Spaghetti or Ravioli: Maserati Levante vs Alfa Romeo Stelvio Compared

When it comes to Italian crossover SUVs, there are two main sellers, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the Maserati Levante. And although they both come from the Fiat Chrysler Automobile line of cars, they really couldn't be more different. Currently, the Maserati starts around $75,000. For 2019, the Stelvio is going to start around $40,000. There are not one, but three different engines available with the Levante. Now, you can start with the V6, which is twin turbocharged and puts up 345 horsepower and 369 pound feet of torque. If you go to the Levante S, you get the three liter twin turbocharged V6 with 424 horsepower and 428 pound feet of torque. By the way, a maximum speed with the S, 164 miles per hour. Finally, there's the big bad boy with a V8 that is twin turbocharged and puts out 590 horsepower. If you go for the regular Alfa Romeo Stelvio, you get the two liter twin scroll turbo that puts out 280 horsepower and 306 pound feet of torque. This one is the Quadrifoglio, and this baby puts out a lot more power, 505 horsepower and 443 pound feet of torque going through a twin turbocharged 2.9 liter V6. You get a much longer vehicle. This vehicle, 13 inches longer. It's a lot. You know what else is a lot? Weight. Around 600 pounds more. It is altogether a much larger vehicle. What's important to realize with the Maserati Levante is it's based on the Ghibli platform. Right. This is technically a sister vehicle to the Ghibli, just a taller roof and obviously a hatch. Yeah. And the Stelvio is based on the Giulia. Right. Which is a completely different platform. Now, another thing you get with the Maserati is a fair amount of space behind the second row seats, 19.4 cubic feet, which is pretty good. You also get this really handy dandy movable storage shelf. And unlike a lot of other ones, this one actually has some strength to it. And there's a nice little net under here as well. Unlike the Maserati, this has a slightly and I mean slightly smaller trunk, 19 cubic feet, one half cubic foot less than Maserati, which is pretty impressive. And overall, the vehicle's wheelbase is about seven inches shorter than the Maserati. Of course, there are different trim levels, and this particular one is the Levante Grand Sport. And amongst all the things you get in here is high gloss carbon fiber. Not a big fan personally, although they did do it tastefully. Frankly speaking, I don't think this is going to help you with performance. What you're looking at here is an 8.4 inch display. It's very similar to the ones that are available in other FCA products. It's a good size screen. But check this out. You got a cool little double wheel thing here. It's a little different than, say, the Audi or BMW or any of those other systems, because this is always volume. This can be select. And then you use this wheel here to go up and down with various setting choices. Stepping inside the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Now, as you expect at this price point compared to the Levante, it does feel slightly less premium. There is less leather adorned across the interior than the Levante. And the dashboard is more of this rubbery plastic than that cool red leather we saw in that other car. There are some things I like more, though. The steering wheel on the Alfa Romeo is awesome. I like the start button ingrained in the steering wheel here. And some of the materials are a little bit more sporty. I do like this aluminum look. Overall, though, the interior design looks a lot like the Mazda CX-5, but a lot of the Stelvio interior feels uniquely Alfa, especially the infotainment system. The seats are actually really comfortable. I'm around six foot one and I fit behind myself. No problem. Plenty of extra space. Vent controls are nice. Excellent location. And I like this. Obviously, you're lighter, but look, two USBs right there. The nice little clever compartment. Nice. The backseat of the Alfa is a little tight. It's not too bad, though. I'm sitting in the middle seat, which is up a little bit higher than the side seats. But I'll tell you what, headroom is still pretty good. I'm about six feet tall and legroom is all right back here as well. I don't have the USB ports that we found in the Levante, but I do have these nifty round air vents. According to the EPA, the 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio all wheel drive with the two liter four cylinder is rated at 22 mpg city, 28 miles per gallon highway and 24 mpg combined. This is significantly better than the 2018 Levante, which is rated at 14 mpg city, 20 mpg highway and just 16 miles per gallon combined. Well, I think we've come to a conclusion. Yeah, I think we have. We've got two very different vehicles. Yeah, that's right. The Stelvio really is a fun car for throwing around. It's much more economic in terms of being able to be purchased by a regular human being. And it's just a fun car. Having said that, I really did like that Levante. It was a lot of fun. It sounded great. But is it twice as much car? It's not quite twice as much car. If they took 10 grand off the top, it'd be perfect. Yeah, I absolutely agree. It's almost twice as much money, but it just isn't there for me. That interior, it's a little bit dated. But I know you like it. Oh, I love it. I think that car has a lot of class, a lot of style, and it's a lot of fun. But it's still not quite there in terms of twice the price. Well, guys, thank you so much for watching. Stay tuned to TFLCar.com for the latest model riding alpha news. See you guys.