The Alfa Romeo Tonale is the firm's latest make-or-break model. Does it live up to high expectations? We traveled to Italy to find out
, which is available with versions of the same powertrains. And that’s slightly worrying, because in our experience, that car is rather rough and ready in many ways.
Alfa owes it to its reputation as a sporting brand to ensure even its crossover SUV handles with some vim and vigour. Riding on the same platform as the Jeep Compass, it is naturally front-wheel drive, with rear-wheel drive provided by an electric motor in the plug-in hybrids. All its rivals, including the BMW X1, are front-wheel drive, too, so that’s nothing to be ashamed about.
The engineers will tell you that the small electric motor and battery are ‘right-sized’, but in practice, they’re undersized to provide a truly convincing hybrid experience. The engine cuts in very quickly and it gets quite buzzy when it’s pushed. It’s better than the full hybrids from Honda and Kia, but a petrol 2.0-litre BMW X1 will be faster and more refined.
Thankfully, the dynamic handling doesn’t come at a significant cost to ride comfort. Sure, on 20in wheels it’s fairly firm, but it’s well controlled and not crashy. Veloce trim gets you adaptive dampers, but the comfort setting feels very similar to the passive set-up, so they don’t add all that much. A Ti-spec car on standard 18in wheels would likely be the preferred choice.
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