Road test review: Seat Ateca FR 4Drive

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Base price: $51,900

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 140kW/320Nm, 7-speed dual clutch transmission, AWD, combined economy 7.0L/100km, CO2 161g/km (source: RightCar).

Vital statistics: 4363mm long, 1841mm wide, 1625mm high, 2638mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 510 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels.

The Ateca is an undeniably handsome medium SUV.

We like: Look great, sharp handling, fantastic engine.

We don't like: Fancy touchscreen a fingerprint magnet, dull interior.

This road test was completed before the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions came into effect.

Volkswagen - or rather, the wider Volkswagen Group - is the undoubted king of platform sharing. And nowhere is this more evident than the current line up of medium SUVs across the VW, Skoda and Seat brands - the Tiguan, Karoq and the Ateca FR 4Drive you see here.

So they're all just the same underneath then?

The interior is nicely made, but a bit dull. At least the FR adds some nice red highlights.

Well, yes and no - 'platform sharing' is way more subtle and complicated than that these days. Think of it more like a big, very expensive Lego set: they have a common starting block to work off - in this case VW's MQB platform - and then pick and choose what bits to add to it.

Except MQB isn't really a 'platform' at all (and VW engineers get quite upset when you call it that) because that implies a single chassis, whereas MQB is described by VW as a system for 'introducing rationality to different platforms that have transverse engines'.

Basically MQB 'coordinates a core matrix of components across a wide variety of platforms', a good example of which is sharing a common engine-mounting core for all drivetrains.

Do this in enough places across a range of cars and it means different models can be manufactured at the same plant, saving costs, but also allowing individual brands to essentially 'personalise' their models.

The Ateca's 2.0-litre turbo engine is a delightfully smooth and powerful thing.

Which is exactly why the Seat Ateca actually feels distinctly different to a VW Tiguan or a Skoda Karoq.

How different can they actually feel though?

Okay, so they are all mid-size SUVs, so the differences can only go so far, but Seat's appointed place in the VW Group line up as the 'sportier' fun brand shines through, with the Ateca being noticeable sharper than its VW or Skoda equivalents.

Add to that a fantastic engine and you get an agile and eager package that feels smaller on the road than it actually is and, thanks to a more focussed suspension tune, is also a capable and satisfying thing on a winding road.

While the Ateca is physically smaller than a Tiguan - it's more than 120mm shorter than the five seater - it feels even more compact than that, and the engine is a superbly powerful and flexible unit that never leaves you wanting and channels its 140kW through a seven-speed DSG transmission to all four wheels.

The Ateca is shorter than a Tiguan, but feels even smaller and more agile on the road.

However, as good as the Ateca FR is, it has been around since 2016 (it launched locally with the brand in 2018) so Seat decided it was time for a mid-life update.

Has a lot changed then?

The fancy new touchscreen infotainment system is a pleasure to use, but does attract fingerprints.

Ah, well, not really, no.

The sum total of the changes are a new infotainment system and a new colour. Seriously. that's it.

That said though, the new infotainment system - VW Group's newest unit with a high-gloss glass touchscreen and even less physical buttons and a higher resolution - sits nicely in the dash and does bring a more up-to-date feel to the Ateca's typically VW Group cabin. Which means it is beautifully made, excellent quality and quite conservative, although the FR does have a few nice bits of red trim to lift things.

Outside nothing has changed, other than that new colour, which is fine, because the Ateca was always - in my opinion at least - the best looking of the wider group's mid-sizers anyway.

The colour itself is interesting too - called 'Crystal Black', it actually looks quite blue in bright sunlight. However, unlike black socks that are just a very, very, very, very dark blue, the Seat black looks fantastic and, while a $700 option, is well worth the cost. They're not shafting you here…

So is it still worth considering?

Absolutely. The lack of massive wholesale changes to the Ateca for its mid-life refresh simply serves to highlight how good it was to begin with - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and all that - and the FR still stands as a fitting range-topper to Seat's SUV line up (the Cupra Ateca is officially a separate thing, remember).

The blend of Volkswagen Group German competence and quality mixed with a bit of Spanish flair (okay, not so much on the inside) combine to form a good-looking package that offers a satisfyingly dynamic take on the medium SUV segment that even its MQB platform-mates don't match.

You could easily just say that the Seat Ateca is the Tiguan you buy when you don't want a Volkswagen, but that would be doing it a disservice, because it is way better than that.

Any other cars I should consider?

The obvious ones are the other MQB-based SUVs in the VW Group line up, but most directly the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Skoda Karoq.

The Ateca sits between the Tiguan Comfortline 2WD and R Line 2WD in terms of price, but to get AWD you have to jump up to the $58,990 Highline that still has less power (132kW) than the Ateca FR. To get the same powertrain as the Ateca FR with a VW badge you will need to wait until the T-Roc re-emerges here later this year.

Skoda offers the Karoq in Sportline guise with the same engine and transmission, but asks more money - $54,990.

As for other brands, well, there's certainly no shortage of choice in the medium SUV segment, with pretty much every manufacturer out there offering something that could line up with the Ateca in one way or another.