We’re swapping our 2019 Lusso with a 2022 veloce today.
I will provide updates how it compares to the car we’ve lived with for the past 3 years.

 

Is this a temporaty swap, or a perminant one ... I merely ask because if you recall back in Psycology 101 class, one is under the constant pressure of "compensation".

 

I hear you. This is a permanent replacement for our 2019 Lusso. I’d say right away the sport seats are much more supportive than the Lusso’s seats but Lusso leather quality is much better than Veloce.
Handling much, I don’t really perceive any differences except for the brakes that are way more assuring than the Lusso’s - the car at the trade-in had 28.8K miles with the brakes replaced around 20K miles. I didn’t open it up yet as the car had 18 mi at the delivery.

 

I have seen a couple of these posts now. Perhaps the engine just needs breaking in because it's so new but that certainly wouldn't account for a change in handling characteristics. And then you have this quote from Squadra Tuner, a well respected Alfa Romeo engine tuning company:

"As stated earlier, the 2.0 Turbo MultiAir engine of the Stelvio has been put on the market with 280 hp and 400 Nm. However, the rollingroad shows very different values. Everything between 440 and 460 Nm and between 280 and 310 (!) Hp is possible. The first-produced Stelvio’s scored highest". 2.0 Turbo 280 pk E6B/E6D Chiptuning - Squadra Tuning

 

By the way, did they mention specifically what happened to the turbo?

 

They did... something about turbo impeler flutter (play) outside of the acceptable limits. The car was flashed back in May-June, which could have contributed, who knows... all I know is that right after that, I got the first limp mode ever. Then the wife got it a week ago, about 1 month from when I first got it. In both cases, turning the car off, and letting it rest for an hour resolved the problem, but of course that's not going to fly for long... so I took it in last Friday, hence the swap.

One thing I didn't mention in my review of the 22 TI is that, I did get the feeling that whomever used it before me (could only have been one person since the car only had 400 Miles on the ODO) likely didn't fill it up with Super Unleaded, as I thought I heard a knock, not sure... but that certainly would have knocked a few horsepower out. I just took a trip to Palm Springs, and am ready to refuel, so I'll report back if Super Unleaded helped. That BTW is another topic altogether... people that rent or get loaner cars that use Super Unleaded, and treat it like a rented mule by refueling with regular. Not fair to the poor smuck that uses or buys it later... wish there was a report on these cars to ferret those folks out... oh well.

 

Did your 2018 Base have a sunroof. I have a 2018 Ti, no sunroof, so it is essentially a base with 19” wheels from a dynamic driving point of view. My car is very early production as well, the car data plate indicates early 2017.

• I have seen the report of early cars having perhaps more power. Alfa probably would not want to disclose that. I def don’t want my ECU to be reflashed.
• Modern engines break in fast but with only 400 miles still pretty tight and the tranny has not adapted to your driving style.
• The 18” 235 tires/wheels on a base will be generally lighter than 20” wheels with 255, same overall diameter. While a shorter sidewall should give better steering response, the lighter rolling stock has less weight to accelerate and lower unsprung weight. You will find that Alfas traditionally do not use wide tires versus German cars, with more suspension compliance, that gives a light-on-feet feeling. A Guilia base has relatively narrow tires as well on 17” wheels.
• Changes in tires can have a big effect, I use 255/50-19 Michelin Pilot Sport SUV which have way more feel and directness versus stock tires. They do weight 3 lbs more per tire than original 235/55-19 Continentals. I just looked and the 235/60-18 Conti weight 1lb less per tire vs the 235/55-19, and cheaper to boot. My winter tires are way less fun than the summer tires, duh.
• Has Alfa changed shock and spring rates since the early cars? I think I read that but not sure.
• The non-sunroof cars will be a little lighter and losing that weight up high should make a difference. Also a few pounds in heavier side glass and maybe sound insulation? It all adds up.

