The moment Cupra announced it was coming to Australia, I knew the Formentor was going to be my next car.
Owner: Martin
The moment Cupra announced it was coming to Australia, I knew the Formentor was going to be my next car.
Cupra is far from being a household name, and while consistent marketing and good reviews have boosted brand awareness, it is still unknown to most people I know or meet.
For those still in the dark, Cupra is the high-performance offshoot of Spanish brand SEAT – think what STi is to Subaru, or what AMG is to Mercedes-Benz. After becoming its own independent brand in 2018, Cupra began selling re-badged SEAT cars with their own distinct flavour. The Formentor, however, is the first model that is designed specifically for Cupra and not based on any existing car. Volkswagen Group Australia began distributing Cupra in Australia in mid-2022.
There are four variants of the Cupra Formentor available. The V (seen here), VZ, VZe and VZx. All have a 2.0 litre turbo petrol powered engine except for the VZe, which is a plug-in hybrid. Impressively, the main difference between the entry and top-spec variants is in the power output, with even the base Formentor V fitted with almost all features found on the top-spec Formentor VZx.
Immediate first impressions of the car are that it’s fairly small. The Cupra Formentor is a compact/crossover SUV, but is placed in the medium SUV category due to its longer wheelbase. The Formentor is a stunning car from every angle, though, and looks high-end. The front is aggressive and sporty, and the car is covered in sharp lines and angles that tie in nicely with the large copper Cupra badge. Light grey cladding runs along the front, sides and rear of the car, as well as over the wheel arches, and contrasts well with the dark Asphalt Blue finish of my car.
For me, the rear of the Formentor is the stand-out. The LED tail-light spans the full width of the car and looks incredible at night. Black ‘CUPRA’ letters and a small Cupra badge are the only identifiers on the rear.
Unlike the Formentor VZ and VZx, which have a dual and quad exhaust respectively, the Formentor V has two hexagonal indentations on either end of the rear bumper that give the appearance of exhaust tips but aren’t functional or hollow. They look better than the fake exhaust tips you see on many modern cars as they don’t really try to draw attention to themselves. Oddly, a dual exhaust is hidden behind the rear bumper.
Other than the exhausts, the only other difference visually between the entry-model V and the higher-spec variants are the wheels. The Formentor V comes with five-spoke 18-inch wheels in a black and silver finish. All other variants have 19-inch wheels.
The Formentor has keyless entry, and here lies my first gripe with the car. The keyless entry door sensors on the Formentor have to be the worst I’ve ever experienced. It usually takes 3–4 grabs of the door handle to unlock the doors; other times they don’t unlock at all unless you use the key fob. Rarely will the doors unlock instantly. If you’re someone who regularly gets chased by people and needs to hastily get in your car for a quick getaway, best you avoid the Cupra.
Once you eventually do get the doors unlocked, you’re met with a clean, premium interior. The only button on the dashboard is for your hazard lights. Copper stitching and accents line the cabin. The centre console is tidy, with an engine-start button, wireless phone charger and two narrow storage nooks for smaller items like your keys or sunglasses.
There are two cupholders in the middle, but are laughably small and you’ll struggle fitting in more than one cup at a time. The storage bin is also a bit small but practical enough. I would have liked to have seen some more storage in the cabin, though, such as a sunglasses holder. Volkswagen products are generally known for being very cleverly fitted out, so this aspect seems a bit under-considered.
The Formentor V comes with black cloth seats with leather accents. I opted for the leather and power pack that adds leather seats (heated in the front), electric adjustment with memory for the driver and an electric handsfree tailgate. The leather looks and feels premium, the seats are very comfortable and the side bolsters are very effective around corners. The driver’s seat includes lumbar support, but it’s very flimsy and creaks like the weight of me will break it at any moment.
Some sources claim the leather and power pack also adds the Beats sound system (minus subwoofer) from the VZx, but I have no way of verifying this. The sound system is nothing to write home about, but then neither was the Beats system in the top-spec I test drove.
Disappointingly, the Formentor does not come with ventilated seats in any spec, which at this price point should be standard. European OEMs need to understand that in Australia, six months of the year are hot!
The driving position is excellent if not a bit low for my liking, with great visibility all around, and the heated steering wheel is incredibly nice to hold. An LED strip that runs the full width of the dashboard and continues onto the front doors provides ambient lighting at night, and doubles as your blind-spot monitor.
The Formentor comes with two screens in the front, a large 12.0-inch infotainment system and a 10.0-inch digital cockpit. These sizes are standard across the entire Formentor range in Australia. The digital cockpit is clear and highly customisable. The infotainment system is a bit daunting and takes getting used to, particularly given almost every function of the car is controlled through it. It does work very well, though, and thankfully most icons and menus in it are large and easy to select while driving. With that said, some physical buttons would still be a safer option.
The digital cockpit and cruise control are controlled via the steering wheel. Frustratingly, though, all controls for your headlights, fog lights (front and rear) and window defoggers are on a touchpad located next to your right knee, which is impossible to use while driving without completely taking your eyes off the road.
