I’m living with the Cupra Formentor for six months to see if it’s better than a Golf R

This is my new Cupra Formentor, a small, stylish SUV with a very powerful engine under the bonnet. It’s a properly fast car, as we saw in a drag race between all of our long term test cars, but why have I picked the Formentor? Let me explain.

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Why am I living with a Cupra Formentor?

The Cupra Formentor is available with a wide range of engines, starting with a 150hp 1.5-litre petrol and working all the way up to the car I have.

Under the bonnet of this Formentor is the same engine as you’ll find in a Volkswagen Golf R. It’s a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 333hp, and it sends power to all four wheels via a seven-speed automatic gearbox.

It’ll do 0-60mph in just 4.8 seconds, which is almost exactly the same as a Golf R, but should you really buy a sporty SUV over a traditional hot hatch? This is what I want to find out over the next six months.

I’ll be seeing how the Formentor fares as a daily driver, with regular commutes from London to Oxfordshire for video shoots and the odd cross-country road trip. In and around the sensible stuff, I want to see if this jacked-up performance car can really deliver the same thrills as a hot hatchback.

Our own Mat Watson has already tested out the Cupra’s drift mode on a drag race shoot in my absence, and it looks like it can be pretty lairy when it wants to be. Hopefully he’s saved me some tyres so I can have a go.

Living with a Cupra Formentor: price and options

My car only has two options fitted to it. The Century Bronze Matte paintwork costs just over £2,000, and the panoramic glass roof adds £995 to the price tag.

This brings the total to an eye-watering £58,140, £11,000 more than a Volkswagen Golf R and nearly £5,000 dearer than a Cupra Leon hatchback with the same engine and options.

So what does your near-£60,000 get you? Well you get 19-inch alloy wheels, a 12.9-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a surround-view camera and adaptive cruise control.

You also get upgraded Akebono brakes for better stopping power, as well as some rather lovely carbon-back heated bucket seats.

Those seats make the cabin feel even more special, and the Formentor’s interior was already more interesting than a Golf R’s thanks to the copper accents and layered dashboard. I also reckon this car looks more aggressive and sporty than the slightly conservative Golf.

After a few weeks behind the wheel, I’m finding the Formentor to be really rather good. The suspension does have a hard edge to it, but the adaptive dampers do a good job of smoothing out bumps in the road.

I would like some more buttons for the climate control instead of those awkward touch-sensitive sliders, but this is a complaint I had with my old Cupra Terramar. Speaking of the Terramar, the Formentor is smaller than that car. It’ll be interesting to see how downsizing affects usability, although it’s not been a problem so far.

I’ll be reporting back on what this car is like to live with once I’ve got some more miles under my belt, so keep an eye on our long termers page for all the latest updates.

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