Living with the Cupra Formentor VZe: Farewell

2023 Cupra Formentor VZe long-term review

JUMP AHEAD

• Welcome
• The coastal escape
• Farewell
• Formentor VZe specs

Welcome

• Price as tested: $60,990 (Driveaway $65,990 NSW)
• Km this month: 306km @ 2.5L/100km
• Overall: As above

The Volkswagen Group has a new brand in town, and that made Cupra an obvious choice for a new addition to our long-term garage. And the Cupra Formentor, as the brand’s flagship model, was the shoo-in as the model to feature.

We’re intrigued to discover the characteristics that will make Cupra, a spin-off from the Spanish Seat brand, different from stablemates Volkswagen and Skoda.

Awareness is the name of the game for Cupra at this early stage, for a brand with ambitions of reaching 7000 sales by 2025. For perspective, it took VW’s Czech brand Skoda 12 years to hit such a milestone.

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There’s no surprise that, of a dozen or so people who’ve asked about the car so far, only a couple knew about Cupra. (One was a Wheels reader, who naturally knew more, too: that the Formentor SUV is one of a trio of models that also includes the Leon hatch and Ateca SUV.)

Yet there’s also no doubt that the Formentor has been turning many more heads with its sharp looks, Y-spoked 19-inch rims, crisp Nevada White paintwork, and copper-coloured flourishes. It’s literally stopped some dog-walkers in their tracks – and, gratefully, not to allow their four-legged friends to go about their business.

One of the most striking SUVs in the entire Volkswagen Group? I think so. Forget a VW Tiguan or Skoda Karoq; even an Audi Q3 Sportback looks conservative in comparison.

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Comparisons are valid with the luxury brand; a Q3 Sportback starts at $53,800, with a 2.0-litre turbo 40TFSI not that big a stretch ahead at $66,100. No equivalent plug-in, though.

First impressions of the interior are that while it doesn’t hit the quality heights of Audi, the cabin falls into that premium-mainstream category familiar to Volkswagen owners – though with more flair.

The contemporary design is enhanced with a 10.25-inch digital driver display and 12-inch central infotainment screen, along with multiple USB-C ports and wireless charging.

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There are four variants in the Formentor line-up, split evenly between front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive models. It starts from $50,690 for an AWD V, followed by a $53,390 VZ that is front-drive but adds more standard equipment.

Higher up and close together are a pair of seemingly diametrically opposed models: a $60,990 VZe FWD plug-in hybrid and a $61,990 VZx AWD performance variant.

We went for the lucky-dip option and ended up with the PHEV. And call it good fortune, because, for a couple of reasons, we reckon the VZe makes for the best variant to assess over a period.

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An electrified model is hugely relevant for Cupra as it plans to be the first VW Group brand to go all-electric, by 2030. And we can also explore whether owning a plug-in hybrid is being half-pregnant or actually a smarter choice than a fully electric car right now.

The Cupra Formentor VZe introduces a drivetrain available in the UK and Europe in models such as the Golf but not previously offered by the VW Group.

It pairs VW’s well-known 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol with an 85kW/300Nm electric motor – translating into combined outputs of 180kW and 400N that are put to the ground through a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox and the front wheels.

The electric motor is powered by a 12.8kWh battery.

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Cupra claims there’s about 50km of electric driving range on a full charge. So far, we’ve managed about 40km from a full battery. I’ll be running the Formentor PHEV as an owner with home charging would – regularly topping up the battery to take advantage of electric motoring in daily urban use – then seeing how the hybrid system plays into overall experience.

Official consumption is 1.9 litres per 100km, though theoretically the Formentor can be continually charged for zero consumption.

In early days, the average fuel consumption is reading between 2.1 and 2.2L/100km.

We’ll see what happens to efficiency once we’re forced to use the hybrid system on longer trips. Our Formentor is still in its run-in phase, mind; there were just over 800km on the odo when we received it.

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We’ll also be checking out the Formentor’s credentials as a practical family SUV, including assessing whether the VZe’s smaller, 345-litre boot is sufficient or lacking space. Owing to battery packaging, it loses 75 litres to other Formentor models.

There’s no auto tailgate, either. That’s part of a $2750 Leather & Power Package, which also adds leather upholstery, heated front seats, and electric driver’s seat. Buyers can also stump up $2100 for a panoramic sunroof, while a handful of premium metallic paints are $475.

Our VZe is refreshingly free of any options. Buy a Cupra before the end of 2022 and three years of free servicing is also included.

Gracias, indeed.

