Cupra Formentor Review

The Formentor, to look at is very nice on the eyes. As far as compact SUV’s go, I feel it is one of the best looking with a good mix of sporty aggression and stylish simplicity. The copper accents are complementary to the darker coloured models, this along with the sharp body lines and extra aero features all add to the clean sporty feel to the car.

Internally, the vehicle was brilliant, with nice large screens and plenty of cubby holes. The seats were comfortable and felt premium. I liked the drive mode selector as it was small and built into the center console. I am never a fan of manufactures who make them large and in your face as it is something you rarely touch/use in the driving experience, typically, you get in select drive and go… that’s it. Still, the climate control is operated by a touch sensitive panel, which I do not mind personally, I quite like them, but the majority of the public do not, they want physical dials to turn.

One confusing system on the car was the central locking, when a single press seemed to only unlock the driver’s door but multiple clicks would unlock all doors (felt pointless to have this option). Furthermore, the keyless entry still required you to squeeze the door handle to open and press the same handle to lock. I much prefer the proximity version of keyless entry where it is just as simple as walking towards or away from your car to unlock/lock.

Overall, I thought the design of the vehicle was excellent. I really enjoyed the Cupra Formentor and I really enjoyed the meaner and sportier feel to the car. It was a well built high-tech sleek SUV. Perfect for my demographic (24-year old, male) even if generally we would not be able to afford the £30,000+ price tag.

Reviewed by Tom Kerrigan, Junior Marketing Executive

All Formentors come with built-in sat-nav, a DAB radio, four USB-C ports, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring and wireless phone-charging.

If you have a spare half a day to learn about and run through everything that the infotainment system can do in this vehicle, then it will benefit you hugely in the long run. There is a lot of functionality, however, I didn’t find it the most intuitive to use in comparison to other vehicles. I really had to look hard to find some things in the menus.

Personally, I didn’t like the volume or aircon controls on the central unit – it was hard to know where to press. The climate controls were hidden in the infotainment system too – and had I spent more time trying to adjust this whilst driving I would have more than likely ended up in a ditch. That said, the touch screen central unit was a decent size and was bright and clear to read.

After you get over the busy looking steering wheel the buttons are really easy to use, much preferred over scrolls and touch sensitive. I prefer simplicity on my digital display and I could achieve this going through the different views. I would have liked the petrol/electricity mileage consumption to have been a bit more obvious.  

My phone charged with ease and connected wirelessly to Apple carplay fairly easily, although I had to disconnect and connect over Bluetooth to make a call.

Reviewed by Rhian Hawkings, Head of Marketing

When you first get in to the drivers seat you’ll notice the seats are nice and snug with no pinching and loads of room to adjust the seats to a comfortable position to suit all shapes and sizes. The material used on the seats is also a nice quality.

This is a very talked about subject, and maybe a little controversial, but I’m not a fan of the physical buttons on the steering wheel and much prefer the touch sensitive buttons you find on the Cupra Born.

Overall the Formentor is great and I can’t fault it, but for some reason I felt a little underwhelmed. I’m not sure if this is because the Cupra brand gives off a high end luxurious comfort vibe which the Formentor just slightly undershoots.

Reviewed by Mike McKernan, Sales Executive

Absolutely brilliant!! It’s very practical for professionals with short journeys to work as it has around a 30mile range on pure battery power which means you will have minimal spend on petrol – This obviously depends on your charging situation. Charging the battery on a home charger should take a round 3.5 hours.

If you travel for work or travel larger distances, you can use the car in hybrid mode which gives you around 201 mpg. This gives you plenty of millage to travel to those important meetings or those long family holidays.

Reviewed by Jenna Cockette, Customer Relationship Manager

Overall the Cupra Formentor was really comfortable. The drivers seat hugged my back which made it feel supported, especially when cornering. The suspension was a little to stiff for my liking which made the car jolt a little to much when going over bumps in the road.

It seemed pretty quick in both electric and petrol modes and the steering seemed accurate with a decent amount of feedback. Thanks to the stiffer suspension there is very limited amount of body roll which is nice to see from an SUV. Acceleration-wise, the plug-in hybrid version we had to test completed 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds which is quick for a car of this size and weight. As with a lot of cars from the VW Group you can change the information you see on the drivers digital display which is great for making it feel more sporty and show.

The automatic gearbox was smooth and you couldn’t feel any jolts or changes in engine noise. The change from the battery to internal combustion engine was also very smooth with not much of a difference in noise inside the car.

Reviewed by Matthew Albutt, Digital Marketing Executive