Yahoo Autos 2019 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio Q4 at Lightning Lap 2019
Lap Time: 3:04.8
Class: LL3 | Base: $89,840 | As-Tested: $94,440
Power and Weight: 505 hp • 4323 lb • 8.6 lb/hp
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4, F: 255/45R-20 101Y AR R: 285/40R-20 104Y AR
The Stelvio Quadrifoglio is high comedy: a mix of SUV and sedan; of 505-hp hellfire, all-wheel drive, and Pirelli P Zero PZ4s, size steamroller. Like a duckling that imprinted on a human, the Stelvio is completely unaware of what it is. In its twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6 heart, this SUV believes it's a Giulia.
Of course, the driver is keenly aware from the standing-desk driving position and from the extra 530 pounds that the Stelvio is not a Giulia. But the Stelvio doesn't care what you think; it just keeps chasing after its trunk-bearing sibling, expecting to keep up. And it almost does. All-wheel drive allows you to mat the accelerator sooner than in the rear-drive Giulia when exiting a corner. Sure, the Stelvio twitches back and forth as the all-wheel-drive system tries to figure out which end should get the torque, and it sort of feels like you're a toddler on a rocking horse, but it's only unsettling in how deeply amusing it is.
SUV levels of suspension travel allow you to go deep into the curbing, and the optional carbon-ceramic brakes swallow triple-digit speeds, but the electrohydraulic brakes have a split-second delay before they give you what your foot asked for. It's an adrenal-gland pincher the first three times it happens; then you learn to plan around it.
Understeer dominates in slower corners, but the Stelvio is also secure and makes for a nonthreatening and laughter-filled 3:04.8 lap. While this Alfa may have body-style dysmorphic disorder, driving it reminded us of the first Nissan GT-Rs we lapped here more than a decade ago, but with everything happening at SUV height. See? It's hilarious.
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