2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The Stelvio is recognizable by its inverted-triangle grille. Known as the V Scudetto grille, this design feature has been present on all Alfa Romeos for better than 100 years. The handsome face is set off with bi-xenon adaptive headlamps and wheel sizes range from 18 inches all the way up to 21 inches, most with Alfa’s unique five-hole design. Out back are quad exhaust pipes and an integrated rear spoiler.

Choose up to seven different paint colors, from the standard white, black and red to our tester’s eye-catching Ocra GT color (think yellow with a shot of gold and you’ll get the picture). However, our money is on the Misano Blue Metallic color. It is, "chef’s kiss."

Inside you get one choice of leather upholstery as standard equipment, so you’d better like black. However, red leather seats can be ordered for $600 and you should definitely tick that box. There are plenty of soft-touch materials here and the textured aluminum on the dash and center console of our tester add a sparkling touch. A narrow infotainment screen is incorporated into the dash, not plonked on top like in many other crossovers, and a flat-bottom steering wheel adds a sporty touch.

The Stelvio gets a standard 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hood, and for a four-cylinder, it’s a doozy. With 280 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque, the Stelvio has one of the most powerful engines in its class. If you’d like to go a step further, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio sports a twin-turbo V6 with over 500 Italian ponies and 443 lb-ft of torque.

Still our humble Veloce trim doesn’t do too badly. The DNA driving modes can swap up the throttle and the eight-speed automatic transmission’s shift points for a custom drive. The default mode is N, or Natural mode, that provides a smooth and easy ride—great for commuting. The Advanced mode is best used in low-traction situations like rain or snow. But Dynamic is where it’s at.

Click the drive selector up to D and the Stelvio roars to life, cornering with abandon. Forget about a BMW sports sedan, this thing gets it done with more room and style to boot. Power delivery is excellent with no dead spots in the torque curve. The steering is precise but it doesn’t get any additional heft in Dynamic mode. Straight line acceleration isn’t too thrilling; Alfa Romeo says 60 miles per hour comes up in less than 5.5 seconds, but when the road turns twisty it’s fun overload.

The transmission is a bit lazy to downshift in Natural mode, but the Stelvio will downshift on braking in Dynamic mode, putting the car in the right place in the powerband for quick corner exits. Drivers can also shift using the large aluminum paddle shifters, clicking off lightning-fast shifts close to the redline. However, when not using them, some with larger hands might find the paddles crowding the steering wheel a bit. Also, these shifters are mounted on the column, meaning they stay in one place. Some drivers may find themselves in a pickle and try to shift with the steering wheel turned. The shifters are large enough that this shouldn’t be a problem, unless you’re at full lock, in which case you shouldn’t be shifting anyways and if you need to, well, good luck.

You’ll find more luxury comforts in rivals like the Mercedes-Benz GLC, but the Stelvio does a fine job for a car that hasn’t had a major update since 2018. Our tester comes with the 14-way adjustable Sport leather seats with lumbar and thigh support. The power bolsters can be set for supreme snugness if desired. Heated front and rear seats are standard on every trim as well.

For an extra $1,975 you can grab a Harman Kardon premium audio system. This features a subwoofer, a 900-watt amplifier and 14 speakers to blast your favorite tunes.

Wireless charging is available and there are a total of 5 USB ports scattered around the cabin, including two USB-C ports. The charging pad is located at the front of the center console, freeing up the area in front of the shifter for a set of cupholders.

Small storage is at a bit of a premium in the Stelvio. There is a little cubby for the key fob and a small pocket in the arm rest for a wallet as well as a pocket in the door, but no flat storage bin for a phone or house keys. Even the center console is on the small side.

Hauling larger stuff could be a bit of a chore as well. The Stelvio only has 18.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, paltry compared to the 28.9 cubes in the rival Genesis GV70. Throw the back seat down and that space expands, of course, and those rear seats fold flat.

Should you want to tow with your Stelvio, you’ll be limited to 3,000 pounds. That’s right in the middle of the segment, and still enough to drag a small U-haul trailer or an open trailer with a motorcycle.

