A long time ago, I brushed a tweet about the lineup of the two brands of Alfa Romeo and Audi in the three decades from 1991 to 2020.
▲The picture is from @North Loop Lovers House
In the 1990s, the number of products of the two brands was roughly the same, and even for a few years, the number of products of Alfa Romeo was still able to surpass Audi. But after entering the 21st century, Audi's product lineup can be said to have ushered in a big explosion, but the number of Products of Alfa Romeo is a bit like the hair volume of middle-aged men, and it is becoming more and more sparse.
Until 2020, Audi has two slaps of countless products, and Alfa Romeo is only two cars, Giulia and Stelvio.
I often come to the conclusion that A few of my friends around me who have an opinion on cars come to the conclusion that they don't recommend others to buy brands that only have a few cars, although they can often build some unknown good cars, but they are the ones who are most likely to die if they are not careful.
However, I myself seem to be happy to buy such brands, when I bought artez, Mazda really had about five models in the global sense, and in 2020, I became the owner of the brand with only two cars left.
Coincidentally, at such a point in time, the two brands Mazda and Alfa Romeo have the momentum to turn the situation around.
Mazda released a brand new model CX-50 in November 2021, and fans on Weibo have urged me to talk about this car, but I think such a compact SUV based on the CX-30 platform mainly in North America is still a little less interesting.
However, the CX-60, which will debut in the world on March 8, 2022, will be more highlights, because this is the first model born on Mazda's new rear-drive platform, and they have also planned the CX-70, CX-80, CX-90, and the most anticipated rear-drive sedans and even sports cars. We'll share more information about that.
Today I'm going to talk about Alfa Romeo, who, after a few years, has finally brought a brand new model, the Tonale. This is also the first brand new car in the world after China has entered the Year of the Tiger, and it also marks a new era for the Alfa Romeo brand.
Rear drive is not required
After buying Giulia, I often used hardware attributes such as front-facing rear-drive, front-axle rear-mounted four-piston fixed calipers, carbon fiber drive shafts, the best body-in-white body in its class, double wishbone front suspension, and H-arm rear suspension as talking points to blow up the car, saying that it is one of the most righteous cars in today's car world.
It has to be said that the late then FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne was a really love-hate guy. It was he who led the development of this righteous Giulia, and it was he who demoted my favorite driver, Raikkonen, within the Ferrari F1 team. Although these two events are not directly related, they are both manifestations of his resolute style of doing things. Even more coincidentally, his last public appearance was on June 26, 2018, and June 26 was my birthday.
In the context and trend of the current era, I also know that it is difficult to have a more righteous car in the future, including Alfa Romeo himself, and Alfa Romeo has officially announced earlier that it will not develop new cars based on the giulia and Stelvio platforms (but Maserati will develop new small SUVs based on this platform).
▲ Maserati Grecale, which will be officially released in late March
So, if you are really interested in Giulia, it is recommended not to wait and see, the current market is stable, the configuration options for the goods are also good, like to hurry up to join the "big family" of Aro car owners! (Huh?) Didn't you just say don't recommend others to buy such brands... ）
Well, after all, I'm not a dead salesman, so let's get back to the point. The justice of the Giulia just mentioned, in Tonale, is almost completely absent, only the front axle four-piston fixed caliper can have, but it has also become front-mounted.
Because the Tonale is a compact SUV based on the front-drive platform, it is about the same size as the current Audi Q3. The platform it is based on is actually The Jeep Freelancer's platform, which sounds very old, and Jeep's reputation may also make everyone feel a little resistant. But in fact, it is not Alfa Romeo who used the Jeep platform, but the Free Man was developed based on Fiat's platform, such as the Fiat 500X, Alfa Romeo MiTo and other models are developed on this platform. That sounds more contemporary.
Perhaps you will see that Alfa Romeo has launched such a front-drive platform model after a few years, and it will feel that there is a big gap, after all, Giulia and Stelvio are highly set on the technical route. But you don't have to scoff as you did when BMW launched a front-drive car, because the front-drive chassis is Alfa Romeo's "right business", and the rear-drive platform Giulia and Stelvio may just be a muscle shown by the long-established Italian manufacturer on the road to revival, making the things that Germans often do more impressive.
Casual with persistence
Alfa Romeo has prepared a very rich power choice for Tonale this time, but the richness at the same time makes people feel a little messy.
The first is the most modest 1.6T diesel, with 130 hp mediocre, 320Nm that has nothing to do with me, and matches a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission. The gasoline version is mainly in the 1.5T specification, with high and low power of 130 hp and 160 hp respectively, while matching the 48V light hybrid technology, the high power version is also equipped with VGT variable geometry turbo technology, and the 1.5T model is matched with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. All of the above are front-drive models.
