Almost by accident, we spotted a little piece of the Grand Tour Season 2 puzzle - a video showing Jeremy Clarkson in the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. He's followed by James May in the Range Rover Velar and Richard Hammond behind the wheel of the Porsche Macan.
Unfortunately, the video appears to be shot with what one of the YouTube comments describes as a calculator. So we can't be 100% sure what versions of the cars we mentioned we're dealing with.
There haven't been that many 3-way SUV comparisons on the old Top Gear or The Grand Tour. There was that thing with the Bentayga, Range Rover, and F-Pace last season. But those models aren't direct rivals while these three are.
Alfa Romeo finally appears to be getting its act together. After decades of missing out on what a premium car is supposed to offer, they have two competitive cars. Clarkson has already tested the Giulia "Quattro Formaggio" and said it's a real Alfa, with flaws and everything.
The same 2.9-liter motor used in that car can be found in the hot Stelvio, matched to a standard AWD system. At 510 horsepower, this Ferrari-tuned V6 has more power than the Macan Turbo can muster even when fitted with its performance pack option. As for the Velar, there's no hot version yet, but that's probably what James May likes.
The most potent Velar is the P380 model with, you guessed it, 380 HP from a supercharged 3-liter V6. It certainly makes a lot of noise, but won't rush to reach 100 km/h in the same way as the Italian or German rival models.
Like the standard Stelvio, the "Quattro Formaggio" might have a few issues surrounding interior quality, which will be made even more apparent by the abundance of screens in the new Velar.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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