K miles doesn't consume oil. Doesn't seem to be as noisy as my Acura TSX which consumes quite a bit of oil. Most of the failure modes in the 164 LS was/is/will be similar to the Audis/VWs/BMWs since a lot of the sensors, other parts come from similar sources.. The BIG difference, currently, is the dealership. From what I've heard, the Alfa dealership is a hit or miss affair while BMW treats its customers like gold.
Totally agree, I've owned a Fiat 500 Turbo and currently own a 500 Abarth and both have been absolutely great cars with no issues at all. Totally reliable and incredibly fun to drive.
Limited sales for the Stelvio for sure. Heard your snide remark about station wagons buyers. Subaru Outback is a wagon and sells very well, my guess is wagons will make a comeback never like the in past but people want something different then a SUV /CUV.Now Buick is offering an all new wagon.
FYI, I have owned five wagons and there's one in my driveway. Ask any auto exec and they would love to offer wagons for many different reasons (an easy variant to build, better fuel economy than SUVs). Americans don't buy them. Even Volvo is having a tough go of it. So it's less of a snide remark than the cold hard truth. Fingers crossed for the Buick TourX. I think they have a good chance of making that work. It's essentially an upmarket Outback.
As someone who TRIED to buy a Volvo wagon let me clue you in to their problems. First, the V90 is only offered as a jacked up CC version, unless you want to drop $60K on a vehicle you can't test drive and just order one. Second, the V90 and V90CC with the adequate T6 engine are rarely offered in more basic form, they are lathered with options pushing them up to BMW X5 price levels. The V60 was desireable in R design form, but there are perhaps 4 for sale in the entire country. When we got our S60 R design the choice was $45K for the S60 or $51K for the wagon, as they were not discounted and were loaded with options. $6,000 is a stiff premium for a wagon. Finally, the more mundane Volvo V60's are depreciation champions. $42K at purchase yields you about $18,000 three years later. You could drive a Mercedes wagon for that overall cost. Oh, and you'd better like white, because 65% of wagons on their lots are white. VW can sell a better wagon (except for engine power) for under $30K. And if you try to order a Volvo to your spec, you will be met with discouragement and no promises on a delivery date, but you'll need to fork over $2,000 and feel lucky. Volvo's product mix, ordering process, and such are a big reason why they don't sell here. Finally, note their 2015 ad campaign, which featured Passion Red R designs of every vehicle. Now, go try to find a Passion Red R design anything on their lots. It was insane. They have a green agenda and purposely do not want to sell the more powerful versions in any volume at all.
Driven Car Reviews tom, I agree with your analysis about Americans not liking wagons. We just had an auto show in my town...20 dealers with new cars. I watched the buick wagon for about 10 minutes...no one seemed interested ..we'll see
Outback is not a wagon, it has been a light truck for more than a decade, according to EPA: www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/business/to-avoid-fuel-limits-subaru-is-turning-a-sedan-into-a-truck.html
Such a compelling option. Although I would always choose a sedan this is a great entry to the, in my opinion, stale Audi, Merc, BMW segment. Also hope that fall wasn’t on bad!
Why is that sad? Why wouldn't you want more money to pour into the brand so they can build the coupe that few people will buy? As I said at the top of the piece, it's all about the money. It has to be, otherwise the brand would go away.
Hi Tom, thank you for your reply. Not a huge fan of all of the CUV's, but fully understand this is where the market is these days. Would rather see another body style, like a wagon or coupe, but they don't sell in the volumes needed to remain viable. Keep up the great work; like the reviews.
I didn't know you could get copyright strikes for photos too? Couldn't you just use someone's photo from say Instagram or something, there shouldn't be any kind of copyright on that? One of the travel sites I use took a photo I took on a vacation and use it for the promotional photo for that country in their emails, thought that was funny and flattering and I've seen it on and off for over a year now and I don't think I have any legal recourse even if I wanted to go after them for using it, or maybe I do?
I get harassed by all sorts of individuals and companies. Some even claim I'm using their video footage (and generally I shoot every frame of my pieces). I had a photo company aggressively shake me down for $300 for using a Volkswagen supplied press photo as part of a photo gallery on my website. Took me a month to get them off my back. I actually had a guy who ripped off my videos then claimed I was using his copywritten material. Go figure. As I said, I don't need even the hint of a hassle.
Imagine being on a road trip with 2 dogs and this thing breaks down on a section of I-16 in Georgia. How many days or weeks do you think you'll be put up in a hotel before they can get your Stelvio to a dealer in Atlanta, parts in, and repaired?
What's the logic of naming an SUV after a road that's known for diving enthusiasts? Can't imagine many people saying; I feel like go carving up this mountain road in my SUV but then again we live in a time where SUVs have race mode.
blacka dax maybe it's for people who wanted a sports car to carve up the mountain road but have a crossover because they have kids. I imagine most people in the U.S. have never heard of the word Stelvio. So now instead of associating it with a beautiful road, they will associate it with a fragile crossover.
Snow, skiing (resort), Alps (highest steet in Italy), biking (Giro d'Italia), hairpins (48 tight turns), luxury, it makes sense for European mentality. The sporty version of this car is also the fastest around the Nurburgring in its class. The Giulia idem. And the brand has entered Formula1 this year.
you don't need a crossover when you have kids. you buy a nice break or shooting break. Although I admit that the Stelvio looks nice, I still think suv/cross overs are cancer. not 4x4, those are awesome.
Driven Car Reviews A car that is 9” taller than its saloon counterpart with a higher centre of gravity will automatically be more unstable. I’m sure they’re good handling nevertheless, but not as good as a wagon would be :)
There is information on the "original" Alfa Romeo crossover, the Matta, at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_Matta. Sheesh, it's nowhere near as good-looking as its contemporary counterpart!
Excellent review, best review I've seen so far. In terms of reliability, check out whatcar.com, here is a link. www.whatcar.com/news/2018-what-car-reliability-survey/n17826 Alfa Romeo ranks ahead of all German brands in this reliability survey.
Driven Car Reviews it was a pre-production stelvio quadrifoglio. happens often to pre-production cars but when it‘s an alfa of course everyone has to shout about it(; by the way i couldn‘t find any information on what „broke down“... maybe the driver was an italian and just hopped into the next espresso bar for a second and left the car on th street for other people to enjoy. that‘s how we do it in italy(:
Ugly, expensive, questionable build quality (1:57 - the right lever moves when the paddle is operated, 4:40 - the knob wobbles, 5:24 - the armrest looks droopy from that angle). Also, are those clips on the trunk rails removable? And, as a ultimate buzzkill, it is a dreaded crossover.
its made amazingly well actually. no creaks in mine. smooth, powerful, solid. the 2nd highest ranked car for safety in europe, behind the new Volvo xc60. Good enough?
