Cupra Ateca Estate

• Body Glass
  • Dark tinted rear windows
  • Front and rear electric windows
  • Rear wash/wipe
• Brakes
  • ABS, Traction control system (TCS), Electronic stability control (ESC) and Electronic differential lock system (XDS)
  • Black brake callipers with CUPRA logo
  • Electric parking brake with auto hold function
  • Front assist with autonomous emergency braking
  • Hill hold control
• Chassis/Suspension
  • CUPRA sport suspension
• Communication
  • E-call
  • Wireless full link smartphone integration
• Driver Aids
  • Cruise control system with speed limiter
  • CUPRA drive profile - Normal, sport, CUPRA and individual modes and Hydraulic damper control (DCC)
  • Front and rear view camera
  • Progressive power assisted steering
  • Self parking functionality (includes front and rear parking sensors)
  • Top view camera
• Driver Convenience
  • Wireless phone charger
• Driver Information
  • Digital cockpit
  • Outside temperature gauge
  • Trip computer
• Driving Mirrors
  • Door mirrors with welcome CUPRA light silhouette
  • Electric adjustable/heated/folding door mirrors
  • Gloss black door mirrors
• Entertainment
  • Steering wheel mounted audio/phone controls
• Exterior Body Features
  • Body colour bumpers with dark aluminium diffusor
  • Body coloured wheel arch surrounds
  • Front grille frame in chrome
  • Gloss black roof rails
  • Gloss black side mouldings
  • Gloss black side window trim
  • Illuminated aluminium front door sill
  • Rear side wing doors
  • Rear spoiler
  • Specific CUPRA design front bumper
  • Visible twin black exhaust pipes in both sides with dark aluminium diffuser
• Exterior Lights
  • Daytime running lights
  • Dynamic headlight range control with self adjusting whilst driving
  • Full LED headlamps with lens and LED front fog lamps with cornering function
  • LED rear tail lights with dynamic indicators
  • Rear fog lights
  • Third brake light
• Heating/Cooling/Ventilation
  • Dual zone climate control
• Interior Features
  • 12v socket in front
  • Aluminium pedals
  • Black roof lining
  • Bucket sport seats in dinamica upholstery
  • Cupra steering wheel emblem
  • Document holder under left front seat
  • Front centre armrest
  • Heated steering wheel
  • Leather steering wheel and gear knob
  • Pedal cluster
  • Sports steering wheel
  • Steering wheel mounted gearshift paddles
  • Storage compartment in roof console for sunglass
  • Storage compartment under driver's seat
• Interior Lights
  • Multicoloured ambient lighting with LED interior illumination
• Packs
  • Convenience pack - Ateca
  • Interior lighting pack - Ateca
  • Navigation system plus pack with DAB - Ateca
  • Safety and driving pack - Ateca
• Safety
  • 3x3 point rear seatbelts
  • Airbags - Driver and front passenger airbag with deactivation, front side, two curtain and driver's knee airbags
  • Front and rear seatbelt reminder
  • Manual rear child locks
  • Single tone horn
  • Tiredness recognition system
  • Tyre pressure monitoring system
• Seats
  • 3 seat bench in 2nd row
  • 60/40 split folding rear seat
  • Front and rear head restraints
  • Front seat back storage pockets
  • Height adjustable driver and passenger seat with lumbar adjustment
  • ISOFIX points in outer rear seats with top tether anchorage points
  • Rear armrest and easy back seat release mechanism from boot
  • Single front passenger seat
• Security
  • Alarm
  • Keyless entry
  • Locking wheel bolts

• Emissions - ICE
  • HC+NOx:
  • NOx: 0.02
  • Particles:
  • Standard Euro Emissions: EURO 6
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb: 205
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb - TEH: 216
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb - TEL: 205
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Extra High: 204
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - High: 176
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Low: 278
  • WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Medium: 199
• Engine and Drive Train
  • Camshaft: DOHC
  • Catalytic Convertor: Yes
  • CC: 1,984
  • Compression Ratio: 9.3:1
  • Cylinder Layout: IN-LINE
  • Cylinders: 4
  • Cylinders - Bore (mm): 82.5
  • Cylinders - Stroke (mm): 92.8
  • Engine Layout: FRONT TRANSVERSE
  • Fuel Delivery: TURBO DIRECT INJECTION
  • Gears: 7 SPEED
  • Number of Valves: 16
  • Transmission: SEMI-AUTO
• Fuel Consumption - ICE
  • EC Directive 1999/100/EC Applies: No
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb: 9
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb - TEH: 9.3
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb - TEL: 9
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Extra High: 9
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - High: 7.8
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Low: 12.2
  • WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Medium: 8.8
  • WLTP - MPG - Comb: 31.4
  • WLTP - MPG - Comb - TEH: 30.4
  • WLTP - MPG - Comb - TEL: 31.4
  • WLTP - MPG - Extra High: 31.4
  • WLTP - MPG - High: 36.2
  • WLTP - MPG - Low: 23.2
  • WLTP - MPG - Medium: 32.1
• General
  • Alternative Fuel Qualifying: No
  • Badge Engine CC: 2.0
  • Badge Power: 300
  • Based On ID:
  • Coin Description: TSI
  • Coin Series: VZ1
  • Insurance Group 1 - 50 Effective January 07: 30E
  • Man Corrosion Perforation Guarantee - Years: 12
  • Manufacturers Paintwork Guarantee - Years: 3
  • NCAP Adult Occupant Protection %:
  • NCAP Child Occupant Protection %:
  • NCAP Overall Rating - Effective February 09:
  • NCAP Pedestrian Protection %:
  • NCAP Safety Assist %:
  • Safety Concerns?: No
  • Special Edition: No
  • Special Order: No
  • Standard manufacturers warranty - Mileage: 90,000
  • Standard manufacturers warranty - Years: 5
  • Vehicle Homologation Class: M1
• Performance
  • 0 to 60 mph (secs): No
  • 0 to 62 mph (secs): 4.9
  • Engine Power - BHP: 300
  • Engine Power - KW: 221
  • Engine Power - PS: Yes
  • Engine Power - RPM: 5,300
  • Engine Torque - LBS.FT: 295
  • Engine Torque - MKG: 40.8
  • Engine Torque - NM: 400
  • Engine Torque - RPM: 2000
  • Top Speed: 155
• Test Cycles
  • Emissions Test Cycle: WLTP
  • RDE Certification Level: RDE 2
• Tyres
  • Alloys?: Yes
  • Space Saver?: No
  • Tyre Size Front: 245/40 R19
  • Tyre Size Rear: 245/40 R19
  • Tyre Size Spare: TYRE REPAIR KIT
  • Wheel Style: SPORT
  • Wheel Type: 19" ALLOY
• Vehicle Dimensions
  • Height: 1,599
  • Height (including roof rails): 1,613
  • Length: 4,386
  • Wheelbase: 2,630
  • Width: 1841
• Weight and Capacities
  • Fuel Tank Capacity (Litres): 55
  • Gross Vehicle Weight: 2,130
  • Luggage Capacity (Seats Up): 485
  • Max. Loading Weight: 577
  • Max. Towing Weight - Braked: 2,100
  • Max. Towing Weight - Unbraked: 750
  • Minimum Kerbweight: 1,553
  • No. of Seats: 5
  • Turning Circle - Kerb to Kerb: 10.8

Ten Second Review
CUPRA is a name you might be familiar with, but not as a brand in its own right. It used to be merely a badge adorning fast SEATs. Now it's been launched as a stand-alone marque and its first product is this mid-sized SUV, the CUPRA Ateca. With 300PS from a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine, it packs a decent punch.

Background
For years, we've been told that Spanish maker SEAT is a kind of 'Iberian Alfa Romeo'. In the CUPRA though, it has an automotive brand with a much more credible claim to that description. You'll probably know the name, but only as a sporty trim designation that goes back to 1996, since when it's been used on a whole string of Ibiza and Leon hot hatches. Now, SEAT wants CUPRA to mean more, creating, in its words, 'a range of unique, sophisticated performance models designed to captivate car enthusiasts.' This of course is just a starting point; no fewer than seven CUPRA models will be available through the freshly formed CUPRA dealer network by 2021, including the bespoke design that will effectively replace this car, the CUPRA Formentor. The idea, says the company, is 'to create cars not founded in nostalgia but rooted in the present'. Presumably, that's meant to be a dig at directly competing brands like Alfa Romeo and MINI, both of which produce products this CUPRA Ateca sets out to directly target: namely, quick, charismatic petrol-powered mid-sized SUVs, cars that offer a lot of what you get in, say, a Porsche Macan for a great deal less money. That sounds an interesting market niche. Can this car fill it? Let's find out.

Driving Experience
In terms of the engineering behind this car, there's nothing we haven't seen before in a Volkswagen Group model, but the CUPRA engineers credit themselves with bringing all the various ingredients together in a form never previously seen in one of the Wolfsburg conglomerate's SUVs. The elements in question include a 300PS 2.0-litre TSI turbo petrol engine borrowed from the VW Golf R, a seven-speed DSG gearbox, a Haldex four-wheel drive system and stiff, strong modular MQB architecture. Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive dampers are also standard-fit and there are six driving settings, including a choice of 'Comfort', 'Sport' or max-attack 'CUPRA' driving modes. This car sits 10mm closer to the road than an ordinary Ateca and uses retuned springs and dampers along with big 19-inch wheels, so the ride quality will inevitably be firmer than that of a standard Ateca model but of course body control and corner turn-in will be of a different order too. It's satisfyingly rapid, rest to 62mph occupying 4.9s en route to 152mph flat out.

Design and Build
We like the performance styling; dialled up a bit over an ordinary Ateca, with big 19-inch rims filling the extended arches. But not too 'Max Power'. The same is true inside, where CUPRA Ateca buyers enjoy part-leather sports seats, Alcantara on the doors, textured mouldings and leather on the steering wheel. It's not quite enough to disguise the many cheaper plastic mouldings that betray this car's humbler origins, though the designers have done their best, liberally using high-gloss black trim and chrome embellishment. There's plenty of technical sophistication too, with a now-upgraded 9.2-inch centre-dash display and a 10.25-inch fully-digital instrument cluster. The Ateca is one of the smallest mid-sized SUVs you can buy, so you shouldn't expect too much in terms of rear seat space. Actually, a couple of adults can be accommodated quite comfortably, though there are no seat sliding or seat back-reclining features to make occupants a little more comfortable. Out back, because this is a four-wheel-drive Ateca, it has a slightly shallower boot than some of its range stablemates, but one that's still a reasonable size at 485-litres. The boot is accessed by a standard powered tailgate (one of those you can activate by waving your foot beneath the bumper) and will easily swallow a couple of big cases and a pushchair.

Market and Model
CUPRA Ateca pricing starts from around £38,000 - or around double the cost of the humblest, most feebly-powered standard-model Ateca. Yes. And you can spend more. Go for the optional 'Comfort & Sound' pack' and you'll be paying a fraction over £40,000. There's an even plusher 'Limited Edition' variant with 'Copper' carbonfibre trimming elements for just under £43,000, which you can have with a rortier Akrapovic sports exhaust for £3,000 more if you're really determined to bolster the Cupra brand's bank balance. All versions do of course get the expected high levels of infotainment and connectivity, the 8-inch centre-dash touchscreen offering the latest generation of the SEAT 'Full Link' package which includes 'Apple CarPlay' and 'AndroidAuto' smartphone-mirroring. The system will also read out new text, Twitter and Facebook messages and let you dictate a reply. It's even got the capability to let you set up your own screen gestures to shortcut to your most popular commands. Plus there's a range of clever remote features accessible through a downloadable SEAT DriveApp. Other standard kit includes keyless entry and start, a wireless charger, a GSM signal booster for your 'phone, a 360-degree top view camera system, navigation and automated 'park assist' to steer you into space: all this comes as standard. Plus there's a fully digital instrument cluster - the brand calls it a 'Digital Cockpit' - which allows the driver to view all information that might be relevant, from classic analogue dials such as a speedometer and rev counter to full-colour maps and navigation.

Cost of Ownership
The CUPRA brand quotes a 32.5mpg combined cycle WLTP-rated economy figure and a 197g/km WLTP-rated CO2 reading, which is reasonable for such a high performance SUV. Residual values are a bit of an unknown. If the CUPRA brand takes off, they could strengthen nicely but for the time being, the market will tend to view this as merely just a very expensive Ateca. So buyers will need to be a bit brave. What else? Well CUPRA products get SEAT's usual three year/60,000 mile warranty. That's unexceptional when rivals like Toyota and Hyundai offer five years of cover as standard and Kia offers up to seven years. However, the CUPRA deal is extendable, so you might be able to negotiate on that. And it includes two years of Europe-wide roadside assistance.

Summary
In theory, the CUPRA Ateca makes sense. Combine the engine, gearbox and drivetrain of an acclaimed hot hatchback (in this case the VW Golf R) with the trendy, timely and practical body style of a compact mid-sized SUV. In practice though, you wonder whether all of this has been put together in a special enough way to justify the premium prices being asked here. The Spanish brand says that there's no other marque quite like it in the current market, which is true. But there are plenty of products that are quite similar, all from much better established nameplates. For all of that though, this Iberian contender represents something a bit different in its segment and that's refreshing. CUPRA reckons there's latin spirit in every one. And if you like the thought of that and you're willing to give something new a try, then this Ateca might well be an interesting option.