Although Alfa Romeo launched revised versions of its Giulia and Stelvio in South Africa just last year, the Italian firm’s local division has now made a series of further updates.
The Stellantis subsidiary says the “basic technical specification” of both the Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover remains unchanged. Indeed, the most significant revision is the scrapping of the Stelvio Super derivative in favour the Stelvio Veloce, effectively aligning the SUV range with that of the sedan.
Alfa Romeo says the Stelvio Veloce – which starts at R1 188 900 – gains items such as a fresh body kit, black anodised brake callipers, matte exhaust tips and monotone wheel centres. Inside, the Stelvio Veloce features black roof lining and 6-way electrically adjustable sports seats, complete with 4-way lumbar adjustment and a memory function for the driver. The Italian executive SUV’s infotainment system, meanwhile, upgrades to 8 speakers, while a hands-free tailgate is now included.
As a reminder, the Stelvio Veloce draws its urge from an unchanged turbocharged 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder petrol mill, which delivers 206 kW and 400 Nm to all four corners through an 8-speed automatic transmission.
The Veloce versions of the Giulia and Stelvio employ a 206 kW turbocharged 2.0-litre mill.
While the flagship R1 911 900 Stelvio Q retains its turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine (with unchanged peak outputs of 375 kW and 600 Nm), it does upgrade to carbon-shelled, Alcantara-trimmed sports seat from Sparco. In addition, the high-performance crossover gains a variety of the aforementioned Veloce tweaks, including the hands-free tailgate.
The Giulia line-up, meanwhile, again kicks off with the Veloce (from R1 061 900), which employs the same powertrain as its Stelvio sibling but with drive delivered to the rear axle via a carbon-fibre prop shaft. With this update, the Giulia Veloce gains a limited slip differential, along with an 8-speaker audio system, 6-way electrically controlled sports seats (again with 4-way adjustable lumbar support and a memory function for the pilot).
What about the high-performance R1 770 900 Giulia QV? Well, as with the Q-badged Stelvio, the Quadrifoglio powertrain is left untouched (as are the claimed 0-100 kph time of 3.9 seconds and top speed of 307 kph), though the cabin gains the aforementioned carbon-shelled Sparco sports seats (finished in Alcantara) as well as an exposed carbon-fibre roof and a Harman Kardon sound system.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce – R1 061 900
Alfa Romeo Giulia QV – R1 770 900
Buy an Alfa Romeo Giulia on Cars.co.za
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce – R1 188 900
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Q – R1 911 900
Buy an Alfa Romeo Stelvio on Cars.co.za
Both the Giulia and Stelvio come with a 5-year/100 000 km warranty and maintenance plan.