Cupra Formentor long-term test: report 3

The car Cupra Formentor VZ First Edition 1.5 e-Hybrid DSG 272PS | Run by Darren Moss, deputy digital editor

Why it’s here To prove that plug-in hybrid technology can lead to driving fun, as well as efficiency

Needs to Be frugal, comfortable for long trips, practical for children and able to function as a mobile office

Mileage 2112 List price £51,790 Target Price £47,790 Price as tested £53,825 Test economy 49.1mpg Official economy 585mpg 

25 November 2024 – Happy holidays

Until now, my trips in any company car I’ve run have been limited to friends and family, but for the past few months my regular roster has also included my girlfriend and her two children. And what better test of a supposedly family friendly SUV like the Cupra Formentor could there be than to take us all away for a well-earned week by the seaside.

With my Formentor loaded to the gunwhales with all the bedding, clothes, food and toys which we might need, we set off from my home in Sunbury to the idyllic Norfolk town of Wells-next-the-Sea. The journey was going to take upwards of three hours, and we’d be travelling with two children for the first time: Elijah, who is a quiet and sensitive sort, and Freya, who is not.

I’d been pleased to be able to load most things into the Formentor’s boot, despite it not being able to hold as much on paper as the rival BMW X2. I also had the Formentor's charging cables to take into consideration, with these eventually relegated to the footwell under Freya’s child car seat. A few soft items had to be stored above the parcel shelf, leaving just enough room to peak through the car using the rear-view mirror.

We set off with the intention of lulling our smaller passengers to sleep on the journey, so the Formentor’s adaptive suspension was left in comfort mode for the softest ride. Despite the Formentor not being as quiet at motorway speeds as the rival Volkswagen Tiguan, the soft sounds of Smooth Radio helped to lull both children to sleep for much of the trip – helped by the 10-speaker Sennheiser stereo which comes as standard on my car’s First Edition trim.

Everyone was firmly awake by the time we hit the smaller country roads in North Norfolk, though, with the Formentor’s sweet and accurate steering helping it to feel more agile than any family SUV has a right to. I switched the Cupra’s driving mode into its Sport setting, but I’d be lying if I said I felt much difference in the car’s responses, barring a slight increase in steering heft and some racier graphics on the digital instrument cluster. Still, I was reminded that this plug-in hybrid family SUV can feel engaging to drive on the right road, despite the extra weight from its batteries and motor.

Nearing our destination I pulled over at one of the many RAF installations which seem to be dotted around North Norfolk, and snapped a photo of my car next to what I’m hoping not to mis-identify as a Spitfire statue. On the surface, these two machines have nothing in common, but both are marvels of engineering. And while the Formentor won’t be pressed into military service any time soon, it did help me and my passengers to have a comfortable and surprisingly economical start to our holiday, despite being rammed to the rafters. 

We returned from Norfolk with our relationship intact and two happy children, thanks in no small part to the car which carried us there and back without incident.

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