Cupra Formentor Review (2020-present)

What is the Cupra Formentor?

At its core, the Cupra Formentor is a compact SUV like any other, in a similar vein to myriad crossover rivals such as the Skoda Karoq, Nissan Qashqai, and Honda HR-V. However, being a Cupra - the sporty Spanish performance brand that once formed part of Seat, but was then spun off to become a brand in its own right - it has more of a performance focus than most.

This manifests itself in a number of ways. Firstly, there’s the styling, which delivers bold detailing at the front, and a rakish coupe-like roofline and bulging haunches at the rear. To be fair, this coupe-SUV approach isn’t exactly a rarity in the class these days, with sleekly styled rivals such as the Renault Arkana, Volvo EC40, Toyota C-HR, and BMW X2 employing much the same tactic.

Where the Cupra differs from most of those rivals, though, is that this sporty attitude translates to the way the car drives as well as to the styling. The range of petrol and plug-in-hybrid powertrains goes from perky to potty in terms of performance, while the driving experience is tailored to put athleticism over opulence.

The range works in a kind of two-tier system. The less powerful versions come in V1, V2 and V3 trim levels with increasing amounts of luxury kit, while the more powerful variants are offered in VZ1, VZ2, and VZ3 trims, which comes with more kit still and an adaptive suspension as standard. Spoiler alert: these are worth having due to that last item alone.

How practical is it?

If you’re looking for a practical family car, then the Formentor’s rakish roofline might be a worry. It needn’t be. The rear seats still have more than enough headroom for tall adults to get comfortable, helped further by a surprisingly generous amount of rear legroom. Yes, some boxier compact SUVs are a wee bit roomier, but the stylish Formentor punches well above its weight on this score, and has the measure of several other rivals.

That said, you might not want to try and carry three people in the back of the Formentor on a regular basis, because the cabin is a little too narrow to accommodate them comfortably, no matter how well-acquainted they are.

The size of the boot space you get depends on which version you go for. The plug-in hybrid versions have the least at 345 litres, while versions with four-wheel drive have 420 litres, but all other versions get a larger 450-litre loadspace. The rear seats fold flat in a 60/40 split when you need to carry bigger loads, and they lie almost flat, with only a shallow slope left in your extended loadbay.

On the quality front, the Formentor feels pretty plush by mainstream standards, with plenty of interior surfaces that are either soft to the touch or have a glossy finish. There are a few harder, less appealing panels dotted around, mainly in the lower reaches of the cabin, but although these mean that the Cupra can’t dust it with the likes of Audi and BMW for outright swankiness, they aren’t numerous enough or low-rent enough to ruin the overall feeling of solidity and sophistication.

What’s it like to drive?

Early on in its life, the Formentor was offered with a range of six four-cylinder turbo powertrains. On the lower-end V models, the entry-level engine was the 148bhp 1.5 TSI petrol, fitted with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed automatic. Either way, it’d do 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds.

Then came the 187bhp 2.0 TSI, which trimmed the 0-62mph sprint time to 7.1 seconds. The e-Hybrid plug-in hybrid model came next, which combined a 1.4-litre petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver a combined 201bhp. Despite its extra power over the 2.0 TSI, though, it was also a bit heavier, so the 0-62mph was actually a little slower at 7.8 seconds. It would also do up to 38 miles on electric power.

The racier VZ models had pokier powertrains. These started with 242bhp versions of both the 1.4 plug-in hybrid and the 2.0-litre petrol. The PHEV did 0-62mph in 7.0 seconds, while the 2.0 trimmed that to 6.8 seconds. At the top of the range sat another version of the 2.0-litre, this time with 306bhp (the same engine used in the VW Golf R, T-Roc R, Cupra Ateca hatchback and Cupra Leon), giving a 0-62mph sprint time of 4.9 sec.

All but the entry-level petrol came exclusively with a DSG dual-clutch automatic gearbox, a seven-speeder for most, but a six-speeder in the case of the PHEVs. All the 2.0-litre versions had 4Drive all-wheel drive, while all the others were front-wheel drive.

Later on, the engine range changed a bit. The entry-level 148bhp 1.5 petrol remained, but the petrol engines in the plug-hybrids changed from a 1.4 to a 1.5, although the power outputs remained the same at 201bhp and 268bhp.

The V-trimmed 187bhp version of the 2.0-litre was dropped entirely, while in the VZ version with the same engine, power was upped from 242bhp to 261bhp. In the range-topping 2.0-litre, meanwhile, power was hiked from 306bhp to 328bhp.

So far, we’ve only had the chance to drive the versions at either end of the range, the 148bhp 1.5 fitted with the automatic gearbox, and the range-topping hot-hatch-botherer. The former is slightly confounding in its character. For those who just like the Formentor for its style and size, and aren’t worried about having a sporty car, then the level of performance will be absolutely fine, feeling capable but unremarkable. For those who want their Formentor to have the sporty edge its makers desired, however, it’ll be too underwhelming, so they’ll want one of the more powerful options. They might also not like the way that the engine often has to work quite hard to maintain progress: it’s not overly noisy, but neither is it the effortlessly muscular character you might expect from a car like the Formentor.

V models have a regular passive suspension as standard, and this does deliver a slightly racy character. There’s a distinctly firm edge to the ride, so you’re kept well abreast of the state of the road surface beneath you, but it stops short of being uncomfortable, and only the worst lumps and bumps will trouble it. It’s still true that many small SUV rivals are comfier, though.

