BARCELONA - Seat’s Cupra performance brand has unleashed an interesting new high-performance SUV featuring Audi’s five-cylinder turbopetrol engine.
Sadly there is no chance of the Cupra Formentor VZ5 ever coming to South Africa, not only because the VW-owned Seat brand pulled out of our market more than a decade ago, but also because the company is only building it in left-hand drive format. It’ll be fairly exclusive too, thanks to the production run being limited to just 7000 units.
What are we missing out on then?
The 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbopetrol engine produces 287kW and 480Nm, meaning it’s only slightly detuned versus the 294kW Audi version, and as a result it’s incredibly quick for a pavement hopper, with Cupra quoting a 0-100km/h time of just 4.2 seconds.
It’s pretty dynamic too, Seat claims, thanks to an all-wheel drive system, Adaptive Dynamic Chassis Control and retuned steering system.
Setting it apart on the outside are a number of carbon fibre details as well as 20-inch alloy wheels and aural quad copper exhaust pipes. The cabin is decorated with a unique Cupra steering wheel and bespoke CUPBucket seats.
“The Cupra Formentor provides a blank canvas to develop a range of vehicles that maximise driving fun and performance and enhance the attitude of the brand. Among them, the VZ5 is the most powerful and sophisticated variant ever created to date and I am convinced that with its exclusive performance elements, it will become a dream for car enthusiasts,” said Cupra and Seat R&D exec Dr Werner Tietz.
But what does its name mean? According to Cupra, the name VZ comes from the Spanish word ‘Veloz’, which signifies ‘Speed’ or ‘Fast’. The Formentor part of the name comes from cape Formentor on the island of Mallorca, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas in the Balearics.
IOL Motoring