Colorless logos
The Alfa Romeo Tonale is far from old, but at over three and a half years old, the time is ripe for a facelift. The Tonale is getting one. The updated Alfa Romeo Tonale doesn’t cause a shockwave.
The last Alfa Romeo still developed under the wings of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will be four years old in February. We’re talking about the Tonale, a crossover that also has a Dodge sibling called the Hornet outside Europe. The Tonale was the first new Alfa Romeo since the introduction of the Stelvio in 2016 and now has the Junior as a significantly younger sibling. The Alfa Romeo Tonale is now getting a refresh, but you shouldn’t expect too much from it.
The reason the Alfa Romeo Tonale isn’t getting a major facelift to bring it optically in line with the much younger Junior is because both the Tonale and the Junior are designed as typical Alfa Romeos. This means: relatively flat headlights, the scudetto in between, and plenty of rounded shapes. The optical news mainly takes place at the front.
The headlights remain unchanged, although Alfa Romeo fills the space between the headlights and the grille with more mesh than before. There’s also news regarding the grille and the Alfa logo placed in it. The grille is now filled with horizontal slats and is ‘cut off’ at the bottom. So it extends less far down than before and is framed with a thicker black border. The bumper on either side of the grille has two additional openings. The Alfa Romeo logo is now colorless, just like at the rear. Also new: the complete lower part of the front bumper. Notably: the license plate is no longer centered.
According to the Italians, the Alfa Romeo Tonale has a larger track width both front and rear, meaning the wheels are further apart. Speaking of wheels: new 19- and 20-inch examples are available. At the rear, we don’t notice any significant differences from the original. Alfa Romeo is also introducing three new paint colors: Rossa Brera, Verde Monza, and Giallo Ocra.
The changes Alfa Romeo is making to the Tonale’s interior probably won’t blow you away with surprise. There are new color combinations and upholstery options available for the interior finish, including sport seats with red ribbed leather or black-and-white alcantara. The biggest visual news: the gear selector for the automatic is being replaced by a round dial.
Plug in hybrid
Until recently, the Alfa Romeo Tonale was available as a 130 hp and 160 hp mild-hybrid and as a 280 hp plug-in hybrid. The mild-hybrid versions recently disappeared from the delivery range, and for now, Alfa Romeo only mentions the Plug-in Hybrid version. That one was 280 hp strong, but after going through the Euro 6E Bis homologation process, it has been reduced to 270 hp. According to Alfa Romeo, the power delivery is faster and more even, and the switching between gasoline engine and electric motor is less noticeable.
We don’t have prices for the updated Alfa Romeo Tonale yet. The pre-facelift version is available as a 280 hp plug-in, configured as a Business Edition, starting from €49,950.