2.757 km with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio

Remote driving to get close to the myth

There are few automobile brands that have a myth like the Italian FIAT subsidiary Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo. The name alone, he brings tongues to the snaps and calls the speaker formally to strike an Italian dialect and use his hands to speak with. Alfa Romeo Stelvio. A name, as others title a piece of music.

The Stelvio is also just a snappy pass in the Italian Alps. An asphalt band that spans the Ortler Alps, pulling itself up to 2.757 meters. But that's exactly what the sky is for Automobilisti. Curve to Curve, 75, to be precise, a narrow road, in the Alps. That's what we call driving pleasure. When you've got the right car.

With the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio set the Italians on the right vehicle class. SUVs are sought after. Everyone wants to have a practical multi-purpose car. You sit well, have space, it offers a good overview of the traffic. The fact that Alfa Romeo celebrates just with a SUV a rebirth, old Alfisti may be a little surprised. But without sales success no successful history. And so the Alfa Romeo Stelvio plays the role of the hero. And how well he plays these, I could learn on my very personal hero's journey.

Rent & experience Stelvio

The first SUV from Alfa Romeo. Since the expectations are high. Emotions, dynamics, driving pleasure and the pure lust for the automobile, poured into a tempting form. You do not expect less. And the Stelvio meets. So much in advance.

To understand a car, to get to know it, to make a judgment, you have to drive it. The average German driver drives 12.500 km a year. I didn't have that much time. 4 to 5 days had to be enough, because this time the Alfa Romeo Stelvio did not come directly from the press department as a test car, but via Enterprise Rent-A-Car. From there came the question of whether I would not like to "experience" the Stelvio. What a question …

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is part of Enterprise Holdings, a company that is still in the hands of the Taylor family and that stands for excellent customer service worldwide. Together with the brands Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental, 1.9 million vehicles, 100.000 employees and more than 9.900 locations belong to the group of companies. The world's largest car rental company has been in Germany since 1997. It now has around 200 locations and around 2.300 employees. And right now the first SUV from the traditional Italian brand Alfa Romeo in the fleet. So it was time to combine all of this. And that's where I came in.

2.757 - the number says it all

How to experience a car if you only have 4 to 5 days? It's best to get in and not get off again. So it was clear, I change the meters in kilometers and make from the top of 2.757 meters the "experience track" of 2.757 km. Once across Germany. And in order to have a destination as well, I chose branches of Enterprise Rent-A-Car on the route as stopovers.

Starting point: Aschaffenburg - 9:00 a.m. - the hunt begins

You can think about car rentals, what you want. However, when greeted with a friendly smile, a fresh, hot coffee and a handshake, the day starts off extremely well. That's exactly what I experienced at the starting point of my journey. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio was freshly refueled, washed and prepared perfectly prepared for me. His 2.2 liter of diesel purred warm. Three more signatures and then the highway was waiting for me. The route was planned. From Aschaffenburg we went via Fulda to Dresden, to the first Enterprise Rent-A-Car branch on my trip. The first few kilometers with a "new test car" are always the same. A little excited, you are busy with the interior. Press the buttons, play with the settings. A perfect seating position was found right at the beginning. The Stelvio optionally offers an electric seat adjustment with memory function. However, in the upcoming 2.757 km I should not change the seating position and that clearly speaks for the seating comfort of the Alfa. A lumbar support and the very good kinematics of the seating position let you feel the feeling of home behind the wheel in just a few minutes.

From Dresden we went to Berlin, from Berlin to Kiel, from Kiel to Bielefeld. Everything in one day. Yes. Everything in one day. 1.363 km within 13 hours. Including city traffic in Berlin, Dresden and Kiel. Including traffic jam. Including Pinkelpausen and a rest for a quick burger in between. Thanks to the 100 liter turbodiesel behind the traditional Alfa Romeo grille, I managed to achieve a trip of more than 2.2 km / h.

210 PS and eight-speed automatic

The four-cylinder diesel with its 210 PS is one of the currently offered 6 engines. The performance ranges from the 150 PS Diesel to a 510 PS strong V6-Turbo petrol engine. For me, the powerful diesel was ready.

The gears change the famous 8 automatic stages of ZF, the force moves across all four wheels in the direction of asphalt. Typical for an Alfa Romeo: The clearly rear-heavy dominance of the power distribution and that's exactly what you feel.

The Stelvio had to fight its way through the rain for the first 500 kilometers. If there were a free swimmer for automobiles, Stelvio and I, we would have swum the golden seahorse that day. And yet, the travel average, especially on the long stages towards Dresden, on free motorways, especially at the start and in these adverse conditions, was still significantly more than the 100 km / h that was established as the average in the evening. That speaks especially for the chassis of the Stelvio. Fast motorway curves are pure entertainment. The intermediate sprints from 160 to 210 km / h are entertaining.

Day 2 - or how to drive 2.757 km in just 48 hours

Actually, 4-5 days could have been planned. But once seated in the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, 1.363 km on day 1 and 1.141 km on day 2 were not rocket science. After Kiel had already checked off the northernmost tip of the republic the previous day, visited the east with Berlin and Dresden, it went from Bielefeld via Cologne to Füsse / Reutte to the border of Austria. In a hurry. In the late evening of day 2 the Alfa Romeo Stelvio then stood in front of its own hut in the native Spessart. Until the finish, the distance of 2757 km, only 253 km was missing. But lured back to 11 hours behind the wheel just the domestic bed too much.

An extra round in the Spessart, a trip over the Odenwald and at the finish in Aschaffenburg the next morning were 2.757 km on the clock. Exactly. A point landing.

And what do we learn from this?

Three things: Those who do not sleep could theoretically create this distance within 24 hours (Which of course we don't recommend to anyone, sleep in the Alfa Romeo Stelvio - ok, but never get tired behind the wheel!). At Enterprise Rent-A-Car you can rent an SUV with excellent, friendly service that not only looks like an Alfa Romeo, drives like an Alfa Romeo, but also comes directly from Alfa Romeo and - an Alfa Romeo Stelvio is definitely that best partner for this action. Emotional, sporty, reliable. And an experience that was worth reporting on.