I’ve driven the new Alfa Romeo Tonale – it’s the sexy small SUV that will fund Alfa’s supercars of the future

IF you don’t move with the times you’re history.

I’m thinking Nokia, Blockbuster and Little Chef. They are yesterday’s Netflix, Apple and Starbucks.

Every day I drive past the once famous Little Chef with the butterfly roof on the A1 at Markham Moor. It’s now a Starbucks.

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Instead of an Olympic Breakfast and a lolly on the way out, they’re serving caramel frappuccinos and a chickpea and avocado protein box.

It’s no different in the car world.

Adapt to new trends or die.

Alfa Romeo has the Giulia saloon and Stelvio SUV, the best-looking and best-to-drive of their kinds.

But it’s no good being best-in-class in a class no one wants.

It’s a no-brainer, then, that Alfa has targeted the fastest-growing sector of all — small SUVs.

To put it in Alfa’s own words: “We haven’t been fishing where the fish are.”

So here’s the £42k Tonale — pronounced like finale, not toenail — and it’s the size of an Audi Q3. But way cooler.

We tried a prototype earlier this year but now we’ve given the top-spec Veloce trim a proper shakedown on UK roads.

First thing to note.

You can switch the suspension settings to soft to soak up our cheese-grater roads while still having everything else in full Dynamic mode.

Very Ferrari.

The first thing you do when you jump in any Ferrari is put it in ‘Sport’ and ‘Bumpy road’ setting.

But of course Alfa and Ferrari have strong links.

The Giulia and Stelvio even use Ferrari engines in their peri-peri hot Quadrifoglio versions, albeit with two cylinders lopped off.

We know that Tonale majors on being stylish and practical and tech-rich — and it is — but for people who actually still enjoy driving I’m pleased to say it still has the feel of an Alfa.

The steering is direct. Body roll is minimal. It’s a pleasure to drive fast or slow.

The 1.5-litre petrol engine is paired with a seven-speed auto and 48-volt electric motor driving the front wheels. Total output is 160hp. You’ll get 40mpg.

It sets off silently and cruises at low speeds in e-mode. And there’s no faffing about with a plug.

That said, Alfa will introduce a plug-in hybrid version shortly that’s 275hp, AWD and will do up to 50 miles in e-mode, if you keep the battery topped up.

As for the interior, it’s class. The look, the styling, the seat materials, the chunky aluminium shift paddles, they all please.

That letterbox-shaped touchscreen is lifted straight from a Maserati MC20.

It looks good and works well. You can arrange radio, media, satnav and so on like your smartphone. Amazon Alexa is built-in.

So what’s next from Alfa?

There’s a small all-electric crossover coming in 2024 that sits below Tonale. Then Giulia will go electric in 2025 and Stelvio in 2026.

As I said at the start, move with the times or you’re history.

But before Alfa goes all-out electric from 2027, I hear rumours of two dream cars.

One is a £1million-plus hypercar named after the legendary 33 .

The other is a Spider that’s more attainable for everyone.

Ordinary cars funding extraordinary cars.

Bravo, Alfa.

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