Cupra Ateca driven

Early verdict on sizzling hot 296bhp turbo SUV

THERE’S a huge audience for performance SUVS; just look at the Bentley Bentayga, Range Rover Sport and Porsche Macan. However, these cars match breathtaking straight-line performance with troubling price tags.

But Cupra, SEAT’S spin-off performance arm, is looking to offer similar thrills at a more affordable level with this, the Cupra Ateca. And Auto Express has been handed the keys to an early prototype to get a taste of what’s to come.

The new model is powered by a 296bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol motor and has a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch auto box that drives all four wheels through SEAT’S 4Drive system.

The motor pulls strongly, with a smooth 400Nm swell of torque that builds predictably to a relatively revvy peak, as we’ve come to expect from this engine. However, this linearity and the Cupra Ateca’s 1,632kg mean it feels a little flat, and not quite as fast as we were expecting.

The numbers are 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 153mph. Still, with launch control, a DSG transmission and solid four-wheel-drive traction, the way in which it achieves this performance desensitizes you.

Maybe the chassis will inject some of this back into the mix, because the upgraded engine is accompanied by similar chassis changes designed to get the Ateca to contain all that power and handle fairly sweetly for an SUV.

The MQB chassis sits 20mm lower than the regular Ateca’s, and it features firmer springs, while SEAT’S Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive dampers, which offer a comfort mode and a Cupra setting for sportier driving, are also fitted as standard.

In comfort mode it’s acceptable on the road, which is where this car should stay. We tried the car on the track in Cupra mode, and while it’ll cling on valiantly, with the optional Brembo brakes as part of the Performance Pack helping haul the car down from high speeds, it can’t hide its mass, height or weight. Then again, neither can hot SUV rivals.

The comfort suspension setting works nicely as long as the road surface doesn’t throw up any jagged edges, where the 19-inch wheels on our car weren’t controlled quite as well, springing back a little aggressively.

Cupra exacerbates this characteristic, although it does improve the Ateca’s resistance to roll. The weightier steering in this setting will be down to personal preference, but given the slight lethargy to direction changes compared with a similarly sized hot hatch, the lighter mode enhances the agility.

There’s just enough of this, but a lack of feel means the Cupra Ateca isn’t exactly engaging. Still, judged on its ability to pick apart even a twisty road, for an SUV this is an accomplished package.

First taste of hot SEAT SUV 296bhp, 0-62mph in 5.2 secs

IT’S a bold move from Cupra to launch an SUV as its first model, but this hot Ateca is targeting an untapped area of the market that promises to meld practicality with performance in a body style buyers are craving. A conventional hot hatch is faster and more engaging, but the Cupra Ateca makes a decent fist of being a performance SUV.