Alfa Romeo Tonale Facelift Brings Fresh Look And Powertrain Tweaks

It’s easy to forget about the Alfa Romeo Tonale, sandwiched as it is between the ageing but still excellent Giulia and Stelvio and the shiny newness of the Junior. It still exists, though, and has just been treated to a midlife facelift.

The visual changes are most apparent at the front, where the Tonale gets a new concave front grille, revised headlights and a new bumper that sees the overhang tucked in to give the car less of an overbite. There are also two new wheel designs, including the three-hole teledials in these pics, and a selection of new colours.

Inside, meanwhile, there’s also an expanded palette of colours and materials, including a ribbed weave on the seats that Alfa calls ‘cannelloni’, which would be a bit like a British car company introducing a ‘meat pie’ seating option. There’s a new rotary gear selector in place of the old lever, too.

Underneath, there’s not much new to discuss, the Tonale retaining its configuration of all-round independent McPherson strut suspension, a quicker-than-average steering ratio and optional adaptive dampers. However, the track has been widened slightly, a change that Alfa says reduces body roll and understeer.

There remains a choice of a front-wheel drive mild hybrid and all-wheel drive PHEV, but the engines have been updated to meet the latest round of EU emissions regs. The 1.5-litre turbo four-pot mild hybrid gets a bump from 158 to 173bhp thanks to an uprated 48V electrical system. The PHEV, however, gets a drop in overall output from 276 to 266bhp, likely as a result of those emissions tweaks to its 1.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder. Performance figures for either are still TBC.

Finally, Alfa has revised the trim levels. They now start with the base model, followed by a mid-range Ti and a range-topping Veloce. There’s also an even more range-topping Sport Speciale limited-run launch trim, bringing some silver exterior accents and black and white Alcantara upholstery. Pricing and UK arrival dates are currently unknown.