The second row of the Formentor is deceptively roomy. I’m 186cm (6ft 1in) and can comfortably sit behind my driver’s position with ample knee and head room. I have two front-facing child seats fitted without an issue, and enough room left so my youngest can’t kick the seat in front. Three-zone climate control also means I can defrost my kids in winter without overheating myself in the front.
The boot is big enough for my daily needs and will easily hold a pram or a couple of suitcases, but if you’re looking for a car for your next big family getaway, this is not it. Also bear in mind that the Formentor V does not come with a spare wheel, only a tyre inflation kit.
Out on the road as a daily, the Formentor is lovely to drive. The progressive steering is brilliant and one of the standout features of the Formentor. Turning is precise and effortless without being unlively, and makes the car incredibly nimble on bendy roads. The AWD system is excellent and makes the driving dynamic feel more like that of a Subaru, always confident and assuring in corners. You can also configure it to be rear-biased for extra fun.
The suspension sits on the firmer side, but without compromising comfort, and provides good stability and minimal body roll. Adjustable dampers also make it easy to pick a sweet spot for your driving style.
The Formentor V has a spirited 140kW and 320Nm of torque, and while that doesn’t sound like much when compared to its faster 228kW sibling, it’s still very sufficient for everyday driving. In ‘Sport’ mode gear changes are brisk and throttle response is instantaneous. That being said, the dual-clutch system is a bit slow off the mark when accelerating from a standstill. The 0–100km/h sprint is claimed to be 7.1 seconds, ironically only 0.3 seconds slower than the Formentor VZ, which has 40 more kilowatts but with a FWD drivetrain.
The Formentor V lacks any exhaust sound, which is a shame because the lack of noise makes this car seem more tame than it is. You do get the occasional induction noise from the turbocharger, though.
In the default ‘Comfort’ mode is where disappointment lies. Gear changes are much slower, with the car hesitating to find the right gears if you need a quick burst of speed. Moving off from a standstill is sluggish, and I can only assume that this is due to the car possibly starting in second or third gear for efficiency.
The car also has an Eco mode, which will stop the engine revs when you take your foot off the throttle at cruising speeds. How big an impact this has on consumption I’m not sure, but it does mean you will find yourself tapping the brakes a bit more in heavier traffic to make up for the lack of engine braking.
Fuel consumption varies between 6.5 and 8.5L/100km, though with sprightly driving in Sport mode you’re likely to see it around 9–10L/100km. I frequently get 650–750km out of a single tank. Minimum RON requirement is 95.
Now onto my biggest gripe with the Formentor, and one that may have been a deal-breaker for me if I’d known about it before I bought the car; the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). It is ridiculously cautious, and there is no option to switch between adaptive and traditional cruise control. Even with the proximity set to “Very Close”, the Formentor sits miles behind the car in front.
Let me explain why this is a problem for me. Driving on Sydney’s motorways, if you are travelling in the right-hand lane and leave even the slightest gap for buffering, other drivers will poach that gap. With the large space the Formentor tries to keep in front of itself, you’ll find other drivers constantly jumping in front of you, slowing you down regularly as the ACC tries to create a bigger space again.
The ACC also won’t allow you to undertake a car on your right unless you tap the accelerator to override this setting. So if you just want to set the cruise control and drive in the left lane (because let’s face it, it’s the quickest lane these days), you’re continually blipping the throttle, which defeats the purpose of cruise control.
It’s probably not a big issue for most, but as I travel 600km or more a week, I use cruise control a lot. Have I learned to live with it? Yes. Would it make me look at another brand in the future? Maybe.
And while on the topic of radar-dependent safety tech, I’ve recently found that once or twice per week, the car will randomly pop up with a warning stating all ‘Front Assist’ features have been disabled. These features then remain disabled from anywhere between 20 seconds to five minutes before the warning disappears on its own and all goes back to normal. I’m not sure what’s causing it, but this issue didn’t appear in the first 12,000km of ownership and now appears quite regularly (I’ve now hit 15,000km on the odometer).
Lastly, if you do consider a Cupra for your next car, keep in mind that being a new brand, certain elements of ownership can be inconvenient, such as trying to find accessories or parts to suit the car; Cupra doesn’t appear on many make/model drop-down lists. Servicing is also interesting, with only a single authorised service centre in each capital city at the time of writing.
This aside, the Formentor is a great car to live with. It regularly turns heads and many people will ask you what it is. The entry level offers great value, with most features included across the full Formentor range, and the AWD system putting its outputs almost on par with the FWD Formentor VZ, which costs around $6000 more. The Formentor’s modern design and focus on technology set it apart from other brands and models, and the entire Cupra range feels fresh in an industry where most cars look the same.
Despite a couple of grievances, as my first European car and first brand from the Volkswagen Group, the copper is gold!
Owner: Martin
MORE: Everything Cupra
The post 2022 Cupra Formentor V owner review appeared first on Drive.
