Driving Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio Quadrifoglio QV SUV, the Stelvio performance flagship at $162,700. The styling striking with sculptured V-shaped Alfa grille has real appeal, so too the interior, a combination of leather, Alcantara and carbon fibre, beautifully executed together with great instrumentation. And it has the best- looking automotive badge in the car business. But it’s the underpinnings of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio that are standout. A Ferrari-developed 2.9- litre twin turbo V6 driving all four-wheels through an 8-speed automatic with shift paddles. The drivetrain a high point – with four drive settings, Dynamic, Normal, Adaptive and Race, changing steering weight, gear shift speed, suspension firmness, stability control and exhaust volume – in Race mode all hell breaks loose with an aggressive performance that as the name implies, is best for a racetrack. Weighing 1830kilos it literally jumps to 100km/hour in just 3.8 seconds. A stunning performance SUV and so it should be with such an exalted price tag. But to me this is a collector model – an Italian masterpiece – but it’s not perfect – I’d like a spare wheel while the ride quality on very low-profile tyres can be tiresome, and servicing is quite expensive, $3,210 over three years but oh what a drive. Warranty: five-years/unlimited km. I’m David Berthon.

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