SEAT Ateca

Sean discovers that if the music ever stops and he has to grab a SEAT, it’ll be the Ateca FR.

OK, so now you’ve got the wrong way to pronounce the Spanish brand which has the potential to be a real disruptor; so let’s clarify the way the brand prefers it’s name said: it’s ‘’Say It’’, well, that’s not quite right, but is close enough to sit on. As to how to pronounce Ateca, if you sort of say ‘a tea cup’ without the ‘p’, that will about cover it. The FR is well, just like it looks. And with all that out of the way, where has SEAT come from? Well Spain, obviously and Barcelona more specifically. SEAT is proud to be associated with Barcelona, the city of fun, chic fashion, and a place where the young at heart can live Life, and not surprisingly, the boutique car brand imbues all of its products – in some way or another – with some or all of these characteristics. The Ateca gets them all, and a little more besides. From its sharply chiselled exterior crease-lines which translate into the cabin to prevent occupants from being bombarded with boring black plastic planes, through to the high levels of specification which come as part and parcel of being the current hero of the SEAT brand, the Ateca is an engaging vehicle which not only welcomes occupants, it almost draws them in. Things are very familiar in here, but their positioning, placement and presentation is part of the whole surprise and delight package an ‘as yet unproven’ brand needs to deliver if it wants to create a lasting impression, and the Ateca does just that. SEAT is part of the Volkswagen Group and as such, shares a great deal of technology with the likes of Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda, but SEAT also competes with them – in a friendly sort of way. Ateca is presented in four models – Style, Xcellence, FR 4Drive and Xcellence 4Drive. The FR 4Drive could be described as the more performance-oriented model, which is like saying Lewis Hamilton’s not a bad driver or that Beauden Barrett’s acceptable for the local footie team. Under that sculpted bonnet is the wolf in sheep’s clothing: a two-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which provides a level of acceleration familiar to motorcyclists: throttle open equals go! So, to stay on the right side of the law in regards your three second indication warning, you really do need to be five seconds ahead of yourself, when it comes to planning. And having snap ’n go speed ain’t worth beans if the handling sucks, so it’s a good thing that this is not the case. In fact, lane changing in the Ateca reminded me of Clint Eastwood’s cinematic Firefox, the Russian super jet, which was operated via thought control. Nor does the Ateca FR want for specification, technology or comfort levels with specifics too numerous to mention in entirety, however it is worth emphasising the five star EURONCAP safety rating as a bare minimum and the contemporary safety advancements such as City emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert, reversing and Multiview cameras, all of which are standard on the FR. If you think I liked the Ateca, you’re absolutely right. While not every fleet manager is going to sign off on ordering five or fifteen of these Superstar SUVS, you do owe it to yourself to see what SEAT has to offer and the FR Ateca is a great place to start. Fair warning though, you may not want to give it back…