I really like the way my ‘18 drives. Perhaps some/all of the above adds up to a difference you can feel. I am not surprised if Alfa has taken off some of the sharp edges to make the car more appealing to the mass market, but not to you or me.

My ‘18 has 56k miles. Yes I did end up replacing the radiator just after warranty expired (I should have caught that) and my drivers seat switch is becoming problematic. The car is tight and rattle free, still drives so well I am tempted To upgrade to a hybrid turbo or at least a tune. I use a weathertech phone holder and don’t miss the more sophisticated infotainment. I do have the dynamic package with adaptive cruise which is great. Supersprint exhaust bought used sounds great (it is resonator delete but not rear muffler delete). I don’t miss shift paddles, I use the center stick if I want to drive manually like my older manual tranny cars 🙂 Just replaced original battery for peace-of-mind, it was over 5 years old.

Hope your ‘18 comes back as remembered.

 

Has anyone driven a Sport model vs. non-Sport back to back? I wonder how much of a difference the "sport tuned suspension" actually makes?

 

Have not driven. My understanding was the “sport-tuned” cars had slightly stiffer front shocks. In Europe perhaps the sport suspension had Koni FSD style shocks (not Konis but have variable valving) that are presumably a bit stiffer. The dynamic suspension cars had definitely stiffer sport setting shocks and normal was less stiff than a base suspension. Their are difference is spring heights but not sure about rates. QV cars obviously completely different.

I actually wouldn’t want my car to have stiffer shocks for how I use it. The Michelin Pilot sport tires stiffen the ride a bit. An upgrade which Alfa didn’t use on any cars is a magnaride-type shock which is clearly more advanced for combining ride and handling.

 

I drove them back to back when I bought mine.

Same wheel/tire combo, the sport has more impact harshness over bumps, slightly less lean through corners and less dive when braking. Not night and day but enough I decided the base suspension was better for my purposes.

 

What could be the difference between them? I'm wondering about sway bars, they could be thicker on the sport suspension?
I'm looking for a stiffer rear sway bar.
Anybody knows, if there is one out there? Mine is a base model.

 

Pretty sure its just the shocks sport vs non-sport.

Now if you are talking about the differences between the original suspension and the 2020 refresh.. that is more complex. The 2020 is physically lower then the previous model, so the geometry is completely different... Could be any number of changes made to achieve that, especially in the steering linkage. I'de be more surprised if there wasn't a difference, which there can't be too huge of a difference, since most people going from the older to newer models haven't reported anything... But some do.

 

I have found a thread, where somebody explains that the Q4 sway bar is thicker than the Q2 SUVs. But I would like to be sure about this info.
It would be nice, if somebody could measure with a caliper the rear sway bar thickness, on a Q4 SUV.

How-To: Rear Sway Bar Upgrades

Just finished this project over the weekend and thought I'd share. I swapped the rear sway bar on my AWD 2.0 to a Quadrifoglio rear sway bar, this changed the diameter from about 20.5mm to 22.0mm. RWD 2.0s appear to come with an even smaller rear sway bar than AWD 2.0s, so if you're a RWD 2.0...

www.giuliaforums.com

 

I may try this today for you

 

So, just traded in my 2019 Sport for 2022 Veloce. Loved the 2019; it had the stiffer front dampers, and 20s vs 21s on the Veloce. When I test drove the newer car, it did seem less explosive acceleration-wise, and even now, a month later and broken in, I can tell Alfa recalibrated the throttle response from off idle acceleration, to come in smoother. But, it now, with 700 miles on it, seems just as quick. Of course, they also changed the dna switch to default to n on every restart, which I don’t love. Steering/Handling? Other than a little more strike through with the 21 inch rims I didn’t notice any difference-still excellent turn in and handling. Current car has LSD, which 2019 did not. Sport seats and infotainment on new car much better, and I like the leather dash treatment, too. Thicker front glass means it’s a bit quieter, too. All in all, the newer car seems a bit more refined; I would have been happy to keep the 2019, but dealer offered me a lot of money for it, so I traded up, and glad I did..