In humans, it would be called personal development. Moving up the levels of achievement with deliberate intent and working hard to get there.
BY BRIAN BYRNE
Whether in physical, intellectual, or even image terms.
All in all, it’s changing for the better. That’s kind of what Volkswagen did with Cupra.
Elevating what were merely performance variants of their SEAT models into a whole new and premium brand.
It's not easy to do that, but we've got to give Volkswagen their deserved kudos for staying the course.
The Irish sales statistics are clear — SEAT is dropping and Cupra is climbing, and there are just three steps between them on the sales ladder this year.
Initially starting out with a Cupra-ised Leon, the next model was the Formentor.
That was new and the first car designed specifically for the Cupra brand.
It’s a C-segment SUV with coupe styling and has now been on the road since 2020, with a facelift last year that significantly upped the ante in terms of its PHEV powertrain.
In overall looks, the Formentor has a mix of curves and edges that are melded well to provide the kind of sporty ethos the brand aims for.
The front end produced last year has its own distinction, with the triangular Cupra motif proudly forward in the copper colour that is the stand-out detail theme in the brand.
There’s a deftness about the designer's pen here that provides a very articulate sense of what the car is supposed to be and for whom it is aimed.
That copper is also extended to the alloys that do their own thing to make the Formentor a stand-out, all without the kind of brashness that could so easily have been the result.
The whole thing was enhanced in my review car by the special bronze matt paint, though that'll set you back an extra €2,600.
The theme continues inside the car, with a little more edginess to the style and trim but maintaining elegance while pushing the sporty line.
The copper detailing is again discreet but definite.
The steering wheel has a couple of extra buttons under the crossbeam, one for the start-stop and another with only the Cupra logo, which selects the drive modes, with the sporty end getting primacy of the first stab.
The driver instrument graphics are clear and customisable, and they're pretty good on the infotainment screen too, though for my taste that screen is a bit too big.
There’s easy management of the climate with the permanent set of virtual buttons along the bottom of the screen.
For the passenger to raise or lower the volume is figuratively painful using the sliding system found across Volkswagen Group cars now, but the driver's volume control on the steering wheel is an excellent knurled wheel.
The auto transmission shift is the centre console finger-flick one I like. Storage spaces in that console for bits and pieces are almost nothing after the phone-charge tray.
The car itself is roomy, with excellent space in the rear despite the coupe roof-style.
Luggage space is not exceptional but adequate for most everyday needs.
My review car was the more powerful of two levels available in the PHEV, with 270hp on tap and enough torque to pull the car smoothly to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds.
The 6-speed dual-clutch transmission gave pleasurably fast changes under pressure, something which I did from time to time in appropriate circumstances just for the fun of the feeling.
After a recent experience with the FR SEAT Leon that was equally fun, it was a very pleasant surprise to find that the Cupra didn't depend on the same firm suspension levels, and my drives were much more comfortable without any apparent reduction in handling.
Driving the Formentor in a typical mix of country-to-city traffic as a normal hybrid isn't hard on fuel, and gave me a decent return of 6L/100km.
If you can drive it only from a full battery, you’ll probably get an actual 100 km on electric-only driving.
A neat thing here is the battery can be charged at a full-power CCS point, making it doable to recharge on the road at a public unit.
For all sorts of reasons, this development of Cupra as a brand seems to be working. Certainly, I felt good in the car.
Of course, all this means that you're paying much more for the privilege than you used to do in equivalent SEATs.