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The coastal escape

• Price as tested: $60,990
• Km this month: 494km @ 5.5L/100km
• Overall: 800km @ 4.0L/100km

Honestly, it was through coincidence rather than contrivance that our Cupra Formentor long-termer found itself in such a fitting destination for a model that headlines the recent arrival of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand.

The Entrance, formed on a bridged peninsula on Sydney’s Central Coast, was simply a convenient choice for a quick, school-holiday family get-away that wasn’t a marathon drive away and took us north rather than our usual route south.

It was also a first chance to stretch our Formentor VZe plug-in hybrid’s legs after being confined in its first month of ‘ownership’ to primarily ferrying kids to school, sports and shops – and running primarily on electric power through regular home charging.

During those first few weeks, the best electric range we’d managed to achieve from a full battery was about 40km – about two-thirds of the 58km WLTP max distance on the VZe’s spec sheet. For PHEV’s sake, that’s a poor return.

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And, consequently, this increased average fuel consumption, because the wife and I would inevitably forget to recharge the car at various times – meaning use of the petrol engine. (We could have used another car, but to reflect true PHEV ownership we’ve been pretending the Formentor is our only vehicle.)

The first sign that the PHEV’s battery prefers continuous driving over intermittent runs comes when we manage to pass just over 50km of the trip before the Formentor’s 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine chimes in.

We had deliberately ignored the available option to preserve electric power for later in the trip, where the Formentor’s drivetrain management system can be instructed to employ the Hybrid mode earlier by setting a higher battery level via the central touchscreen.

Average fuel consumption read 2.8L/100km at the start of the trip, which, for the record, compares with the VZe’s official figure of 1.9L/100km.

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This increased to just 2.9L/100km after using the petrol engine predominantly for the remaining 60km-odd of the journey.

At least we could recharge the Cupra’s battery at our Airbnb apartment. Except there were no power outlets in the underground car park. Well, at least we could go to a local recharging station. Except there were only a couple of Tesla Superchargers in convenient proximity.

That enforced a Hybrid-mode-only return to Sydney, though not before driving around the area over a few days had increased consumption to 3.7L/100km.

Stats for the petrol-electric return trip: 105km driven and 5.9 litres of premium unleaded used (and average consumption overall up to 4.0L/100km).

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Can’t deny I’m being quite obsessive about the fuel figures, and strongly suspect this might be a common theme among hybrid owners – plug-in or not.

I also sense you may be interested to learn more about the Formentor VZe than just some numbers.

I’ll delve deeper into the driving experience in the next instalment, but for now can say the Cupra is enjoyable to drive whether it’s in fully electric E-mode or petrol-electric Hybrid mode.

However, I discovered to and from the Central Coast that pure electric drive is preferable on freeways.

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In Hybrid mode, the regen braking – even with Low setting chosen over High – makes a nuisance of itself at freeway speeds, sharply rather than subtly decelerating the car when rolling off the accelerator pedal.

It forces a quicker return to the same pedal to maintain momentum, and the drivetrain isn’t quite as responsive to pedal pressure when the petrol engine is involved.

Adaptive cruise control can be a solution, but you’d be a braver driver than I to use this on the M1/Pacific Highway, where erratic driving speeds/behaviour seems higher than the norm for Australian freeways (which is saying something).

The Formentor is classified by VFACTS as a midsize SUV, though with a length below 4.5 metres – 4450mm – it’s a compact SUV in our book.

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Boot space would be considered terrible in the context of a medium SUV – especially the plug-in Formentor which, compromised by battery packaging, has less volume (345 litres) than a Golf hatch.

V and VZx Formentors offer 420 litres; the VZ has the largest boot in the range with 450L.

We still managed to pack in three days’ worth of luggage and activity gear (scooters, tennis racquets), though needed to leave the lightweight cargo blind at home. A rooftop pod would seem a mandatory accessory for longer family trips.

This might suggest the VZe isn’t the pick of the Formentor range, but with a planned co-drive with a VZ petrol variant coming up, we’ll leave that debate for the next time.

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FAREWELL: The final report

• Price as tested: $60,990
• Km this month: 383km @ 2.8L/100km
• Overall: 1183km

Three out of every five Cupras sold in Australia is a Formentor, though no prize to the Spanish brand for correctly predicting it would be the most popular in its three-model range.

As a midsized SUV (if, dimensionally, more of a compact SUV) and with the widest range of variants, the Formentor is primed to be the No.1 seller.

Is it, however, worth considering Cupra’s Leon hatchback? And is the VZe the Formentor variant we would most heartily recommend?

