2025 Acura ADX A-Spec vs. Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce: Who Do You Think You Are?

Motor Trend

2 days ago

When you're deciding which new car to buy, you're really asking yourself, 'Why do I like these cars I'm considering?' It's as much a question about your self-image as it is about practical considerations. Put another way, what are you going to do with your new car, and what is your new car going to do for you?
The 2025 Acura ADX A-Spec is a balanced, practical choice with better fuel economy than the Alfa Romeo Tonale 2.0T, while the Alfa offers superior performance and driving excitement. We had to pick a winner, but which one is best is really up to each individual buyer and what's important to them.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next
It's a very particular rabbit hole of introspection that leads someone to the admittedly small sporty compact premium crossover segment, but here you are. Maybe there are no hot hatches left that appeal to you. Maybe you like SUVs and are willing to spend more on a sportier, fancier model but still need something easy to park. However you got here, you'll be deciding between the 2025 Acura ADX and the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale. Field of Two
Few brands are really leaning into sportiness as a defining value anymore, and even fewer in the premium space (above mass market, below true luxury). Even fewer are going out of their way to inject enthusiasm into compact crossovers.
In one corner, we have Acura, which has somewhat recently refocused its identity on performance. The ADX is its smallest and least expensive SUV, derived from the well-established Honda HR-V and enhanced with considerably more power, amongst other alterations. It can be had with front-wheel drive if you need to save money, but we're sampling the top-shelf A-Spec Advance trim with all-wheel drive. It rings in at $45,350 to start and $46,915 as tested owing to Acura's strategy of bundling most options into its trim levels with few standalone extras for purchase. Incidentally, it's the most expensive ADX you can buy.
For that money, you get a 1.5-liter turbo-four making 190 hp and 179 lb-ft of torque. It's hooked to a continuously variable automatic transmission with a performance mode that fakes gear changes.
In the other corner, there's Alfa Romeo, which has staked its reputation on performance for well over a century. The Tonale is its least expensive model in the U.S. and has a near-identical twin in the Dodge Hornet (the Alfa was the original, for what it's worth). It comes exclusively with all-wheel drive and can be had with an even more powerful and efficient plug-in hybrid powertrain if you add 10 grand to the starting price.
We're keeping the MSRP down by zhuzhing up the gas-powered base model with the Veloce (Italian for 'fast') package, which includes electronically adjustable dampers and a bevy of comfort and convenience options that bring the $38,490 starting price up to $46,625 as tested. Apropos of nothing, a fully loaded Tonale is nearly $59,000.
Skipping the pricey PHEV, you still get a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder good for 268 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. Its automatic transmission has real gears, nine of them in total. Numbers Game
As each of these little buggers is hanging its hat on performance, let's get that out of the way first, and we'll keep it short. The Alfa absolutely mops the floor with the Acura, objectively speaking.
Pick your instrumented test, and the Tonale comes out ahead, usually well ahead. It's 2.2 seconds quicker to 60 mph and 1.73812 seconds quicker through the quarter mile. That's what an extra half liter of displacement and quicker shifting will do for you.
The ADX's 240-pound weight advantage isn't enough to close the gap in braking, either. The Tonale stops a full 10 feet shorter from 60 mph.
The Acura at least closes the gap in steady-state cornering, coming within 0.01 average lateral g of the Alfa. The delta opens right back up on our figure-eight course, though, where the Alfa completes a lap 0.9 second quicker while pulling 0.06 greater average g.
The only objective test in which the ADX bests the Tonale is EPA-rated fuel economy, and consequently, range. Here, it's the Alfa that's blown out of the fast lane with the Acura posting 25/30/27 mpg city/highway/combined and 378 miles of range to the Alfa's 21/29/24 mpg and 324 miles driving range.
It's worth pointing out you can get the Alfa up to 29 mpg combined, 360 total miles of range, including 33 miles of electric-only driving range by paying for the PHEV model, but it starts at $48,030. Talk Sporty to Me
Given the performance gulf, you should be unsurprised to learn the Alfa feels sportier than the Acura, too. The difference on the road, though, isn't as extreme until you're really hammering on these SUVs.
Here's the thing about the ADX: It feels pretty sporty in short bursts. Stomp on the throttle, and it scoots. Take a turn with some speed, and it handles sharply. It puts up a convincing performance, right up until you hit about 80 percent of its capability.
