AHEAD of its 2018 Australian launch, the all-new Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio has claimed the title of world’s fastest production SUV, setting a new benchmark lap time at Germany’s legendary Nürburgring; lapping the 12.9-mile Nordschleife (north loop) in a record 7 minutes 51.7 seconds.
The new benchmark time is a full eight seconds faster than the previous production SUV record and was set at the hands of Fabio Francia, the same driver who also set the track record for the fastest four-door sedan in the world on the Nürburgring with the Giulia Quadrifoglio, in a time of just 7 minutes and 32 seconds.
The first SUV Alfa Romeo has ever built follows in the brand’s spirit: distinctive Italian style, state-of-the-art and innovative engines, perfect weight distribution, unique technical solutions and excellent weight-to- power ratio.
“We specifically engineered and designed the Stelvio Quadrifoglio to set world-class benchmarks and it did not disappoint with a world-record Nürburgring lap time of 7 minutes and 51.7 seconds,” said Reid Bigland, head of Alfa Romeo.
The Stelvio Quadrifoglio extensively integrates lightweight, state-of-the-art materials that enable and deliver perfect 50/50 weight distribution, segment-leading torsional rigidity, class-exclusive carbon fibre driveshaft and the most direct steering available.
The heart and soul of this ultra-high performance SUV is an all-aluminium, direct-injection 2.9-litre 24- valve Twin-Turbo inter-cooled V6 engine, delivering 375kW, to which the standard Q4 all-wheel-drive system is paired for the first time. The engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission with specific settings for shifting in just 150 milliseconds in Race mode.
Designed to enhance the all-new lightweight Alfa Romeo architecture, the all-aluminium 2.9-litre V-6 Twin-Turbo engine features a compact 90-degree layout and was holistically designed for a low centre of gravity within the chassis.
Advanced technology features unique to the Stelvio Quadrifoglio include a four-mode Alfa DNA Pro selector with Race mode, torque vectoring differential, Quadrifoglio-tuned adaptive suspension and cylinder deactivation system to maximise fuel efficiency.
