Alfa Romeo is a brand with a long and proud tradition.
Beautiful design and sporty driving characteristics have long been central. But in Norway, sales never took off.
Next year there will be a model that can still contribute to some sales growth. So it is clear for the Alfa Romeo Tonale – as a plug-in hybrid. This is also the first model in the history of Alfa Romeo with a “thread”.
At this time, a group of automotive journalists from all over the world gathered in Milan to drive the car for the first time.
Broom was also present, and this time the youngest Mats Brustad was the lucky winner, who turned up his nose at Italy. Let’s do as usual, make a phone call to find out how he’s doing:
TOUGH IN THE FACE: The front is as it should be on an Alfa Romeo: Tough!
High expectations
Rings rings…
– Hi Knut! Funny how you manage to time these phones. Now I’ve just finished the Tonale test drive and I’m going back to the airport. It was a very varied day of riding, last hour on the track. Alfa Romeo doesn’t do anything halfway, says Mats.
– Wow! It’s not often that you’re invited to a track drive in a plug-in hybrid. What can you say about it?
– Firstly, this is an extremely important car for Alfa Romeo. It is this that marks the beginning of a completely new era and the path towards an all-electric future. They are definitely late in offering a rechargeable model, the higher the expectations. I was looking forward to driving it and it certainly delivers driving pleasure. It’s also probably important to both Alfa and customers, Mats believes.
Photo of the band: this is how Alfa made fun of its Tonale
NOT FAR: Tonale will be in Norway in March/April, if all goes according to plan.
280 horsepower
Alfa focuses on making sports cars. Also features Tonale:
– They dare to stand out and I think they deserve praise for it. The car is surprisingly competent on the track. After all, we’re talking about an SUV with a pretty heavy battery pack. We drove to the Balocco Proving Ground. It is a test track for, among others, Alfa Romeo. I also saw several Ferrari and Maserati models on the track, you can never go wrong!
– Tonale delivers the goods to the track and is fun to drive. Alfa emphasizes the sporty side. It’s completely to my taste, but some might think it’s a bit too stiff and blunt, at least on small bumps. Here you simply can’t find it in both a bag and a sack, says Mats.
Tonale is the little brother of today’s Stelvio, of which there are few specimens on Norwegian roads. Enter a class with many tough competitors:
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DISTINCTIVE: Alfa Romeo goes its own way, even in the interior. Here, for example, there are still a lot of physical switches.
Limited luggage space
– Alfa is probably looking particularly at the German premium brands here. There are tough cars to compete with, but Alfa is built on traditions and personalities. Tonale has a design that stands out, but at the same time it’s beautiful inside. Here it is clean and complete, for example I like that there are physical buttons for the air conditioning. A little hard plastic here and there shows, by the way, that this shouldn’t be the most exclusive car, says Mats.
The Tonale is 4.52 meters long and belongs to what we can probably define as the class of compact family cars. The trunk is 385 litres, here it is clear that the rechargeable hybrid solution has eaten up the space.
Under the hood – a 1.3-liter engine working together with an electric motor:
After 10 years on the market, this Alfa Romeo has disappeared.
IN ROW AND ROW: Alfa Romeo is moving towards electrification, they too. Tonale is their first rechargeable car.
About NOK 700,000
– Looks a little cheesy on paper, but the transmission works well. The total power of the system is 282 horsepower and it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.2 seconds. I also think it’s funny that Alfa Romeo has worked on the sound. This does NOT sound like a 1.3 liter! Incidentally, the official range on electricity is between 61 and 69 kilometers, says Mats.
– Do we know anything about price and launch in Norway?
– This is the top Veloce edition, which should be in Norway in March/April. As the tariffs look now, the importer expects a starting price of around NOK 700,000. So we’re not talking about a budget car. But the first impression is that here Alfa Romeo will give the premium brands a good fight for the customers, concludes Mats.
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Watch the video of another beautiful car from Alfa Romeo below:
