At Cupra, Seat's sporty spinoff, they'll be releasing the fully-electric Born in the near future. However, in the meantime...
they now have a plug-in hybrid version of the Formentor. Basically, it's the same technology as Seat uses in the hybrid Leon.
The big question is, if that's still in line with the sporty image Cupra is trying to uphold.
When you get in, it immediately stands out that it's different than most of the sporty cars. It doesn't have aluminium accents or...
carbon panels or something. Instead, it's completely dark blue on the inside, with copper-colored parts.
We can find that around the vents and the stitching on the seats and dashboard. It's typically Cupra.
Other than that, the interior is based on what we already know from different Seat-cars. That means there are a lot of sharp lines and folds.
Also, there's barely any buttons on the dashboard. In front of me, I've got a fully digital instrument cluster,
which I'm able to customize to my own liking. On the dashboard, I've got a big multimedia screen which lets me operate pretty much everything.
And it's a bit too much if you ask me. If there were buttons on this dashboard, it would'nt have been a crime.
For example: sometimes you want to drive fully electrically in an EV, and most EV's have a button for that. In here however,
you have to pass through four menu's. And that takes up your attention, which you then can't use for the road.
Other than that, there are a few nice gimmicks. Take the start-button for example, which is now on the steering wheel. Always handy to...
have within reach in a corner. Right? And on the other side of the steering wheel is the driving mode selector.
That so-called Cupra-button actually is important to have within reach. And in the original spot for the start-button, is now the ESP-button.
I really like the seats in this car. They offer a lot of support, which is pleasant for longer journeys. However, it's also...
very pleasant when you start taking this sporty-minded car on dune roads. There's a lot of sideways support for cornering.
In the front, there's more than enough room for big people. And despite the sloped roof, in the back it's not bad either.
You're able to sit comfortably in the back, even if you are a larger person.
If we'll move even further back, there's a chance we'll feel disappointed. Because there's a battery pack underneath the floor,
there's only 345 litres of luggage space, and that's not exactly groundbreaking I'd say.
Anyway, it's all about the drivetrain in this car. It consists out of a 150 horsepower combustion engine, a 115 horsepower...
electric motor and a 6-speed DSG-gearbox. And the electronics decide the total power output, therefore it's available in two flavours.
There's a tamed-down version that produces 204 horsepower and there's a VZ-version, which produces 245 horsepower.
Right now, I'm driving the latter, and the moment you set off you can feel the drivetrain acting feisty.
However, it could've been more refined. Especially when it comes to the parts that have to work together.
Sometimes, I can feel the electronics hesitating. I mean, they react very well to the throttle, but after that it feels very doubtful.
It doesn't know what power source to address or what gear to use for a second, and that delay kind of ruins the spontanity.
And for a car that's meant to be sporty, that's too bad.
The chassis is nicely balanced. It's nice and rigid on the road and it feels very solid.
And the same goes for the corners. The chassis keeps the drivetrain in line very nicely.
The steering feels very nice as well. It's relatively light, but very direct as well. You don't have to steer a lot to get it in the right direction.
The chassis is neatly in line with what you'd expect from a Cupra.
I know that this car weighs 1.600 kg, but I would've believed you if you said it only weighed 1.400 kg. It corners quite nimbly.
This particular car is the top-of-the-range model, so it has all of the modern safety systems equipped.
This 245 horsepower plug-in hybrid Formentor will set you back €50.000, and for that money you get a very nice interior,
a fun chassis and a drivetrain that is just a tad off the pace.