Rear seat passengers are treated to plenty of headroom and legroom, but it may take a while for the air conditioning to cool their sweaty faces. In fact, the system had a hard time cooling down the cabin at all. Granted, our testing took place in the desert of California, but a new car should dissipate the heat to comfortable levels in a few minutes, something the Stelvio struggled to do.

The Stelvio really shows its age when it comes to technology. It shares the same excellent Uconnect infotainment system found in Jeep and Dodge vehicles, but here it’s housed on a narrow screen and configured in the most user un-friendly way.

Sure, the touchscreen may measure 8.8 inches diagonally, but it’s only a smidge over three inches tall. Alfa Romeo utilizes this space with tiles that can be swiped horizontally either on the screen or using the dial on the center console. The problem is the screen isn’t all that receptive to touch. Countless times we had to poke and tap the screen just to get the radio to come up, and nine times out of ten it asked us to select a source. Why not just default to the satellite radio station that was playing when the car was last turned off?

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both here, but they don’t integrate well with the infotainment. For example, to move through presets you have to navigate out of Apple CarPlay and back to the native system. There is no way to scroll through presets on the steering wheel or using the dial. If you really like to hop around that radio dial you’ll get annoyed very quickly.

A 7-inch thin-film transistor (TFT) screen sits in the center of the gauge cluster. It can display information like speed and adaptive cruise control settings. This is also where we expect to see drive mode information, but none exists. Turn the selector to D for Dynamic mode and the only indication is a thin red line at the bottom of the screen. There is nothing that actually says “Dynamic.” Further, the button to change the display information is hidden on the end of the windshield wiper stalk and, when in our preferred driving position, the steering wheel partially blocks the bottom of this screen.

There are a few standouts here, however. The Stelvio gets a Wi-Fi hotspot, a stolen vehicle locator and can receive over-the-air (OTA) updates.

The Stelvio gets a few standard driver-assistance features, but nothing that stands out in the crowd. Blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams and front and rear parking sensors all work as expected.

The Active Assist Plus package is another $1,595 and is money well spent. This extra coin buys you active blind-spot assist, traffic-sign recognition, lane-keeping assist, and a driver attention monitor. The package also includes Intelligent Speed Assist, which will ask if you want to set your top speed to match the speed limit, but drivers can decline the suggestion or set a speed buffer.

Also part of the Active Assist Plus package, the Highway Assist feature is a hands-on driver’s aid that keeps the car centered in a lane and at a set distance behind a lead car; a Traffic Jam Assist feature does the same thing at slower speeds and if the car’s sensors can’t detect lane boundaries, it can use the surrounding cars as a guide. Both of these work well but Mercedes-Benz goes one better with automatic lane changes and BMW features hands-free lane centering at low speeds.

One surprising feature is that the Stelvio won’t automatically release its parking brake unless the driver has their seatbelt fastened.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) haven’t published safety ratings for the 2022 Alfa Romeo Stevio yet.

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio matches or bests its rivals when it comes to fuel economy. The stalwart 2.0-liter turbo engine returns a EPA-rated fuel economy of 22 mpg city, 28 mpg highway and 24 mpg combined. That’s better than the Porsche Macan but about the same as the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Acura RDX, BMW X3 and Genesis GV70.

The Stelvio starts at $47,095 (including $1,595 for destination) for a base Sprint model with RWD. Our Veloce tester starts at $52,300 but after the fancy paint job, extra driver-assist features, and and upgraded stereo, the price is pretty darn close to $60,000.

The Acura RDX is the least expensive of the bunch, starting at under $42,000. The Mercedes-Benz GLC starts under $45,000, as does the Genesis GV70 with its much nicer interior and easy infotainment system. The BMW X3 starts closer to $46,000 while the Porsche Macan is an outlier, starting at a whopping $58,950.

Alfa Romeo’s warranty coverage is par for the course. Owners get a basic limited warranty and powertrain warranty of four years/50,000 miles. An anti-corrosion warranty is in place for three to five years depending on the part and unlimited mileage. If a warranty is a concern for you, look to the Genesis GV70 with its 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and five-year/60,000 basic limited warranty.

The 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a great choice if you value driving dynamics and looks over everything else. However, the technology and interior luxury appointments may be disappointing to some folks. We recommend driving the Genesis GV70 with its excellent interior appointments and athletic chassis before you make a decision.