Monachyle Mhor hotel is still a working farm with black-faced ewes, cattle, Tamworth pigs and chickens. The delicious eggs I enjoyed at breakfast the next day were laid only feet away from my table. Our route takes us to lunch at another Mhor outpost – Mhor 84 – the lively bar/café/restaurant with accommodation located in Balquhidder, a small village in the stunning Trossachs and Loch Lomond National Park.
We continue on our south back to Glasgow Airport. This time via the A85, skirting the mountain of Ben More pas Inverarnan along the shores of Loch Lomond with Beinn Ime and Ben Lomond to our right and left. A great chance to get the metal closer to the floor in the Stelvio.
My God. This is G-force acceleration coupled with the sounds of those exhausts, and you feel as if you’re on a race track.
Safety features here are excellent and come into their own – especially the blind spot monitoring – with an illuminated triangle on the side windows alerting you of objects alongside – handy for fast traffic but just as useful for meandering Highland cattle and sheep.
As is the forward collision warning – detecting jaywalking pedestrians and other obstacles which will actively engage the brakes after emitting a loud alert. I used the reversing aid (rear cross-path detection) during a shoot and reversing into a muddy field.
And there’s a handy hill descent control that ensures the brakes keep the Quad at a steady speed. We didn’t do off-roading, but it would have been fun—another trip, perhaps, to get the Stelvio Quadrifoglio in the mud.
Scotland is blessed with the perfect landscapes – and roads – for testing Alfa’s first SUV. Although in actual fact the Stelvio Quadrifoglio doesn’t look like or handle like your typical sport utility vehicle.
Imagine a sleek, high-top racing sedan vibe with all the attributes of an SUV: capacious boot, elevated perspective with superb ground holding, plenty of room for long legs rear and front, superb aerodynamics and the perfect marriage of form and function. I’m impressed. Pure pleasure. Pure excitement. Pure Alfa Romeo.
The new Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is a unique blend of true Italian passion, craftsmanship and innovation. And further proof that Italians still do it better.
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QUADRIFOGLIO
Starting price: £69,500
OTR Price including options and accessories: £78,305.00
Alfa Romeo
www.alfaromeo.co.uk
Technical Data
- Engine: 2.9L Direct-Injection V6Bi-Turbo Engine
- Drive System: q4 All-Wheel Drive 8-speed automatic
- Top speed: Best in class: 176mph
- Kerb weight: 1,830kg
- Gearbox: Specifically calibrated eight-speed automatic transmission and gear shifts in just 150 milliseconds in Race
mode. - Max power: 510hp at 6,500rpm
- Max torque: 600Nm from 2,500 to 5,000rpm
- Acceleration: 0-62mph – 3.8 secs
- Combined cycle: 28.8mpg
- CO2 emissions: 227
- Braking distance 62-0mph – 37 seconds
Q4 all-wheel drive to manage the car’s drive distribution in real time
- Combined with the 510hp 2.9-litre V6 Bi-Turbo petrol engine for the first time.
- In normal conditions, the Q4 system transfers 100% of the torque to the rear axle.
- As the limit approaches, the Q4 system transfers up to 50% of the torque to the front axle.
Monachyle Mhor Hotel
Balquhidder,
Lochearnhead,
Perthshire,
FK19 8PQ
Tel: 01877 384 622
Email: monachyle@mhor.net
www.mhor.net