Long-term report: Is the Cupra Formentor a car with a mixed personality?

By Staff reporter
Published 16th Oct 2023, 11:50 GMT
Updated 16th Oct 2023, 11:55 GMT
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Anyone who follows my long-term reports will know that I spend a lot of time on the road, and on a lot of different types of roads too. When I’m not out filming, I’m often running around town, heading to the beach in Southport which is two miles down the road, to take my dog for a walk.

For work though, I’m often traipsing up and down the M6 doing a 260-mile round trip to film on the south coast, and all that time gives me a lot of opportunity to think about my long-termer and what it’s actually like to live with.

One thing is for sure, having the power from the 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine linked to a smooth seven-speed automatic gearbox makes those motorway miles fly by with ease. Stick it in comfort mode and it’ll sit there quite comfortably at 70mph, but when you need to overtake, you can simply tap one of the paddles behind the steering wheel and give it some gas, and before you know it you’ve passed whatever it was you wanted to overtake.placeholder image
One thing is for sure, having the power from the 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine linked to a smooth seven-speed automatic gearbox makes those motorway miles fly by with ease. Stick it in comfort mode and it’ll sit there quite comfortably at 70mph, but when you need to overtake, you can simply tap one of the paddles behind the steering wheel and give it some gas, and before you know it you’ve passed whatever it was you wanted to overtake.

It has got me thinking though. Our Formentor is essentially a high-performance car; it’ll do the 0-60mph dash in under five seconds and keep going to a limited top speed of 155mph.

However, for those who don’t know that the Formentor essentially has Golf R underpinnings, then there’s very little to separate it from other more ‘tamer’ Formentors. That does make it something of a sleeper really, but the question is, if you’re in the market for a practical high-performance family crossover, and you’re spending just short of fifty thousand pounds, would you want it to be a little bit more showy?placeholder image
However, for those who don’t know that the Formentor essentially has Golf R underpinnings, then there’s very little to separate it from other more ‘tamer’ Formentors. That does make it something of a sleeper really, but the question is, if you’re in the market for a practical high-performance family crossover, and you’re spending just short of fifty thousand pounds, would you want it to be a little bit more showy?

It was a question that was raised this month when we were filming it as part of a group test with other performance-based cars. We shot it alongside a VW Golf GTi and a Mercedes A35 AMG, and the general consensus was that it kind of felt a little out of place alongside such illustrious competition. Yes, it might be more practical, and it might be one of the quickest of the three that we drove back to back, but the point of a performance-based car is the feeling it gives you when you’re behind the wheel, and the Formentor just feels a bit like it’s not sure what it wants to be.

There are some elements that try to give it a bit more fun. For instance, the start-stop button on the steering wheel is a nice touch, and there are paddles behind the steering wheel when you want to drive in a more spirited fashion on twistier roads. But you don’t have to spend nearly fifty thousand pounds to get that. There’s also the artificial noise from the ‘Cupra’ mode which makes it feel a little boomier, but for anyone who has driven cars with authentic exhausts then you can’t help but feel it’s a bit too fake.placeholder image
There are some elements that try to give it a bit more fun. For instance, the start-stop button on the steering wheel is a nice touch, and there are paddles behind the steering wheel when you want to drive in a more spirited fashion on twistier roads. But you don’t have to spend nearly fifty thousand pounds to get that. There’s also the artificial noise from the ‘Cupra’ mode which makes it feel a little boomier, but for anyone who has driven cars with authentic exhausts then you can’t help but feel it’s a bit too fake.

Having said all that though, on the right road it is great fun, it just doesn’t have the same feeling of nimbleness or agility that you get from other hot hatchbacks.

The infotainment system continues to frustrate me too. I really hope this is something that is replaced or at least updated soon. Doing even simple tasks is quite distracting and when listening to voice notes, it reduces the volume so it’s inaudible, and won’t let me raise it. Plus, driving it at night, you can’t see the shortcut keys as they’re not illuminated. Very, very frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong though, it is proving more fun than many of the other long-termers I’ve had in the past, and as we move into the last month of our time with it, I will be sorry to see it go. One thing for sure though, those niggles, like the infotainment screen, won’t be missed.

  • Model: Cupra Formentor VZ3
  • Price as tested: £48,835
  • Engine: 2.0TSI 310PS 4Drive DSG
  • Power: 305bhp
  • Torque: 400Nm
  • Fuel economy: 32.8mpg
  • CO2: 194 g/km
  • 0-62mph: 4.9 seconds
  • Top speed: 155mph
  • Mileage: 1,248 miles
Related topics:Mercedes
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