1,160 miles in 11 days: A grand tour with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

Enlarge / The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio on a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur. (credit: Eric Bangeman)

In the time since I began reviewing cars for Ars Technica, my reviews have settled into a routine. A fresh vehicle pulls into the alley behind my house on Tuesday morning with a full tank of gas and a soft limit of 500 miles of driving. After familiarizing myself with the infotainment system, safety features, and the other peculiarities, I take each car for a 60+ mile drive. I include suburban neighborhoods, arterial streets, expressways, and winding country roads with actual hills and curves (a few of those actually exist around Chicagoland). Then for the rest of the week, I spend time doing the stuff I'd do with any other car: buying groceries, taking my son to rugby practice, driving to church... the usual stuff. It's generally enough to give me a good picture of what a car is and is not capable of.

That said, there is always one question left unanswered at the end of a trip: "How would this car be on a family road trip?"

I reviewed the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti last year. Although it was my second review to be published, it was the first car I actually drove. And I liked it. A lot. So when the 505hp, V6 Stelvio Quadrifoglio finally made it to dealers this spring, I had an idea for Alfa Romeo: instead of doing the usual one-week loan, how about letting me see how practical a high-performance, $84,000 SUV is for a family vacation? What it's like to spend day after day in the racing seats? How does this vehicle handle on the winding Pacific Coast Highway?

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