2025 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Tributo Italiano Would Have Been Really Compelling Seven Years Ago

Like all Stellantis brands, Alfa Romeo is in a tough spot right now. Its newest car, the Tonale compact crossover, is selling in minuscule numbers, and its two other vehicles, the Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover, are ancient... and also barely selling. In a slight midcycle refresh, Alfa decided to give the Stelvio a bit more Italian flair with the new Tributo Italiano edition, but it doesn't do nearly enough to distract you from the fact this car feels very old.

The Stelvio first went on sale for the 2017 model year with an interior and technology taken from the Giulia, a car that has been in production since 2015. That means we're basically working with a 10-year-old vehicle here. Sure, it's still just about class-leading when it comes to the way it drives, but with technology that harkens back to the Obama administration and a thoroughly Trump administration price, it's hard to call the Stelvio a good buy in 2025.

Full Disclosure: Alfa Romeo lent me a Stelvio with a full tank of gas to do with as I pleased for a week.

Before I get into the bad stuff, let's talk about some of the things the Stelvio has going for it. Don't worry, it won't take terribly long. One of the real benefits of the Stelvio — and pretty much the main reason you'd buy one over competitors like the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC — is how it drives. The way the Stelvio goes around a corner is pretty much second to none in this segment. Its steering is delightfully direct, almost twitchy. It's sort of unnerving at first. You don't really expect a high-riding crossover to have such tight steering, but the Alfa does. There are a lot of sports cars out there with steering racks that aren't nearly as communicative as the Stelvio.

This great steering is teamed up with a well-tuned suspension. It's certainly firmer than the average luxury car buyer might like, but that means it's excellent in the twisties. Body roll is very well managed, and it's fairly easy to feel where the limits of the car are. Between the steering and taut chassis, even the most boring road can become fun in this Alfa.

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I also have to talk about the Stelvio's looks. Despite the fact it's about 70 years old in dog years, the Stelvio still looks contemporary on the outside. To me, it's still probably the best-looking crossover in its segment. Alfa certainly knew this when it gave the Stelvio a midcycle refresh for 2024. Some very small, tasteful upgrades were made to the exterior lighting and trim, but 99 percent of its original look remains. That's certainly a good thing. After all these years, it has had that "Italian flare" or whatever platitudes ancient auto journalists say about Alfa Romeos. The classic 21-inch Alfa phone-dial wheels you get with the Tributo Italiano also help, though I wish they weren't blacked out.

Unfortunately, this is where the good stuff ends.

Problems start for the Stelvio the second you hit the steering wheel–mounted start button and the turbocharged inline-4 rattles to life. The motor makes good power — 280 horsepower and 306 lb-ft of torque, which is sent to an all-wheel-drive system that scoots the Stelvio to 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds. Still, the way it's delivered leaves so much to be desired. That's especially true when you compare it to the 2.0-liter turbo fours in the X3, Q5 and GLC300. They're just better. This thing operates like a diesel motor. I'm not sure how Alfa Romeo engineers managed to make a gas motor in 2025 that revs to just 5,500 rpm, but they did. That means all of the power is down low, so revving it out doesn't do much other than make a rather unpleasant noise. If you were looking for the beautiful sounds of a Busso V6 or the Stelvio Quadrifoglio's twin-turbo V6, look elsewhere. The four-popper is so deeply mismatched to the car's handling you'd think the two engineering departments never spoke to each other.

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One good thing the Stelvio's drivetrain has going for it is the transmission. It's the same ZF8 eight-speed automatic you find in just about everything these days, but Alfa tuned it for some seriously snappy gearshifts. It can fire off and up or downshift extremely quickly with just the flick of one of the steering column-mounted shifters. Those two paddles are objectively the two best parts of the Stelvio's interior.

It all goes downhill rather quickly once you're done playing with those massive, metal paddles. You'll quickly realize that everything else inside the Stelvio feels two or three generations behind its competition, especially when it comes to the technology.

The center screen is tiny, and while it's fairly well laid out, controlling it via the touchscreen or iDrive-style command knob is frustrating at best as the system is extremely laggy. There's no 360 camera to be found, just a rearview camera feed when you shift into reverse, and it's about as tiny and pixilated as those aftermarket backup cameras you can install in your rearview mirror. I was shocked to find something like this in a 2025 model-year vehicle. I swear you'll find better technology in my mother's 2014 BMW X3.

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If you're a Luddite who hates new car tech, then this certainly is the vehicle for you. There are still tons of hard buttons for your HVAC controls and stereo. None of them feel particularly nice to use, but that's sort of par for the course with the Stelvio. At least the layout is fairly organized and sensible — something that cannot always be said for Italian cars. 

By far the newest piece of tech in the Stelvio is its 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, which looks to be pulled directly out of Maserati's parts bin. It's somewhat customizable with all sorts of info and different gauge faces, but it also serves as a stark reminder of how old everything else is inside the car. At least the adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist are solid; driver-assist tech is one of the things Stellantis does very well.

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The leather and metal inside my Stelvio Tributo Italiano test car felt good enough — on par with the competition, but interior space was certainly lacking. At 184.6 inches long, the Stelvio is shorter than most of its competition. That means its interior is smaller, too. The back seat is especially pinched, and the ergonomics are certainly not aided by the tiny door opening and sloping roofline. Getting in and out of the Stelvio's rear seats requires some body origami. Once you're back there, you'll realize your head and knees don't particularly fit, and there's not much going on aside from a couple of air vents and the ability to look up at the panoramic roof. The Stelvio's compact size and sloped profile also means cargo room takes a hit. There's just 18.5 cubic feet of room behind the second row (56.5 if you drop the second row). That number lags well behind the 31.5 cubic feet of cargo space the X3 has.

You might be wondering what a weird trim package like the Tributo Italiano gets you besides a handful of green, white and red flags. Well, it's not a ton. This is really just an appearance package that adds black exterior trim, red brake calipers, a standard sunroof and a slightly different lower fascia on the outside.

Inside, you get black leather seats as standard with red stitching, some other red accents, and an embroidered Tricolore Italian flag on the front headrests. It also comes with other goodies like a 14-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, adaptive suspension, a limited-slip differential, a hands-free power liftgate and the aforementioned suite of safety tech. That's really it, though. If you really dig It-ly, then go for it, but it might not be worth the $7,995 price increase over the standard Stelvio.

Speaking of the price, I could forgive a lot of the issues with the Stelvio Tributo Italiano if it was a good deal, but it's not. The car I tested came in at $58,690, including destination, and while it's cheaper than its direct competition, it's not exactly cheap for what you get. Prices start at $50,990, which is barely less than the much-newer competition. It's just not worth it.

This is what makes it so hard to recommend the Stelvio over cars like the X3, Q5 and GLC. Yes, it still looks good, and its driving characteristics are a lot of fun, but good looks and a fun drive are nowhere near enough to make up for this car's deficiencies. Luckily, Alfa Romeo dealers seem to understand that, so you can find some screaming deals on these cars if you know where to look.

In a lot of ways, the Stelvio is a microcosm for Stellantis as a whole. Like a lot of the automaker's sprawling fleet these days, the car is old, outdated and uncompetitive compared to other cars in its segment, but it sure is a hoot to drive. If that's important to you, then go with God and buy a Stelvio. For everyone else, there are better options out there.

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik