Alfa Romeo Tonale

A mid-life update for the family SUV majors on subtle changes to the styling, interior and engines

- DAN JONES

On sale January 2026 Price from £39,000 (est)

IF YOU'VE EVER flown a modern glider, you'll have been told that for every foot gained in altitude, you will be able to fly an extra 40ft in distance. This is the Glide Ratio, and a skilled pilot can use it as the basis to cover hundreds of miles in the air with no engine as backup.

In other words, tiny gains can take things a long way, and Alfa Romeo hopes that philosophy will be enough for its updated Tonale family SUV to go the distance.

Among the small but meaningful changes are that the distance between the left and right-hand wheels has been increased by just a single centimetre with the aim of sharpening up the Tonale's handling. It certainly hasn't hurt things; the steering is now that bit quicker and more alert, and the way its weight builds up in turns helps you to form a good idea of what the front wheels are up to. However, even with the adaptive suspension of our range-topping Ibrida Plugin Hybrid (PHEV) Veloce test car set to its stiffest (Dynamic) mode, the Tonale feels like a heavy car, leaning more in bends than the latest version of the rival Audi Q3.