- For: Performance, practicality, handling
- Against: It’s a Seat with a fancy badge, bronze detailing
- Verdict: Cast your cynicism aside: this is a credible fast SUV
It would be easy to dismiss the Cupra Ateca as a marketing exercise. It is, after all, little more than a pumped-up Seat Ateca with some bronze badges.
Leave your cynicism at the door, however, because the Cupra is a performance SUV of some merit. In fact, when viewed in the context of rivals like the Porsche Macan and Audi SQ5, it’s quite a bargain.
Let’s remember that power is sourced from the same 300hp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine found in the previous Volkswagen Golf R, while four-wheel drive keeps the Cupra on the straight and narrow.
It’ll hit 62mph in just 4.9 seconds, plus a limited top speed of 155mph. The only downside is 32.5mpg economy – or considerably less if you get carried away.
You also get the same practicality as the regular Ateca, a long list of standard equipment and a pair of hip-hugging bucket seats.
Put the Cupra Ateca down as a guilty pleasure, then. It isn’t as convincing as the smaller and newer Cupra Formentor – the Spanish brand’s first standalone car – but it appeals to both heart and head.
KEY INFO
- Launched: 2018
- Facelifted: 2020
- Due for replacement: TBC
Rivals: Audi Q2, Volkswagen T-Roc, Peugeot 3008