What happens when a sporting brand turns its hand to creating a sensible SUV? We spend a day at the races to find out
Photography: John Bradshaw
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Veloce
List price £54,525
Target Price £52,170 The first SUV from Alfa Romeo is genuinely thrilling in fire-breathing Quadrifoglio form, but now it’s time for the slightly more sensible Veloce to prove that its heart is in the right place
NEW Porsche Macan
List price £57,870
Target Price £57,870 In this new T trim level, Porsche’s smallest SUV gains sporty adaptive suspension, among other racy accoutrements, while its 2.0-litre engine keeps one eye on runnng costs
A lfa Romeo and Porsche. Both sporting marques with bags of history behind them, with each still having a crack at furthering a record for racing greatness. Alfa Romeo has a Formula 1 team (for now), while Porsche competes in both Formula E and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Of course, such competitive endeavours wouldn’t be possible without a steady flow of customers buying the two brands’ road cars, including Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio and Porsche’s Macan. And in turn, buyers probably wouldn’t be quite as enthusiastic about either of these models were they not imbued with a bit of that motorsport magic to set them apart from the rest of the SUV herd.
We’re testing the Macan in new T trim, which takes the entry-level model and gives it upgraded suspension and other performance-enhancing kit. You could think of it as a cut-price version of the very potent Macan GTS; on paper, it should have similar reflexes to that car, but it has a less brawny 261bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine.
Facing the Macan is a Stelvio in mid-range Veloce guise, with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine that makes a healthy 276bhp. Again, it should channel the racy spirit of its musclebound sister (in this case the 503bhp Stelvio Quadrifoglio), but at a much more palatable price.
Both of these cars promise to combine serious driver appeal with everyday practicality and relative affordability – not an easy trick to pull off. So, which will take the chequered flag and which will be left floundering in the pit lane?
DRIVING
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
Even with relatively modest four-cylinder engines, neither car is short on performance; in fact, they’re capable of embarrassing plenty of hot hatches in a drag race.
Despite the Stelvio’s slight power advantage, there’s little to split the pair when it comes to acceleration from a standing start; the Macan trails its rival by just two-tenths of a second from 0-60mph, getting there in 5.9sec (versus 5.7sec). The
