Throughout its long history, Alfa Romeo has created extraordinary vehicles powered by engines with exceptional performance. The engines from the Biscione automotive company have always captivated enthusiasts, earning a place among the best ever produced, not just in Italy. But which have been the most powerful engines in the brand’s history?
Alfa Romeo: the most powerful engines ever made by the Biscione
Starting with the “least” powerful of this rank, in fifth place we find a model that takes us back to 1967. That year, Alfa Romeo created one of its greatest masterpieces: the legendary 33 Stradale, a compact two-seater sports car weighing only 600 kg, which has now returned in a special and very limited edition. Its heart was a 2.0-liter V8 capable of producing 260 horsepower in its first version, allowing the car to reach 290 km/h. These were extraordinary performance figures for a car from over half a century ago.
In fourth place, we find an engine that has become legendary: the famous 24-valve Busso 3.2 V6. This powered the Alfa Romeo 159, including the Sportwagon version, and the Brera, also available in Spider version, and produced 260 horsepower. This was considerable power for its time, which helped consolidate the myth of the Italian six-cylinder.
On the lowest step of the podium, we find a latest-generation engine, more compact than its predecessors: the 1.3 four-cylinder which, combined with an electric motor, develops 280 horsepower. This is the powertrain that equips the Alfa Romeo Tonale, an SUV that will undergo some changes in the 2025 version.
The silver medal goes to the 280-horsepower 2.0 turbo engine that powers the Stelvio and Giulia Quadrifoglio, among the fastest cars ever made by the brand. But the absolute record belongs to the engine of the new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale: a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 gasoline engine capable of producing 620 horsepower, the highest power ever achieved by a Biscione engine.
This derives from the V6 that debuted on the Quadrifoglio versions of Giulia and Stelvio, upgraded to 520 horsepower with the 2023 restyling and further evolved to reach 540 horsepower on the exclusive Giulia GTA and GTAm.