What is it?
One of the most famous names in motoring although the Alfa Romeo brand has lost something of its charisma in recent years, a result of an ever rationalising auto industry which has been brands merged into each other in search of cost savings and production efficiencies.
Alfa Romeo was always a bit sporty with raucous, flat-four boxer or V6 engines, the like of which made you just want to turn off the radio and listen to the tune from under the bonnet. Flip side of that was often the quality of build and bodywork (Alfasud) while there was the Alfa Arna in the 1980s, something of an unholy alliance between Nissan and the Italian brand.
Now we have the Tonale, an Alfa compact crossover no less and a hybrid at that. This model is a bit of an example of that rationalisation which has spawned Stellantis – the coming together of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler Jeep and Vauxhall.
Scratch beneath the surface of the Tonale and you’ll find the same underpinnings as the Jeep Compass. Scratch away a bit more and you’ll come to an Alfa Mito. In fact you’ll dig all the way back to the Fiat Small Car Platform on which the Fiat Grand Punto sat in 2005.
Nothing wrong with that, if fact the Tonale – pronounced Toe-Nar-Lee – is a pragmatic car, something sensible for the modern day car buyer who seems to be drawn towards the practicality of the crossover – and this one comes with a nice badge.
While being mainstream, the Tonale seems to be itching to be sporty although we are not sure whether it quite pulls it off. Capable, yes, but not really in the same class as, say, a Volvo VC40.
It looks good though, remaining close to its original 2019 concept styling and while there may be some older stuff underneath, the exterior of the Tonale is very pleasing – all curves, LEDs, Alfa badges and Italian flags.
The petrol range is all hybrid and the closest thing the brand has to electrification although there are plans for a fully electric version around 2027. Our test model was the high spec Veloce 1.5 16ohp hybrid although the top dog has 271hp and AWD thanks to an electrically driven rear axle.
The front-drive 160bhp 1.5 is turbocharged and the hybrid system is the non-plug kind. The 48V electric motor is built into a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
What do we think?
The Tonale looks and, to a degree, drives like an Alfa Romeo should although it’s debatable whether the modern day driver will have the same expectations of the brand. Handling is fun once you comes to grips with the twitchy steering and some hunting around by the powertrain but, you know, that’s what makes it feel like an Alfa Romeo. That twitchiness is down to the very direct steering feels – it’s possible to make this feel better by turning the centre console-mounted DNA dial to its Dynamic mode.
The petrol – electric combo gives the Tonale some decent acceleration from rest while the zero emission bit works effectively in low-speed traffic. The engine also gives way to electric when there’s a low load – when cruising or going down hill
If you’ve become used to the blandness of drive common with most modern cars, it may take a little while to appreciate what the Alfa has – as already stated, you really need to ‘drive’ this car rather than sitting back and expecting it to do all the work.It’s not the quickest car on the road but unlike most cars where you tend to leave the mode function in automatic, the Tonale is at its best when you twiddle the knob. You can feel the difference in the modes and the chassis gets better the more you push on. It takes 8.8 seconds to get from 0-62mph although the biggest disappointment is the engine noise, or lack of. Don’t bother turning the music down.
The ride is firmish and the Veloce, which is expected to account for 70% of sales, rides on 19-inch wheels with an adaptive suspension setup which softens things a little – back to that knob to be twiddled.
Inside, the dashboard has quite a traditional feel, retaining Alfa’s historic twin-porthole design and they are easy to read in digital form. There’s a touchscreen that’s nice sized – not too big, not too small although I didn’t find it particularly intuitive – but maybe that’s just me.
Couple of little electrical niggles – some things never change – the USB port kept telling me there had been a power surge while the wireless charger pad only worked intermittently. There are both traditional USB and USB-C in the front and back of the car. Over-the-air updates and Alexa compatibility will help target younger buyers.
Most pleasing is that the Tonale feels very well screwed together with nice use if materials, plus there’s a good amlunt of room. Alfa’s of old always managed to feel somehow cramped no matter what their size while the pedals were hopeless for anyone with a shoe size above a six.
That’s all changed for the better and there is ample leg, head and elbow room back and front along with a 500-litre boot which expands to 1,550 litres with the back seats folded.
Prices start at £39,995 for the base Tonale Ti while the Veloce weighs in at £42,495.
ALFA ROMEO TONALE VELOCE
P11D Value: from £38,596
Engine: 1.5-litre petrol 48v hybrid
Max power: 157hp
Torque: 177lbft
0-62mph: 8.8 secs
Top speed: 132mph
Fuel economy: 47.8mpg
CO2: 130 g/km
Insurance group: 29