The four-wheel drive version is more than 200 horsepower, and the 2.0T gasoline engine has 256 horsepower, 400Nm, and a 9AT gearbox. The strongest of the whole series is the smallest displacement, 1.3T, but with the help of the PHEV insertion and mixing system, the total output is 275 horsepower, and it takes only 6.2 seconds to 0-100km/h. Keep in mind that this 1.3T has only 122 horsepower and is only driven by a 6AT gearbox to drive the front axle. The battery capacity of the PHEV model is 15.5 kWh, and the longest pure electric range can reach 80 km.
Is this probably how Italians do things? Unlike the obsessive-compulsive regularity of the Germans, a car can carry many engines and many gearboxes. However, it should be pointed out that all the engines on the Tonale are four-cylinder, and they do not use the three-cylinder machine popular in European cars.
▲ Hypothetical diagram of Tonale four-leaf clover drawn by foreign media
As for the Quadrifoglio version, they say they are working on the Tonale four-leaf clover, but it's uncertain if the car will actually launch, because it depends on whether such a high-performance car can reach the performance level they think. Italians are honest.
And this also reflects the transformation of this brand, a few years ago, the unusual Alfa Romeo first had Giulia four-leaf clover, and then launched the "youth version" of the ordinary Giulia, leaving a lot of "undeserved" things to keep. Now, what they do with Tonale is more like a normal brand, more down-to-earth. Even if there is a high-performance idea, it will weigh the limitations of the platform and not drill the horns, after all, the ordinary version is the amount of volume.
However, this does not mean that they are lying flat, Alfa Romeo joined forces with old partners such as Magneti Marelli and Koni to optimize Tomale's dynamic performance. They say that the Tonale will have the best handling performance in its class, especially the Alfa Romeo-style sharp steering, which I know very well as the owner of the Alfa Romeo, because I feel very sluggish in most other models now – spoiled by Giulia.
Do you like that look?
After the launch of Giulia and Stelvio a few years ago, some senior fans of Alfa Romeo said that these two cars are genetically impure, because these two cars have a lot of German cars on them, which are aimed at the mainstream German cars to build, losing some of the characteristics of Alfa Romeo, although they are still very distinctive.
The Tonale, then, will probably make Alfa Romeo's veteran fans feel more ecstatic, and the design elements of the head and taillights are clearly a tribute to the classic model of the brand's history, the 159. merely...... As an SUV, there is always an indescribable weirdness in adopting such a design style. In fact, Stelvio, which uses Giulia's design language, looks strange, after all, the brand has not built several SUVs, so it seems to be less experienced when designing SUVs.
In tonale's carriage, there was something familiar and something new. The first is that the steering wheel and paddle shifters are no different from my Giulia, and the activation button is still on the steering wheel. In addition, the D.N.A driving mode knob is the same design, except that it has an ESP off mode, and the owner of the Giulia expresses envy and hatred.
The new thing has a 12.3-inch full LCD dashboard, and the interface is quite beautiful, but it is not attractive to the rut jun who likes mechanical dashboards. Instead, the built-in system interface of the 10.25-inch multimedia large screen in the middle is a little more exciting than my Giulia update... Don't think about it, my car machine is not going to be upgraded like that through OTA.
In fact, the shape of the Inside and Outside of the Tonale car has long been set, they released the Tonale concept car in 2019 (yes, there was no epidemic at that time), until now we are looking at the mass production version, the real car plan is only on the basis of the concept car to carry out some mass production modifications. The reason why the production version is only released now is due to some factors delayed, and it is said that the development of the PHEV version is a problem.
To come or not to come?
Having said all this, in fact, whether Tonale will come to the Chinese market is still unknown, according to the information I obtained from some channels, Alfa Romeo still attaches more importance to the Chinese market, and hopes to make a difference here. Coupled with the fact that their F1 team has just signed Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu as an official driver for the 2022 season, they should not miss the opportunity to introduce this new car.
Alfa Romeo even did market research directly in the official micro...
This practice is really a long time, after all, people on the Internet do not buy cars (manual dog heads), this Italian brand is really casual.
Only in the current situation, Tonale, which is positioned lower than the existing products, may have certain limitations if it is introduced through import channels, such as price, such as imported PHEV models in some limited cities can not enjoy the same license policy preferences as domestic PHEV models.
In the long run, the advent of Tonale means that Alfa Romeo has entered a new era, and soon there will be a pure electric version based on a new platform, tonale, and more car series will be launched. Although not all of them will come to the Chinese market, as the owner of this brand, it is still popular!
Issue 1830
Author: Chen Houze