Stelvio (Type 949) 2016 - Current

Factory Spec:

• MY21 Veloce Petrol 280HP
• Visconte green
• Yellow brake calipers
• Limited-slip differential
• Dark 20" 5-petal wheels

Modifications:

• Stelvio Ti rear diffuser
• Ragazzon catback exhaust
• Front seatbelts in yellow
• Celtic stage-1 remap (324HP)

Awards:

• AROC Spring Alfa Day 2023 "Best-in-class" (Modern)

Buying the Stelvio was a long journey - I had a lovely Giulietta Sprint Speciale (Tipo 940) as an ex-demo in Alfa Red (LO65MTF), affectionately known as "Logsy", and after having our daughter we realised we needed some extra space in the rear - the Giulietta was great for three of us, but two ISOFIX bases would take up too much space.

The general brief was:

• Two ISOFIX bases in the rear
• Boot can take the pram lengthwise
• 0-60 at least the same as the Giulietta
• Not an SUV
• Not petrol- or diesel-only

This presented the usual suspects (Audi A4/A6 Avant, BMW 3/5 Series Touring, Mercedes C/E-Class Estate, Volvo V60) as well as a few more out-there suggestions (Polestar 2, Skoda Superb)...

I then spent some time looking at the Alfas - I was hoping for a Giulia Estate, which never came, and eagerly awaiting the Tonale, which came too late.

After several months trying to convince myself (and my wife) that we could fit our family into a Giulia, I test-drove a Stelvio and was blown away in all areas (except for the braking, which I soon learned was due to a brake-by-wire system I've now come to understand and enjoy). Against the original brief, three out of five was plenty!

I put my order in March 2021 - a distinctly slow time for building cars - with the following spec:

• Petrol Veloce (280HP)
• Visconti Green
• Yellow brake calipers
• Limited-slip differential
• Dark 20" 5-petal wheels

The car finally arrived in mid-June, and has barely seen an idle day since.

When I received the car I was a little disappointed that, unlike the Giulia Veloce, the Stelvio Veloce did not come with a more sporty-looking rear diffuser. I didn't mind this for a while, but about nine months into ownership I found that the part from the Veloce Ti (and later Veloces) is completely compatible, so I bought one and booked it in to my local garage to be fitted. What I didn't know was that my second daughter would be born the day after it was booked in... Fortunately the job was extremely quick, and the car was more than ready for the dash to the hospital!

One thing I wanted from the start was for the seatbelts to match the yellow brake calipers - I was disappointed to learn this couldn't be done at the factory (some quadrifoglio models come with red belts) but about a year into ownership I looked around and found a well-regarded outfit in High Wycombe called Quickfit SBS. They took a range of colours - far larger than shown on their website - to compare with the calipers and within a few hours of making my selection they were installed on the front seats.

A few days later I had a newsletter with a link to their Instagram feed, where they'd shown it some love among some very fine looking motors.

The Stelvio is an excellent car, but with the higher driving position it can sometimes be a bit difficult to get an accurate feeling for how fast you're going - doubly so when the soundproofing is excellent. Specifying a new exhaust was one of the hardest things to do, as you're relying on YouTube videos and the sound quality is not always brilliant. Then you have other problems - often the system being shown has the centre resonator removed, or the EGR system disabled, so getting an exact feel for the sound of an actual street-legal system can be difficult.

Eventually I settled on a catback system from Ragazzon, which adds extra drama (and a feeling of speed), with a deeper (but not obnoxious) noise from the slightly wider-bore piping. The OEM system has a very nice sound, especially when you get a slight over-run, but this just takes all that sound and increases its presence in the cabin.

95% of the time, this frankly makes no difference - up to 2500RPM the power and torque curves are identical, and even the "Normal" driving mode encourages early shifting (let alone "Advanced economy").

There's always that 5% when you slightly wished you'd bought the Quad, though...

A few things convinced me of the 324HP Celtic remap:

• Good warranties from Celtic
• Same mechanical parts used in the 325HP Maserati Grecale (with MHEV assistance)
• It takes it from ~66% to ~75% of the Quad in power:weight terms

It's a hearty upgrade - for most day-to-day drivers I would probably recommend you stick with the standard mapping. I'd recommend Celtic if you were going to tune the car anyway, and I'd recommend it if you like an enthusiastic drive, but there are notable downsides (including reporting it to the insurer).