Alfa Romeo Stelvio QV sets Nurburgring record for fastest SUV

One of Italy’s few SUVs had made a case for its existence with a Nurburgring lap record.

Posting an impressive time of 7:51.7, the Stelvio QV is now the fastest production SUV around the Green Hell.

Behind the wheel was Fabio Francia, who drove the Guilia QV to a record for fastest four-door sedan around the ‘Ring.

The 375kW SUV shares a drivetrain with the Guilia QV, but is all-wheel-drive and is claimed by Alfa to have a ‘perfect 50-50 weight distribution’ between the front and rear.

Additionally, Alfa Romeo says the eight-speed which is mated to the 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 shifts gears in 150 milliseconds in race mode.

This all adds up to a lap time that stomps the Porsche Cayenne’s previous record by eight seconds.

“We specifically engineered and designed the Stelvio Quadrifoglio to set world-class benchmarks and it did not disappoint with a world-record Nürburgring lap time of 7 minutes and 51.7 seconds,” says Alfa Romeo boss Reid Bigland.

“We’re proud to now hold two Nürburgring lap time records with the Giulia Quadrifoglio as the fastest four-door production sedan and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio as the fastest production SUV.”

But not everyone is perfectly satisfied with the record just yet.

Kicked off by a post from BridgeToGantry, the internet has begun to poke holes in Alfa’s claim. A few edits in the video which allegedly appear to be cutting and adding time to the lap make the video appear to be inaccurate.

However, a certified lap of the Nürburgring is hard to falsify to those who were present, and an official timer doesn’t need to use a YouTube video as proof.

Though FCA Australia has confirmed the Stelvio is coming to Oz in early 2018, a timeframe for the arrival of the Quadrifoglio has not been announced.