Design driven: Refreshed Tonale keeps Alfa on brand

Alfa Romeo's foray into the world of SUVs was deemed a little awkward at first, but the Stelvio and Tonale now feel very much part of the brand furniture — and necessary sales tools alongside more conventional typologies. 

Though the mix of Alfa sedans, hatches, coupes and cabriolets has thinned somewhat, the sales success of larger bodyshapes — as with Porsche and Maserati — has supported more exciting projects. And like those other brands, Alfa Romeo's compact SUV has been treated slightly differently to other household names on the market, more lithe and visually striking with cues that nod to its significant sporting heritage. 

Indeed, this SUV with plenty of space for five passengers and supporting luggage does in fact draw direct inspiration from a two-seater, limited run supercar: the 33 Stradale. The wheels are the most obvious thread between those two otherwise very different beasts, this time with a flat finish and fluting along the outer rim, but very familiar when viewed from a distance.

 Elsewhere, the two angled air intakes either side of the grille recall similar treatment to the 2020 Giulia GTA, and a new colour — Rosso Brera — is directly inspired by the 33 Stradale. Giallo Ocra (orange) and Verde Monza (green) are two other additions. 

A defining element is the 'scudetto' grille which, as with all Alfas, takes the form of a formidable crescent mounted bang in the centre of the front mask. The scudetto has taken many forms over the years, jumping around quite significantly between cars and generations. 

In the case of the new Tonale, it retains the overall shape but closer inspection reveals more of a defined wave pattern to the grille inside. Those horizontal lines replace a busy mesh pattern and emphasise the car's width, ditto the wider track (10mm) that quite literally broadens the car.  

"It doesn't sound like much but the feedback we have had so far is that you can really feel [the widened track] when driving," explains senior exterior designer Estelle Tabaczek. "For us designers, it was also about how to make that difference visible just by looking at the car. You really feel and see that it's more planted on the road with extra grip. That was on purpose."

Viewed front on, the muscular fenders almost appear flush — a clever manipulation of the bodywork to appear both refined yet sporty. "We couldn't touch too much, and the guys did an amazing work on the engineering side to find that perfect balance."

The refresh was not made just for the sake of it and was driven more by technical tweaks, namely the relocation of the active safety sensor suite at the front end. "The radar had to be relocated, and the number plate that was to the side is now in the centre," Tabaczek explains. "Because of this we needed way more air cooling. It's a domino effect, and every detail has a purpose that is not just pretty but really has a function behind it."

The cabin reflects a similar attention to detail and appreciation for form. The split-level dash — where the upper sits further back to create a balcony below — is bisected by an attractive flowing carbon-effect strip. Red stitching runs along the centre of the IP, door cards and sides of the arm rest, which in our test car chimed nicely with the bright red 'canneloni' leather seats. The moulding around the circular dials and air vents feels inherently 'sporty' and again follows a similar treatment to the instrument cluster of the 33 Stradale. 

A fairly small horizontal touchscreen occupies the centre of the dash but does not overwhelm. Below this sits a pair of metal air vents and a series of defined physical buttons. The far left button is much larger and has a burnished effect akin to a high-end kitchen handle: this button controls the temperature and has clearly been designed with ergonomics and intuition in mind. (Ed. Watching a group of friends struggle to turn down the air conditioning in a new hire car recently made clear that some things should not be digital). 

The Tonale in our hands has a zesty PHEV powertrain that, although a little agricultural at low revs, does have some zip to it when requested and is otherwise extremely relaxing to use through towns and winding A-roads. Should the road ahead clear, a tap on the sizeable left paddle behind the steering wheel tips the car closer to its power band and picks up speed very nicely indeed. A chunky circular dial below this on the centre console controls different driving modes — 'D', 'N' and 'A'. We mostly kept it in 'N' which blends EV and petrol power, and nudged it over to 'D' for dynamic driving whenever the occasion arose. 

It was a surprise to see those relatively skinny rear tyres (235/20) hold their own under aggressive throttle too; we would have expected a slightly broader set of treads for a car placing sportiness and muscularity as a priority. 

A complaint must be lodged against the circular gear selector, which has a discrepancy between the number of physical clicks in relation to the number of driving modes. For example, flicking from R (reverse) to D (drive) should have two physical clicks as you move right twice. Instead, the dial clicks several times — almost like unlocking a bank vault — and we had to double check to ensure we were in the desired gear. The symbol is illuminated of course, but you shouldn't have to look down to confirm.

And although this was apparently due to be rectified by an over-the-air (OTA) software update, the speed limit recognition system seemed to glitch and incorrectly apply a 145mph limit to everything from 30mph to 60mph roads. It would of course take an imbecile to see that and proceed to chase the car's speed limiter, but it shows the foibles of what is no longer 'new' technology. 

The refreshed Tonale has ultimately been treated quite sympathetically, a sculpture that has been carefully chiselled and smoothed in places without losing the character of the original that launched some four years ago (and indeed the 2019 concept shown in Geneva). And there is really no need to do much more, as it is arguably one of the better-looking SUVs on the market both pre- and post-facelift.