We took our Formentor plug-in hybrid long-termer for a drive alongside newly introduced VZ grades of the Formentor and Leon to answer those very questions. Partially, at least.

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VZ sits above the base V and, in features specification, is virtually identical to the VZe. Drivetrains split the difference, essentially.

And provides one insight into the higher cost of plug-in hybrid technology.

The VZ is priced from $53,790 – $7200 below the VZe. Cue the calculators.

Theoretically – based on the models’ respective ADR consumption figures of 7.0 and 1.9 litres per 100km, and a rounded $2 per litre of 95 – owners of the PHEV could save about $1000 per year (10,000km) or $1500 (15,000km).

Putting aside the benefits of a lower-emissions vehicle, that’s a long catch-up either way.

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How close owners could get to that 1.9L/100km figure will also be determined by the driveway status of the plug-in Formentor. All but impossible if it’s the household’s only car.

After the VZe’s first – and only – refill, about two-thirds through our three-month tenure, we managed to keep consumption pinned at 0.5L/100km for a few days with religious daily charging.

Distances beyond the Cupra’s 50km electric driving range soon pushed it upwards, however, hovering around 1.7L/100km for a short while before our final stint with the car landed the computer’s calculation at 2.8L/100km (all figures based on the car’s trip readout).

The highest figure we registered during our three-month ownership period was 5.9L/100km from a 105km drive that included freeways and no full-EV range, due to a depleted battery.

We extracted the best electric-range result of our long-termer period – 55km – during the multi-Cupra drive day.

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The day also revealed that the VZe isn’t the best Formentor to drive. The Formentor VZ petrol’s ride provides a much closer imitation of a (platform-related) VW Golf, its suspension providing both relaxed compression and controlled rebound.

The VZe’s damping – controlling identically sized 19-inch wheels and also adaptive via driving modes – struggles to absorb potholes and larger bumps when also in Comfort mode.

While the plug-in Formentor can’t match the jolt-free experience of the VZ, it’s comfortable more often than not.

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It has the livelier, more responsive drivetrain, too – in hybrid mode and especially so in full electric mode.

Cupra’s official numbers say the 180kW/370Nm VZ accelerates slightly faster than the 180kW/400Nm VZe – 6.8 versus 7.0 seconds – but, in rolling performance, the 2.0-litre’s turbo torque can’t match the immediacy of the electric motor. The petrol engine prefers Sport over Comfort mode.

The VZ’s 130kg-lighter kerb weight is noticeable, particularly in corners, though the Leon hatchback on the same roads felt nimbler and more planted again. That’s part lower centre of gravity, but also a firmer suspension set-up (which does compromise ride quality).

Those with a penchant for good roads might just want to consider the VZx variants available for both the Formentor and Leon – which serve up 228kW, all-wheel-drive, and sub-5.0-second performance.

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In a family-car context, even the slightly smaller Leon offers more boot space than the VZe – 380 v 345 litres – with the plug-in’s capacity reduced by the need to package the battery for the electric motor.

The VZ provides a 450-litre volume, the largest in the Formentor range if still relatively small by medium-SUV standards, while including an 18-inch space-saver. VZe owners must contend with a less convenient tyre repair kit.

We also had to contend with an annoying voice command system with our long-termer’s infotainment system, where it would regularly interrupt family conversations with a willingness to provide help that wasn’t wanted. It wasn’t by accidental presses of the ‘Speak’ steering wheel button.

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“Silly Cupra”, as our five-year-old summarised – far more politely than his parents would have done without kids in the car.

It’s not a daft buy, though. The Formentor perhaps succeeds more on an emotional than rational level – you can buy the excellent Volvo XC40 or a Tiguan 162TSI R-Line for less money than the VZe, for example – but it’s more than just a good-looking SUV.

The cabin is a big highlight – delivering a good amount of space, a semi-premium presentation, plentiful storage, configurable digital driver display, and terrific comfort and support from the standard cloth bucket seats.

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If the Spinks clan were forced to choose a Formentor grade, it just wouldn’t be the VZe.

Three months of constant, almost-daily recharging created a strong case for a fully electric car with significantly greater range. Cupra will offer one from early 2023 – just not a Formentor. It’s a sporty hatch called the Born.

The full-fat VZx can be had for just another grand over the VZe. But when the VZ offers the best boot and the best ride, and some worthwhile extra power over the base V, no prizes for guessing which Formentor is our sweet-spot of the line-up.

Related video: VZX review

2023 Cupra Formentor vZe specifications

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