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Lake Como

It is four in the afternoon, some 20 minutes after touchdown at Milano Malpensa, the airport of the Italian fashion city. We are handed a key to an Alfa Romeo Giulia and clear travel instructions. The plan is to drive toward Lake Como, stop there for an overnight pit stop, then head full speed to the next Lombardy lake: Lake Maggiore. The perfect setting to discover the temperament of an Alfa Romeo.

Tributo Italiono

Why are we re-examining the Italian trio? Alfa Romeo has poured a big scoop of Italian sauce over the Tonale PHEV, Giulia and Stelvio, resulting in three Tributo Italiano editions. The new versions pay tribute to the brand’s origins and characteristic sportiness. It doesn’t get more Italian than this. There is just short of spaghetti in the center console.

Three colors

The Giulia, like the Stelvio and Tonale PHEV Tributo Italiano, has a two-tone body with a black roof. There are no boring color options. You only have a choice of the three colors of the Italian flag: Rosso Alfa, Verde Montreal and Bianco Alfa. Add to that the exterior mirror caps with a subtly integrated Italian flag and you have three purebred ambassadors of Italian style.

Italian horses

After just the first few miles in the Giulia, we know again why we love this brand so much. The Italian sedan glides smoothly through turns, and the 280-hp 2.0-liter gasoline engine roars powerfully on brisk acceleration. In just 5.2 seconds, the counter ticks 100 km/h. The engine is mated as standard to a nimble 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, which sends the Italian horses toward all four wheels. The Stelvio and Tonale Tributo Italiano also feature Q4 all-wheel drive.

Time behind the wheel of the Giulia flies by and before we know it we reach George Clooney & Co.’s favorite vacation destination: Lago di Como, Italy’s third-largest alpine lake. On the banks of the brand, we dove into our hotel bed and got ready for rounds two and three.

Alpine Pass

As the sun breaks through the morning mist over the enchanting Lake Como, we are handed the second Alfa Romeo key. It’s time for the Stelvio, the SUV named after the famous Italian Alpine pass. Some specific Tributo Italiano elements you can recognize it by are a deep black “V-element” in the grille, red Brembo brake calipers and alloy wheels. In addition, for the first time, its bodywork was painted completely in color. All elements that are normally black – such as the wheel well rims, side skirts and various pieces of the front and rear bumper – have now received a lick of colorful paint. It creates a tidy, clean look.

Along the winding roads around the enchanting Lake Como, we steer the Italian SUV toward our next destination: breathtaking Lake Maggiore. With the same 280-hp two-liter engine, the Stelvio takes only a fraction longer for a 0-100 sprint than its sedan brother. In terms of functionality, however, the Stelvio takes the crown. Whereas the Guilia offers “only” 480 liters of luggage space, the more spacious Stelvio can accommodate nearly 50 liters more. Passengers in the back seat also enjoy extra headroom, while you have a better view of the road from the driver’s seat. The slightly higher center of gravity hardly seems to affect the driving experience, as you can cut corners razor sharp even with the Stelvio .

Green powertrain

Between Lake Como and Lake Maggiore there are about 65 kilometers of asphalt. For the average driver, this route takes about two hours, but a little Italian accomplishes this trick in as little as an hour and a half, regardless of the car’s condition and year of manufacture. At the stroke of 11:30 we arrive in Cerro, a village with less than a hundred houses.

After a short lunch by the fabulous lake, we switch cars and get into the “greenest” Alfa of the trio: the Tonale PHEV. This is the green powertrain we are talking about. Thanks to its low emissions, the Tonale PHEV Tributo Italiano suffers the least from a high BPM penalty. The absolute top model within the Tonale lineup comes from 60,500 euros. For the Gulia Tributo Italiano you have to put down 76,300 euros and for the Stelvio Tributo Italiano the brand is asking 92,600 euros.

Fast crossover

The Tonale’s plug-in hybrid powertrain drives all four wheels, with a 118-hp 1.3-liter gasoline engine and a 112-hp electric motor. Together – again – good for 280 horsepower. The compact crossover also gets you away from the stoplight quickly. In about six seconds it races to 100 km/h, and only at 206 km/h does it stop accelerating.

The extra lavishly equipped Tonale can be recognized by two fist-thick chrome exhaust pipes, skidplates and front and side accents in Dark Miron color. Adaptive Full-LED Matrix headlights are standard. The Tonale also features an adaptive suspension with electronically controlled damping. If you adjust the driving modes – for example, from Sport to Comfort – the suspension actually changes. This also proves the Tonale to be a true Alfa, with direct steering and high driving dynamics. The plug-in hybrid drive thus effortlessly combines electric efficiency with Alfa Romeo’s signature sportiness.

Electric driving

After an enchanting drive along Lake Maggiore, it’s time to set course for Milano Malpensa again. We put the Tonale in electric mode. Thanks to a hefty battery pack, it can travel up to 80 kilometers fully electric and silently. In practice, count on about 50 to 60 kilometers, depending on the weather and the weight of your right foot.

We lean back a little more, rest our heads against the embroidered Tributo Italiano logo in the headrest and look around the interior once more. Everything here also exudes the unmistakable atmosphere of Italy. The sports seats, cloaked in black perforated leather with red accents, the dashboard with its carbon look, and the subtle ambient lighting strongly bring out that typical Italian atmosphere. Like its Tributo Italiano brothers, the Tonale comes with nice luxury goodies, such as ventilated and heatable front seats and a powerful Harman Kardon audio system.

Alfisti

It is abundantly clear that Alfa Romeo is aiming with these special editions at car enthusiasts with a love of Italy. For dedicated Alfa fans, the “Alfisti,” this represents the last chance to get their hands on a brand new, powerful Alfa Romeo on gasoline. The Alfa Romeo Milano, which thus appears in showrooms as early as this year, will be available mainly in the Netherlands as a purely electric model, although an economical mild-hybrid variant is also likely to arrive. It’s good that the Italians are moving with the times, because we don’t want to lose the brand, but those who still want to enjoy it the old-fashioned way should get their hands on an Alfa Romeo Tributo Italiano soon.