The 2025 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Intensa Is Old and Slow but Still Charming

The Stelvio should have undoubtedly done better. After all, the Intensa trim comes standard with grippy all-wheel drive, and its eight-speed automatic transmission generally moves through gears quickly without much harshness.

My guess as to why the Alfa falls so far behind is that its traction control system is far too conservative. Driving on our 200-foot skidpad, the Stelvio manages to pull an average of just 0.85 g, which is pretty low for such a sporty SUV. Whether in its performance-oriented drive mode or in the standard setting, this SUV is eager to cut power, so you never get to push it hard. I suspect that during a hard launch, you’re not getting the Stelvio’s full grunt, and of course, you can’t fully turn traction control off.

Things don’t get much better in the 60-to-0-mph braking test, where the Stelvio needs 131 feet to stop. For context, the updated BMW X3 stops in 114 feet, while the Mercedes-Benz GLC needs just 106 feet.