The range-topper couldn’t be more different. For starters, the performance on offer has all the ferocity you expect, with the prodigious power and four-wheel-drive traction combining to have you hurtling towards the horizon at a pulse-quickening rate, and that’s whether you’re pulling away from a standstill or picking up speed on the move. The engine sounds good, too. Select one of the car’s racier driving modes -such as Cupra mode - and the throttle pedal becomes more sensitive, and the automatic gearshifts become quicker and cloutier, adding a little more spice to proceedings.

Those racier driving modes also cause the adaptive suspension that you get as standard on VZ cars to hunker down, keeping tight control over vertical body movements for crisper direction changes, and combined with quick, weighty steering, the Formentor is good fun to throw along a bendy b-road. And when the road - and your enthusiasm - straightens out, you simply select a more relaxed mode, where the suspension softens off to provide a good level of comfort, both at low speed and on the motorway.

Technology, equipment and infotainment

The Formentor range is a kind of two-tier arrangement, comprising the more modest V-badged model with their less powerful engines, and the racier VZ models.

The range starts with V1 trim, which gets alloy wheels, tinted rear windows, LED lighting all round with active high-beam headlights, rain-sensing wipers, front- and rear parking sensors, keyless entry and start, interior ambient lighting, sporty bucket seats, and adaptive cruise control.

V2 trim adds to that with powered driver’s seat adjustment, heated front seats, vegan suede upholstery, powered tailgate with virtual pedal, power folding door mirrors, and a rear-view camera. On top of that, the V3 version adds leather upholstery, a 360-degree top-view camera, intelligent park assist, advanced lane assist, traffic jam assist, and blind spot assist.

The key difference with VZ cars apart from having more power is that these all come with the Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive suspension as standard. Otherwise, VZ1 cars have an equipment level comparable to V2 cars, and VZ2 cars are comparable to V3 cars. VZ3 cars, meanwhile, get high-performance brakes, part-carbon-fibre front seats, extra airbags and an upgraded 12-speaker Sennheiser stereo system to replace the seven speakers you get in other versions.

While we’re on the subject of infotainment, all versions of the Formentor get a ‘digital cockpit’ driver information display behind the steering wheel as a substitute for traditional dials, and it looks good and works pretty well. All versions also get a central touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard, and the standard infotainment system offering includes voice control, DAB, wireless phone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, and four USB-C ports. The screen measures 12 inches on early Formentors, but this was increased to 12.9 inches during the 2024 facelift, and the software and user interface were also overhauled in the new car.

Either way, the system looks good with sharp graphics, and it’s quick to respond, but rather too many of the features and functions are tricky to find due to ambiguous designed on-screen icons and convoluted menus. The touch-sensitive sliders on the centre console underneath the screen for controlling the stereo volume and cabin temperature (doing anything more involved with the climate control system requires delving into yet another touchscreen menu, annoyingly) are also needless fripperies when simple buttons or knobs would do the job better. At least the buttons on the steering wheel are less easy to hit by accident than the touch-sensitive alternatives found on other VW-Group cars, including some Cupras.

Cupra Formentor running costs

The Cupra isn’t a cheap car compared with many similarly sized SUV alternatives, but that’s probably not much of a surprise given its sporty nature and aspirational intentions. Starting prices for brand new version currently stand at more than £33,000, while the range-topping version costs upwards of £51,000. That’s a lot for a small SUV, even one with 300-plus horsepower.

Resale values are reasonably strong, though, thanks to the Formentor’s desirable image and relative rarity, meaning those who buy new will enjoy decent protection of their investment, and those who buy on finance will enjoy slightly lower monthly payments. Those who buy used will pay slightly more for their cars, though.

Fuel returns should be pretty reasonable on most versions. According to official WLTP figures, entry-level 1.5 petrol versions should do up to 45 mpg on average, while the mid-range 2.0-litre options should return around 37 mpg. The range-topping performance version returns a little less at 33 mpg, but given its level of power, that’s to be expected.

Go for one of the plug-in hybrids, and the official WLTP fuel figure sits at anywhere between 188 mpg and 706 mpg. Why such a big difference? Well, because while early examples of the PHEV could do around 38 miles on electric-only power, revisions to the powertrain during the 2024 facelift - including a bigger 19.7kWh (usable capacity) battery - upped this range to 74 miles, bringing up the average mpg with it. However, all those figures are total pie-in-the-sky territory, because the official laboratory tests are unrealistically flattering to plug-in hybrids, so don’t expect anything like that in the real world. Keep your battery topped-up and your journeys short, and you’ll hardly use a drop of petrol. Let your battery run down, though, and your car probably won’t be much gentler on fuel than the 300-horsepower range-topper.

Charging up your battery from empty to full will take between four and five hours on a regular 7.4kW home wallbox charger (although earlier examples of the PHEV will take longer as these only supported AC charging at up to 3.6kW), and assuming your domestic power is charged at the UK’s national average rate, it’ll cost around £6 (less for earlier examples with the smaller battery).

Cupra Formentor reliability

The 2023 What Car? Reliability survey made very alarming reading for Cupra customers, because the brand sat at the foot of the manufacturer standings due to a spate of rather serious electrical glitches. The 2024 edition of the same study tells a much happier story, however, because it seems that those glitches have been ironed out, and as a result, Cupra has climbed a long way up the table, to 17th out of the 31 carmakers considered. The Formentor itself put in an unremarkable showing, coming in 25th of 33 models in the Family SUV category.

Early versions of the Formentor - like all Cupras of the time - came with the Volkswagen Group’s bog-standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty package, which is rather disappointing next to what you get from the likes of Toyota, Kia and Hyundai. Later on, however, Cupra took the decision to improve on the offering of its overlord by upping its warranty coverage to five years, or 90,000 miles, whichever expires first. New Cupra Formentors ordered from April 2024 get this improved level of cover.