Cupra Formentor - Should You Buy One in 2022?

BUY, LEASE OR FINANCE A CUPRA FORMENTOR FROM OSV: https://bit.ly/3EPcfHo

The CUPRA performance brand strikes out on its own with the Formentor, a lively Spanish take on the mid-sized performance SUV concept. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Market and Model

You'll probably need a budget starting at well over £27,000, even for the entry-level 1.5-litre TSI model. Lesser variants have 'V1' and 'V2' trim options. The top 310PS 2.0 TSI 4Drive flagship version sticks with the top 'VZ2', 'VZ3' and 'VZ Edition' trim options, and prices from just under £40,000. The name VZ comes from the word 'Veloz' in Spanish, translating as 'Speed' or 'Fast'. Even with base 'V1' trim, customers get quite a lot: 18-inch alloy wheels, a 12-inch infotainment touchscreen with connected navigation, a 10-inch digital driver binnacle, LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, Adaptive Cruise Control, a wireless smartphone charger, a leather steering wheel and rear parking sensors.

With the 'VZ2', you also get 19-inch wheels, a powered tailgate, a heated steering wheel and a rear view camera. From 'VZ2' trim upwards (which, as we said, means the 310PS 2.0 TSI variants), there's leather upholstery, powered front bucket seats, leather trim for the dash and doors. There's also a 'Safety and Driving Pack', which gives you Dynamic road sign display, High Beam Assist, Side Assist (effectively a blind spot monitor), Exit Assist (offering audible and visual warnings of approaching traffic when opening doors), Lane Change Assist and Emergency Assist. The 'VZ3' adds 19-inch 'Exclusive' copper/black alloy wheels and Brembo brakes.

Cost of Ownership

If you really care about efficiency in a Performance SUV, then it's to the 'e-HYBRID' Formentor models you'll be looking. We already mentioned that these offer an electric only range of 31 miles on the WLTP cycle. Powering a PHEV CUPRA Formentor up from a domestic socket would take around five hours, but using a garage wallbox, you'll be able to reduce your charging time period to around three and a half hours. At the other end of the scale sit the 2.0 TSI 310PS 4Drive versions of this car with their DSG auto transmission. These are WLTP-rated at between 31.4mpg and 33.2mpg on the combined cycle and up to 193g/km of CO2. The 1.5 TSI manages up to 44.8mpg and 143g/km in manual form.

Less impressive is the three year/60,000 mile warranty cover. The paintwork warranty lasts for three years and, as you'd expect, this car is protected by a 12-year anti-corrosion package. The Formentor e-HYBRID has a separate eight year battery warranty, which also covers the battery for up to 100,000 miles. For insurance purposes, Thatcham rate the 2.0 TSI DSG-auto 4Drive 310 model in group 33P.

Summary

With this Formentor, the story of the CUPRA brand has at last begun in earnest. It's difficult to forge your own identity when you've spent most of your time helping to define performance models from another brand, in this case SEAT. But with this car, the whole 'Iberian Alfa Romeo' thing starts to make some sort of sense.

After all, the Formentor is (potentially) fast, practical, interesting to look at and, for the time being anyway, you might even think it to be a touch exotic. Whether you actually get what's been promised here - essentially a Porsche Macan, a BMW X4 or a Mercedes GLC Coupe distilled down into something more affordable - is a judgement you might actually rather enjoy making. We're not quite convinced, but we have seen enough to feel hopeful about the CUPRA brand's future. Can there really be 'latin spirit in every one'? If the marque can deliver that, there's a place for it in the market.

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