Those wishing Alfa Romeo would expand the recently revived GTA moniker to other models will be sorely disappointed. Alfa product marketing boss Fabio Migliavacca said as much in a recent interview with Autocar, where he explained why there wouldn’t be a GTA version of the Stelvio SUV. Alfa Romeo revived the GTA moniker last month, affixing it to the Giulia. It’s an even hotter version of the Giulia Quadrifoglio with 553 horsepower (398 kilowatts) on tap, but there won’t be a Stelvio version.
Migliavacca told the publication that there was a meeting about producing a Stelvio GTA, but the company decided against it because it wouldn’t be “in line with customer expectations.” He said that any GTA model would have to be “the best possible” on the track and that the Stelvio’s higher center of gravity made that endeavor difficult. They couldn’t “achieve the same goals” as they could with the Giulia GTA.
The Stelvio Quadrifoglio Is No Slouch:
Alfa updated the Quadrifoglio’s twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 for the Giulia GTA, upping output from the existing 505 hp (377 kW). That’s the same output in the Stelvio Quadrifoglio that’s currently available. Alfa also cut 221 pounds (100 kilograms) of weight, widened the rear track by 2.0 inches, and updated the suspension with new shocks, springs, and bushings. Alfa created an even hotter GTAm with two-seats, a roll bar, and six-point harnesses. It’s still fully street legal.
Alfa plans to produce 500 Giulia GTA and GTAm models, but there’s a slim chance a handful will reach U.S. shores. The company had announced it was “evaluating opportunities to introduce the GTA in other key markets around the world,” which included the U.S. Still, if the Giulia GTA doesn’t come here and Alfa has no plans to expand the GTA name to other models, then the Stelvio Quadrifoglio will be Alfa’s high-performance SUV of choice for now.
Source: Autocar