Driven beyond that, it falls on its face. Keep it floored for more than a few seconds, and you realize the initial acceleration drops off quickly, and manually 'shifting' the CVT is only useful on twisty roads. Really throw it into a corner, and it flops over. If you're buying this to replace your Integra, you'll be disappointed. Someone upgrading from an HR-V, though, will be thrilled.
The Alfa, on the other hand, wears its heart on its sleeve. It's sporty in every situation. The acceleration doesn't slack off as the revs and speed climb, not until you're well past the legal limit. It's no muscle car, but it feels quicker than any compact SUV needs to be.
It's no sports car, either, but you wouldn't know it in the corners. Chuck it in, and the Tonale handles like an Alfa, not an SUV. You can drive it as hard as you'd drive a Giulia Quadrifoglio and not faze it. If the driving experience is what matters to you, the Alfa is the only choice in its class.
In all likelihood, though, limit handling is not the only thing on your shopping list. As a consequence of its handling capabilities, even with its two-mode dampers set to comfort, the Alfa rides firmer than the Acura. It's an acceptable ride quality, to be sure, but certainly less plush during a commute or road trip. The ADX also tries harder at being a premium, luxury-adjacent product and as a result is a little quieter inside on the highway. The Rest of the Car
Performance is the only characteristic in which these two cars are so clearly differentiated. In every other factor we investigated, we found two vehicles from opposite ends of the Earth somehow extremely similar and with strengths that always seemed to offset their weaknesses when compared against one another.
Take design. We think the Alfa is without question the prettier car on the outside, though Acura's done a commendable job of beautifying the homely HR-V. On the inside, though, we found the Acura to be richer and more attractive, particularly as you move rearward from the dashboard. Then again, the Alfa's seats were more comfortable.
Similarly, we find the Acura's wider, more open cargo area preferrable to the Alfa's narrower space with its adjustable floor height. Then again, we'd much rather put friends and family in the back seat of the Alfa because, despite both being tight on legroom, the Acura's floor is much higher and puts your knees closer to your chest.
Then there's the tech. While we like the infotainment software in the Alfa better than that in the Acura, the Italian instrument cluster is a user nightmare. Two different physical buttons in two different places control it, along with menus buried in the touchscreen. Trying to change anything on the digital cluster is a treasure hunt at best. The Tonale does at least offer both USB-A and USB-C ports, so you don't have to buy new charging cables. Acura went all in on USB-C.
Here, too, the difference in trim levels makes itself known. The ADX comes standard with the AcuraWatch suite of active and passive driver aids—everything from adaptive cruise control to excellent lane centering and blind-spot monitoring. This loaded model gets a 360-degree camera, parking sensors, and auto high-beams.
The Tonale, meanwhile, isn't as well equipped. It gets adaptive cruise and blind-spot monitoring and a basic lane keeping system. If you want better, you need to pony up for the $1,250 Active Assist package, or if you really want the best, buy a more expensive trim level and pop for the $2,000 Active Assist Advanced package. Now, though, you're in for thousands of dollars more than the Acura. How to Choose
With each flawed in some ways and outperforming its competition in others, deciding between the two was far more difficult than we'd anticipated. Though ostensibly aimed at the same customer, each chases a different use case. It forces the buyer to decide whether they really want a hot hatch on stilts or a more practical grown-up car.
We're not going to tell you to get the Tonale because it's full of character and more fun in a corner. We're also not going to tell you to get the Acura, despite its performance deficit, just because it gets better fuel economy and no one takes their compact premium crossover to the track. It's up to you to decide what kind of buyer you are. If the driving experience matters most to you, get the Alfa. For all other, more rational considerations, the Acura is our winner. 2nd Place: 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce Pros Sportiest of its kind
Real looker
Has personality Cons Worse on gas
Middling technology features
Louder inside
Verdict: The better choice for the hot-hatch graduate looking for a compact premium crossover that's rewarding to drive.
1st Place: 2025 Acura ADX A-Spec Pros Richer and quieter interior
Better on gas
Better, more accessible tech Cons Loses composure when driven hard
Worse rear seat
No personality
Verdict: The better all-around choice for the compact premium crossover shopper, even if it's not as exciting.