The launch of any new Alfa Romeo triggers massive spikes of interest. And here's a new Alfa Romeo. So, now we've got your attention... here's a new midsize family crossover. A type of vehicle for which enthusiasm is in rather shorter supply. Still, it's pretty, and it's an Alfa.
You'll remember the Tonale concept car (three syllables, rhymes with finale) from the last time the Geneva show was a thing, back in 2019. The production version has the same name and its design has survived very much unscathed. Well, apart from the usual concept-toshowroom peripherals - smaller wheels, bigger lights and mirrors, actual windscreen wipers and doorhandles.
In brief, it's the size of an Audi Q3 and comes with petrol and diesel front drive, and a powerful PHEV with electric drive to the rear wheels, totalling 271bhp. Alfa is confident enough in the reliability to offer a five-year warranty on the Tonale, and eight years on the hybrid battery.
OK, but you might be wondering what Alfa Romeo is doing here. This is the company that once competed on a level with Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Bugatti. That invented the modern sports saloon, and endless pretty coupes. That provided flat-12 engines for Gordon Murray's winning Brabhams. And which gave rise to the Top Gear dictum that you're not a car enthusiast unless you've owned an Alfa.
Everyone wants Alfa Romeo to thrive. But here we strike Alfa's stubborn problem. It has a wonderful sports saloon. It has the best-driving big crossover. But it can't shift them. Sales worldwide are swamped by the German equivalents. So Alfa has decided to go where the buyers are and build a mildly sporty crossover.
Why can't Alfa Romeo thrive by doing what history says it's good at - beautiful fast cars, rather than getting into this workaday part of the market? Let's ask the boss, Jean-Philippe Imparato. “I need stability.
Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself
