The Alfa Romeo Tonale hasn’t quite delivered what the Italians had hoped for. Now it has received a facelift. Ready to turn the tide?
What role does the Alfa Romeo Tonale play within the brand?
At Alfa Romeo, it’s been much busier lately than it has been in years. Last year, we were introduced to the brand-new Junior, and behind the scenes, work is underway on successors for the Stelvio and Giulia. These will be completely new models, built on a platform suitable for both fully electric drive and combustion engines. Under Stellantis’s leadership, modern technology is almost there for the taking, you could say. Meanwhile, there is also an FCA legacy that largely has to carry the sales load: the Tonale. The Italians have certainly not forgotten it. Earlier this year, a subtle model year update was sprinkled over the SUV. Now it’s time for a more extensive refresh, which you can actually see on the car.
What has changed about the appearance of the Alfa Romeo Tonale?
The changes are subtle in nature and are almost entirely limited to the front of the car. There we see a new grille, now with slats, and the Scudetto extends a bit less far downwards. On either side of the grille, wider black grilles now run towards the headlights. Some openings have also been added next to the grille. Furthermore, the bumper has been redesigned, with larger air intakes at the corners. These, by the way, are completely sealed. Perhaps the most notable change is that the license plate now has its place centrally at the bottom of the front. The asymmetrically placed license plate, so characteristic of Alfa Romeos, has to move due to EU regulations concerning pedestrian safety.
A less immediately noticeable but very relevant change is that the Tonale now has a wider track. The press release remained silent about an exact measurement, but in Italy, we hear that an extra centimeter has been added. Not much, but just enough to visually balance the Tonale a bit more in this aspect. Previously, there was some criticism that it looked a bit ‘skinny’ on its legs. In the interior, little seems to change apart from some new color combinations and Alcantara upholstery. Yet, there is more. For example, since the model year update, there is a rotary knob for the automatic transmission. We did discover, however, that it can be turned endlessly in both directions. This makes it a bit harder to operate by feel, as you don’t feel when you are at the far left (in R) or far right (in D). Alfa Romeo has also refined the instrumentation, and you now control the volume with the scroll wheel on the right side of the steering wheel. Again: subtle, but improvements. Moreover, the seating position in the Tonale remains very good, and you can adjust everything to your liking.
Are there major technical changes?
On the technical front, Alfa Romeo has been very conservative. This is, they say, a car that doesn’t lure you with modern gadgets like an AI voice assistant, but with its lines and driving behavior. Okay, but in some areas, a technical leap would have been welcome. For now, in the Netherlands, we only get the plug-in hybrid, and it still has an electric range of just over 60 km, can be charged at 7.4 kW, and is allowed to tow up to 1,250 kg. These are not values that keep the competition awake at night. The power has also decreased slightly, from 280 hp to 270 hp system power, because the 1.3 has been refined to meet the Euro6e Bis emission standard. However, you don’t notice this reduced power, so that’s positive. Furthermore, the interaction between the four-cylinder engine and the electric motor connected to the rear wheels is more harmonious than before. We had some criticism about the occasionally noticeable engagement of the combustion engine, but now it’s a bit more subtle.
Can the Tonale further convince with its driving behavior?
Yes and no. You can still take corners very fast with it, and you have to be quite skilled to push it off its course. This is partly thanks to an improved distribution of power between the front and rear wheels. When you accelerate out of a corner, the electric motor at the back does the work, essentially making it a rear-wheel-drive car. That’s nice. Also, the automatic transmission is sufficiently alert, the brakes are nicely bitey, and with the DNA button, you can adjust the chassis a bit more to your taste. It never becomes very comfortable with the latter, though, because in every mode, the Tonale transmits a fair amount of road bumps. In ‘Dynamic,’ by the way, you can still choose a soft or hard damper setting, and even then, we would go for the soft one. It doesn’t need to be as hard as it is otherwise. The stiff suspension behavior suits a sportily driven car, but the steering wheel still doesn’t give you the feeling that you’re driving a car made for corners. There is a lack of clear communication between the front wheels and the steering wheel, and that’s a shame because, in potential, the Tonale is actually a very fun car to drive. Pity that this point wasn’t (or was insufficiently) addressed in the facelift.
What should the Alfa Romeo Tonale cost?
The Alfa Romeo Tonale probably needs a sharper price to become more popular. We don’t have exact prices at the moment, but Alfa Romeo promises that it will be positioned more competitively in the market. The Ti, which will be the mid-level trim, will likely come in under €50,000, and the top Veloce version seems to stay under €55,000. It will start with a nameless entry-level model that will probably cost roughly between €45,000 and €47,000.
Verdict
The Alfa Romeo Tonale is a fun car to drive, but it is not the driver’s car you might expect from Alfa. The powertrain has more than enough to offer and feels smooth; it’s a shame the electric range and towing capacity haven’t been improved.