Sunday Drive: Cupra Ateca

Sunday, 27 December 2020

New Zealand is getting Cupra's entire range, starting from next year.

CUPRA ATECA
Base price: $63,900 ($78,900 as tested)
Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol inline four-cylinder, 221kW/400Nm, 7-speed dual clutch transmission, AWD, combined economy 7.4L/100km, CO2 168g/km (source: manufacturer claim).

The handsome Cupra Ateca packs a secret under its bonnet in the form of the VW Golf R's 221kW engine.

Vital statistics: 4376mm long, 1841mm wide, 1615mm high, 2638mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 485 litres, 20-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Effortless performance, fantastic seats, superb handling, cheaper than a Golf R.

Why are the badges copper coloured? The secret is in the name...

We don't like: Pedestrians get more enjoyment from the Limited Edition extras.

As a brand, Cupra is relatively new to New Zealand. As a spec-level it has been around much longer. Make sense?

The paint colour and big alloy wheels are exclusive to the Limited Edition.

No? That’s okay, because it is about to get much clearer next year as the brand expands its presence with some seriously exciting vehicles.

Cupra started life as the label slapped on hot Seat performance cars, so you had things like the Seat Leon Cupra hot hatch being, if not exactly ‘regulars’, at least occasional sightings on New Zealand roads.

Slick and impressively powerful, the Cupra Ateca’s powertrain compliments its superb handling abilities nicely.

The Limited Edition scores a number of copper and nice carbon fibre accents around the cabin.

* A short history of Cupra road cars

* Spanish SUV with a touch of the Devil

The Akrapovic exhaust system adds an aggressive edge, but only outside the car...

* Seriously sporty SUV a Cupra exclusive

While it is massively fun on a winding road, the Ateca is also capable of doing ‘practical’ and ‘sensible’ as well.

Cupra the label then morphed into Cupra the sub-brand back in 2018, a separate-but-not-really-separate offshoot of Seat that would take care of all the hottest versions of the Spanish company’s cars and even spawn a few of its own.

Although the word ‘cupra’ sounds vaguely sporty in a romantically foreign way (much like ‘tropheo’ means ‘trophy’ in Italian, for example), it actually has no motorsport connotations, instead it is both the name of a pre-roman fertility goddess and the Latin word for copper.

Likewise, the angrily sporty looking logo is completely meaningless, being simply designed to look cool (which it admittedly does). However, its copper colour is a nice nod to the name…

The birth of Cupra as a sub-brand came at a rather inconvenient time for Seat in New Zealand, as they had literally just begun relaunching the Seat brand in New Zealand, so now had to not only explain exactly what the hell “Seat” was to people who had no idea (reportedly a lot of people were confused by the brand’s “S” logo, thinking they were walking into a Suzuki dealership…), but now they had to explain what the hell Cupra was all about too…

Although they have an easy way to do that – just let the cars do the talking, because hot Cupras are one of the best bang-for-your-buck performance bargains on New Zealand roads at the moment.

Probably the best example of this is the Cupra Ateca (remember how it goes – that’s the hot version of the Seat Ateca SUV that would previously have been called the Seat Ateca Cupra. Simple really….

The Cupra Ateca is a medium SUV that belts to 100kmh in 4.9 seconds thanks to the 221kW AWD drivetrain from the Volkswagen Golf R, and at a not-insignificant $10K less than the VW (when it was on sale here, that is) it is a rather good thing indeed.

The Ateca we drove here was one of only a handful of Limited Edition models that landed in New Zealand and sold quickly, so you probably can’t buy one now, but I would argue that this is perfectly fine, because you really don’t need it anyway.

At $78,900 the Limited Edition scores a fair bit of kit over the top of the already well-equipped standard Cupra Ateca that retails for $63,990, the most desirable and instantly noticeable of which are the unique (and very cool) Graphene Gray exterior paint colour and those striking 20-inch copper machined alloy wheels, both of which are exclusive to the Limited Edition.

Also only on the Limited Edition are a set of Brembo performance brakes, alcantara sports seats, copper and carbon fibre interior mouldings, a copper carbon fibre roof spoiler and mirror covers as well as copper coloured badging.

Plus you also get an Akrapovic exhaust system for extra attitude.

So why do you not really need any of that rather cool stuff? Because, aside from the brakes, sports seats and nice interior detailing, you are really paying the extra just for the enjoyment of people outside the car.

Sure, it does look rather brilliant, but then a ‘standard’ Cupra Ateca looks pretty damn good and its 19-inch copper machines alloys are almost as striking, while the attraction of the Akrapovic exhaust wanes somewhat when you realise that you can’t really hear much of its effect inside the car…

Sure, pedestrians get to hear the impressively savage edge the system brings to the Ateca, but inside the car you are only left with the slightest hint of it.

What is common between the Limited Edition and the standard car is the star of the show anyway – that fantastically powerful and capable powertrain and the joyously responsive chassis.

The Cupra Ateca is a hot SUV that is actually a lot of fun to throw around a winding road, with the AWD system providing remarkable amounts of traction, the chassis a playful, tenacious feel and the engine an almost endless supply of grunt right throughout it’s rev range.

So is it a shame that you probably missed out on the Limited Edition? Not necessarily, no.

Is the standard Cupra Ateca worth buying in its own right? Absolutely yes, particularly if you want a comfortable, practical all-rounder that is also an absolute ripper on a winding back road.

And what the hell is Cupra again? Go drive one and then get back to me.