Alfa Romeo Tonale review

It’s an Alfa Romeo you might actually buy. Oh, we’ve all dreamed of the idea of an Alfa; a pretty little Duetto Spider on a glorious day on the Amalfi coast sounds just about perfect, doesn’t it?

Well not to shatter the illusion, but the Tonale (Toh-nar-lee, before you splutter your coffee all over the screen) is far more pragmatic than that. A car that's not for dreamers, but for actual buyers: a compact crossover of thoroughly sensible performance. Don’t expect a Quadrifoglio version, in other words.

Do we need another crossover? 

Well, the Tonale is certainly among the more interesting. But it can’t just rely on looks alone, and luckily it has some talents that put it fair and square against some firm opposition including the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Mercedes GLA and many (many…) more. But it wants to be sporty and our favourite cars in that category are the ones that lean more towards comfort, namely the Evoque and Volvo XC40.

When it emerged as a concept car in 2019, the Tonale's shape was widely liked. Commendably, not much was changed since. It still has lush curves and Alfa motifs, among them the slim triple-barrel LEDs (descended from the Alfa Romeo SZ sports car and since rewored worked into the facelifted Giulia and Stelvio) and five-hole wheels. The elegant shield grille makes you wonder why rivals are making such a horlicks of their increasingly pugnacious frontal styling.

A facelift in 2025 introduced a couple of tweaks – it gets a new three-dimensional concave ‘Scudetto’ grille inspired by the 33 Stradale and GT 2000, side air intakes influenced by the Giulia GTA and GTAm saloons, and a more aggressive lower air intake.

There’s also a reduced front overhang and wider front and rear track, as well as a choice of new alloys and signature colours. It’s an elegant thing alright – and one that’s instantly recognisable as an Alfa.

Does the cabin display much Alfa DNA?

Ha, well the DNA drive mode dial is present and correct, if that’s what you mean. But lots of thought has been put into this, with Alfa blending tradition and tech in impressive fashion. The dials, the touchscreen, the materials, the references to the past… it’s all very tidy and ergonomically pleasing. It’ll comfortably seat five, too.

Interior changes include a redesigned centre console complete with a new rotary drive selector – looks smarter, though can be a little fiddly to operate – and new colour and finish options, including seats in either red leather or a two-tone black and white Alcantara. Oh, and new ambient lighting, of course.

What’s under the skin?

Kicking things off is a front-wheel drive Tonale with 173bhp and no plug-in ability. Instead, it’s the ‘mild’ 48V kind, but you can pull away from standstill, park, manoeuvre and crawl through walking-pace traffic without the engine interfering. The engine can also drop away at a cruise or downhill when wheels don't need much torque.

The top-spec Tonale has a plug and now outputs 266bhp (curiously down 9bhp on its predecessor), with all-wheel drive courtesy of an electrically driven rear axle. But with just shy of 40 miles electric range from its 15.5kWh battery, it’s most likely to woo business car suitors thanks to generous BIK rates.

Buried well underneath are some platform and suspension parts shared with the Jeep Compass, but Alfa has done a thorough re-work to turn it from an off-roader into a sharpish, road-biased crossover. Which can make it a little bit of a chore in town, but it drives with some real zest on more open roads. And even more so with the extra 90-or-so horsepower of the PHEV…

How much will one of these cost me?

Prices start just over £37.5k for the mild hybrid, par the course for a posh small SUV still. The PHEV kicks off at £43.5k.

Be warned though, it’s easy to tip past £50k if you want the highest spec with leather seats or the more luscious paint options.

Welcome to a different kind of Alfa Romeo. One that puts rationality a little further up its priority list with a surprisingly logical interior layout and bags of room to match. Its cabin beauty is more than skin-deep, being well-made and practical with electronics work properly.

But it also looks – and broadly drives – like an Alfa Romeo should. It carries off abundant retro styling cues remarkably well, while the handling balance is fun even if the hyperactive steering and occasionally clumsy powertrain mapping take a little adjustment. There’s enough going on here to deservedly distract you from a swathe of duller rivals. And if it pops up at an affordable price on your business car scheme, all the better.