• Broad range of petrol engines
• Good performance across the line-up
• PHEV is refined and efficient

Petrol engines

The Cupra Formentor is available with a choice of four petrol engines. The cheapest option is a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit with 150hp and 250Nm of torque – and it’s perfectly agreeable. It strikes a fine balance between performance and fuel economy. It’s also the only engine in the SUV’s line-up to be fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, although you can have it with a seven-speed automatic as an optional extra.

Above that, there’s a choice of three 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines. The least powerful has 190hp and 320Nm of torque, the middling option produces 245hp and 370Nm of torque and the flagship develops 310hp and 400Nm of torque. The least and most powerful 2.0-litre engines also come with four-wheel drive as standard.

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All three units have great pulling power – but the 310hp model delivers the greatest thrills. It can get from 0–62mph in 4.9 seconds, which is only slightly slower than the Volkswagen Golf R hot hatch. That means overtaking is a breeze. Simply mat the throttle, wait for the gearbox to find the right cog and then ride the wave of torque past your victim. It’s effortless. It also sounds pleasingly engaging – there’s an edge and attitude to the exhaust tune that makes for rewarding driving.

Plug-in hybrid engines

You have two options here, both based around the same 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, 13kWh battery pack and 116hp electric motor. The cheaper model develops 204hp while the pricier option has 245hp – the difference in performance between the two comes from a more aggressive engine tune.

Both are very smooth. You’ll hardly notice when the car shuffles between hybrid and pure-electric power, which makes it very relaxing to drive. Performance isn’t bad, either – the electric motor can shunt the car forward with as much as 330Nm of torque when you lay the pedal on the floor.

However, it isn’t thrilling in the same way as the 310hp petrol, partly because performance is blunted by the weight of the electrical gubbins, but mostly because the petrol engine sounds coarse when you wring it out which discourages you from driving hard. When you manually change gears using the steering wheel paddles, the gearbox is horrifically slow to respond, too.

What’s it like to drive?

• Very easy to drive quickly
• Direct steering – not much feedback, though
• Supple suspension deals well with B-roads

As we’ve alluded to several times during this review, the Formentor toes a delicate balance between an SUV and hatchback – and the driving experience follows the same trend. It’s sharper than traditional SUVs like the SEAT Ateca and the Skoda Karoq, but it isn’t quite as pointy as the best-driving hatchbacks, such as the Honda Civic and the Ford Focus.

The overall experience is good, though – and you can tune how the car behaves by fiddling with the drive modes. For example, in Comfort mode, the steering is very light, which makes the Formentor easy to pilot around town. Body control is also slackened off a little, so you’ll notice the car leaning over more in faster corners. However, the trade-off is better ride quality.

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The car changes character in its most aggressive Cupra mode. The throttle response is sharpened right up, the dampers get stiffer, the gearbox holds gears for longer and the steering assistance is reduced. That all makes for a more engaging experience. Sadly, despite the added weight, the steering still feels numb – but the same criticism can be levelled at almost all the Formentor’s rivals.

Our biggest piece of criticism is that the ride is slightly too harsh in Cupra mode. The dampers feel like granite and the car smashes into potholes with enough force to knock your sunglasses off. We’re sure the setting would work great on a well-cambered, well-maintained racetrack, but it’s just too harsh to eloquently deal with the UK’s ploughed roads. Sport mode is a better compromise.

It corners well, especially when fitted with Cupra’s four-wheel drive system. Performance car fans will be disappointed to learn that the drivetrain never sends an overwhelming amount of power to the rear wheels (so you won’t be sliding through turns like Juha Kankkunen), but there’s enough there to notice it.

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Even with the most powerful 310hp engine, the Formentor is primarily a front-wheel drive car. The drivetrain detects when there’s a loss of grip and sends just enough power to the rear axle to keep the chassis planted. It’s a convincing setup – we were impressed by how well the system glued the car down, especially in soaking conditions.

Cupra also sells a faster version of the Formentor in continental Europe. It’s called the VZ5 – and it uses the same 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine found in the Audi RS3. It has 390hp and a drift mode that’ll allow it to slide around like it’s being captained by Colin McRae. Sadly, Cupra won’t bring that model to the UK.