GRR Garage: The Stelvio Quadrifoglio has one of the best engines of all time

The Stelvio is blessed with a 3.0-litre, twin-turbo V6 under the bonnet, a big old lump that is basically a Ferrari V8 with two of the cylinders lopped off. In fact it’s not just basically that, it is quite literally that. Four-thirds of this engine could have been found in the old Ferrari California T, powering a drop-top supercar around the south of France, Kensington or Basingstoke.

Ferrari have long and proud history of making engines, so to take a lump from Maranello isn’t the worst way to start a car. This one is a most excellent one, too, and seems to rather enjoy losing those two extra cylinders, which presumably were only holding it back in the California.

The big V6 is mounted well back in the Stelvio’s big nose, for better weight distribution, and pumps out 510PS (503bhp) and 600Nm (442lb ft). Not the worst set of stats in a car that might be pretty big, but only weighs in at around 1,800kg. It’s delivered, as I think we’ve mentioned, to only the rear wheels most of the time, with a fancy clutch system stepping in every now and then when needed to push some to the fronts. That means oodles of traction off the line and a reassuring rear-end bias through the twisty bits (until things start to get too vigorous for Alfa Romeo’s traction control systems).

Having most of a Ferrari engine under the bonnet of an Alfa Romeo SUV is everything you wish it to be. It not only hauls like you really wouldn’t believe, but when the valve in the exhaust is wide open (and you can force it open if you stick it in RACE mode) it sounds epic. The Stelvio Quadrifoglio is a bit of a hooligan in all areas, and especially the noise coming from the rear. It farts on the upshifts, cracks when it feels like adding some more drama, and then when you close the valve, it just burbles away nicely. Just like three-quarters of a Ferrari V8 should. Oh, and throttle response is pretty decent too. As soon as the correct gear is selected the big Stelvio will rocket forward – at least I think it does, it could just be that it moved the earth around it. There’s probably a few scientific experiments that have been ruined just by our Stelvio accelerating.

MPG this week: 23.4.

Photography by Pete Summers.