I’m sure you know the Italian word ‘quadrifoglio’ stands for four-leaf clover. Well, I should inform you that while my front lawn has a few quadrifogli, it has a load of trifogli.
It spreads at an incredible rate. I’ve resisted the temptation to drench it in weed killer because bees seem to love it and, let’s face it, it’s green – which, after all, is the purpose of a lawn, even though mine is just about devoid of proper grass.
I’ve currently got another type of Quadrifoglio sitting at the front of my house. This variety is also green – I’ve got the pictures to prove it. It hasn’t attracted any bees, but plenty of people have been drawn to it. There’s something about Alfa Romeo. They’re stylish and have a proper sporting pedigree. And as soon as you attach the cloverleaf badge to the front wing, you know it’s going to be rather special Alfa.
That is soon confirmed when you prod the start button on the steering wheel. The 512bhp twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine bursts into life and you hear a lovely rasp from the quad-pipe exhaust. Apologies to my neighbours.
If you don’t need an SUV and the additional versatility that comes with it, but fancy the same oily stuff, go for the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The only thing you miss is the all-wheel-drive system; the Giulia only powers the rear wheels. Either way, both cars are great fun to drive.
We’ll skip calling it the Quadrifoglio from now on – it’s using too much ink. We’ll go with Stelvio Q instead. There’s a Q4 badge on the rump of the car, after all.
The Stelvio Q is quick: 3.8 seconds from standstill to 60mph. Top speed peaks at 176mph. It’s also surprisingly nimble. You can chuck it around on a B-road and, when you hit the straight and floor the throttle, you’ll be glad you have all-wheel drive, because the car hurtles towards the horizon – and the sound is fantastic. It belies its size, which is partly down to the fact that, when compared with a lot of other large SUVs, it’s lighter than most, coming in at 1.8 tonnes. The steering is light and direct – in other words, it’s a great driver’s car. You’ll love it.
The ride is on the firm side. It does tend to thump over potholes, but it’s not uncomfortable. The all-wheel-drive system seems to struggle at really slow speeds – when exiting your driveway, for example – causing the front wheels to scrabble under full lock.
The eight-speed automatic gearbox can be jerky away from a standstill, but in general driving, the shifts are seamless. You can also change gears using the steering-wheel paddles, which we reckon adds to the sporty characteristics of the Stelvio Q and lets you play a tune with the exhaust.
Granted, it doesn’t do a lot of good for your fuel economy, but keeping the revs fairly high guarantees some wonderful exhaust crackles and pops. It also means you can keep the turbos spinning, although, to be fair, there’s negligible turbo lag – prod the throttle and the response is instant.
There are various driver settings. Leave Race for the track you won’t take it to. Neutral and Advanced take the edge off things but give you the best chance of achieving some sensible mpg figures, which top out at an estimated 23.9mpg – the Advanced setting allows cylinder deactivation. We liked Dynamic, which seems to provide the best compromise in terms of suspension settings and performance, while still retaining the exhaust noise. Keep the revs hovering around the 4,000rpm mark and this sizeable SUV drives like a hot hatch.
The interior initially looks a tad old fashioned, but it’s only after a while that you realise everything works well and is where it should be, including rafts of actual knobs and buttons. There’s not a slider in sight and no need to delve into the touchscreen menus. Great.
In terms of kit, you get heated sports leather seats, sat nav via an 8.8-inch touchscreen, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, DAB radio, LED matrix headlights, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, powered tailgate, and a cracking Harman Kardon audio system. In fact, even though the starting price of £95,890 – as of March 2026 – seems high, it’s worth comparing like for like with the competition because there really is no need to dip into the options catalogue.
Alfa Romeo has achieved what a lot of other manufacturers have failed to do: it has built an SUV that is family friendly, classy, comfortable and versatile – but is also great to drive. Sounds ace, too.
The most surprising thing about the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is that there aren’t more of them on our roads. If you like a sports SUV and haven’t considered the Stelvio Q4, you’re missing a trick.
See more at alfaromeo.co.uk
