LAOIS MOTORING: First Launch Drive - The new Alfa Romeo Tonale

I have a bit of a soft spot for Alfa Romeo.

They have over the years produced some lovely cars but for a multitude of reasons they never really seem to gain much traction in terms of volume sales. Some of that is no doubt due to past failures where reliability is concerned and in the public domain that image can be hard to shrug off.

Nowadays though Alfa Romeo have been producing some lovely cars such as the Giulia and their luxury SUV the Stelvio.

Just a few weeks ago I attended the Irish launch of their first compact SUV and it's called the Tonale.

The Tonale uses either a mild hybrid or plug in hybrid powertrain and aims to breath a breath of fresh air into the luxury compact SUV segment.

There are no diesel versions or straight petrol models available, just mild hybrid or PHEV while entry to the new Tonale range starts at €49,995.

On a rather dismal wet day we drove the Tonale on a selection of local roads in county Kildare and Wicklow. From a style point of view this is definitely an Alfa and all the better for that. It looks very well indeed.

Inside the cabin is very nicely finished and it all has a quality feel about it.

There is plenty of standard kit on board too even from the entry Ti model highlights include, 18 inch tele dial alloy wheels, LED taillights, Matrix LED headlights, reversing camera, parking sensors both front and rear, keyless entry and go, a 10.25 inch touchscreen with Apple Car Play, Android Auto, there are two USB-A ports and two USB-C ports and also wireless phone charging. Its a pretty comprehensive kit.

The Veloce and Speciale trim levels add even more. Buyers can also opt for a “winter pack” and or “premium pack” allowing a certain degree of customisation to your car.

The cabin feels quite roomy but I'd venture its a comfortable 4-seater rather than 5 while the boot area which is accessed via a powered large rear tailgate is of a decent size.

Taking the new Tonale on some familiar roads quickly highlighted the fact that it does indeed have that Alfa DNA. With a drive mode selector allowing you to choose Normal, Dynamic or advanced efficiency settings you get to choose the character of the car to suit your driving style. In Dynamic mode the excellent digital display changes and the car feels more responsive.

Overall noise levels seem quite low and initial impressions are that it rides and handles very well. 

We did not have a chance to really test the claimed 60km battery power range in the PHEV or indeed charge times of the PHEV but I will be doing a full road test on the new Tonale in the coming weeks where I will be able to assess those areas more accurately.

Alfa Romeo have a hill to climb here as this car competes against some excellent rivals from Audi, BMW and Mercedes. They seem to have done their homework though as the new Tonale is a nicely rounded car.

Overall then initial impressions are that Alfa Romeo have produced a well built, nicely kitted out smartly styled SUV that I am glad to say retains that Alfa DNA. More to follow when fully tested soon!