Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce | Alfa’s Biggest Disappointment?
The moment the Alfa Romeo Tonale was launched, I immediately wanted to take it for a ride. I saw it for the first time in that beautiful Misano Blue exterior color and it looked so good! I have never driven an Alfa Romeo before and as an SUV lover, this one was a good first introduction to Alfa’s new vision. The brand is known for its sportiness and typical Italian looks but did the Tonale meet the Italian standards we all love or will it be a huge disappointment?
Stelvio’s Little Sister
I was quite a big fan of the Stelvio when it launched, so I was really excited about the little version of it: the Tonale. The looks of this car aren’t too bad and It’s sporty yet very classy looking. But like I said before, I liked the Misano Blue exterior color and hoped the one I could test would be in that specific color. Sadly enough I got the Grigio Vesuvio exterior color. It's not bad but it looks less sporty, it just makes the car more “normal” looking. When comparing it to the blue, it's just a bit “boring”. But enough about my love for Misano Blue and let’s start our tour around the car; our first stop will be the front. The lights are really eye-catching, they're very robust and modern looking. They’re also very prominent on the nose of the car but with that beautifully designed DRL signature they match perfectly with the lines on the hood towards that typical Alfa Romeo grille.
Let's move to the side of the car, there you will see those typical five-ringed Alfa Romeo wheels. This one got the 19” ones but they can optionally be upgraded to the 20” Teledial ones. The look of the wheels is very matching with the Grigio Vesuvio exterior color. Also, a good-looking finishing touch are those red calipers.
When we continue our walk around the car we will arrive at the rear, this will also be the last stop of our tour on the exterior. You will first notice those beautifully designed and almost continuous rear lights. They have the same signature and design as the front lights. The Italian looks are present, elegant and sporty and that’s also the whole vibe this car gives you. Maybe you did or you didn’t notice, but there are no tailpipes. It’s really sad to see that they could have fitted some nice tailpipes but they just didn’t. It would have made the car look so much better, a perfect finishing touch for that good-looking rear. Sadly enough it is now a completely closed bumper.
Italian Design
The Tonale has that typical Alfa Romeo look on the inside, almost completely blacked out with red details. The steering wheel looks great and has those special shift paddles which aren’t connected to the steering wheel. It’s weird to take a corner and see those paddles just staying in their place. It’s clumsy and sometimes a bit tricky to use them, definitely when taking a corner. That’s not the only bad thing, the steering wheel feels very light and when I say very light I mean EXTREMELY light. You just have zero feedback on what the front wheels are doing. A good thing about the steering wheel is that it has all the buttons you need to control the infotainment and driver assists.
Behind that steering wheel there’s a beautiful 12.3” cannocchiale (Telescopic) cluster, it’s adjustable to your personal preferences. You can see driving information, your navigation and your active driving assistant systems. You can also choose from three different layouts: Heritage, Evolved and Relax. In the middle of the dashboard you’ll find the 10.25” touchscreen Infotainment. It includes a wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection, widgets and Alfa Connect services including Alexa voice assistant. When you play some music, you’ll hear the amazing Harman Kardon 14-Speaker sound system, which makes listening to your favorite song a lot more enjoyable.
Mild Hybrid Drive
I used the word “disappointment” in the title of this article and you definitely wondering where in this article the Tonale will become disappointing. Well, we reached that point now. This was my first time driving a mild hybrid car and to be honest it wasn’t as special as I thought it would be. I will make it concise, I drove the Veloce hybrid which has 160hp and 240Nm of torque at its max. It's an FWD 1.5L 4 inline mild hybrid and when you pushed the throttle, you just didn’t feel the car accelerate. You feel a bit of electric power in the first seconds but then the car goes to almost engine-exploding rpm and then falls into a pit of disappointment. I expected just a tiny bit of sportiness while driving this car but it feels like a lazy car. It will launch you from 0 to 100km/h in 8,8 seconds and with that it's above the acceptable 7 seconds. It’s a great car as a daily if you’re not interested in a bit of power but If you’re searching for something just a little bit sporty, this isn’t the one for you.
There’s not only the performance of the engine to talk about. A feature that works really good is the “active two-stage valve suspension”. A special valve and piston independently control the electronic shock absorbers. Two suspension modes can be selected within the 3 driving modes: Advanced Efficiency and Normal with Comfort, for a smoother ride. The Dynamic driving mode, on the other hand, calibrates the Sport suspension for better cornering and a sportier feeling.
All Wrapped Up
With a starting price of €43.900(BE) this car feels a bit overpriced. It’s a beautifully designed car and it looks sporty with a classy touch but I miss the Alfa Romeo vibe. I was expecting more of the Tonale but because of the lack of power and feedback from the steering wheel, I’m just a bit disappointed. The Tonale Plug-In Hybrid on the other hand, tested by Beau will be the best acceptable version of the Tonale.
