2026 Cupra Formentor VZ5 | UK Review

We've had a fair old wait for Cupra's 390hp Formentor - still, better late than never

Cupra, it seems fair to say after nearly a decade spent as a standalone brand, appeared to leave the starting gate at an almighty clip. Okay, there was a period of transition while it found its feet and people (some of them internal) figured out what was still considered a SEAT and what, precisely, constituted a Cupra - but the public appeared to buy in surprisingly quickly. Probably it helped that SEAT’s own identity was not particularly well defined (compare and contrast with Skoda for how it should be done); absolutely it helped that its first truly differentiated product, the Formentor, arrived just in time to exploit Europe’s growing infatuation with upmarket crossovers.

The original Formentor looked good and drove credibly well, and with pandemic money to spend, people fell on it like a 24-pack of loo roll. Over time, it proved the ideal bedrock on which to build Cupra’s reputation. The problem, if we call it that, is the extent to which its maker has attempted to repeat the same trick in recent years: the Tavascan and Terramar and Raval have all followed, and PH couldn’t tell them apart if the company fuel card depended on it. Which, in fact, might not be an issue because at least one of them is electric. And we know how wildly popular they are.

Granted, Cupra is hardly alone in launching identikit models (the Chinese are building an entire industry on the idea), but it is serving to muddy the water at the worst possible time. For one thing, the wider VW Group has finally recognised that trying to sell 17 versions of basically the same car no longer makes a tremendous amount of business sense with demand stalling, and has already announced its intention to start culling some of the outliers. For another, it does very little to enhance the image of a supposedly performance-orientated company. If people shrug their shoulders bemusedly at the sight of yet another forgettable, battery-powered crossover, you can hardly claim to be different than the rest.

Which is a roundabout way of explaining why a Formentor costing £64,495 makes complete sense. Not from a sale volume perspective, of course - it would be staggering if Cupra sold very many examples of the new flagship VZ5 - but here, at last, is a car that you (the long-suffering PHer) might like to know about. And that’s because it’s not powered by electrons or a hybridised four-pot or even a copy and pasted EA888. Rather it gets the turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder motor that Audi has typically preferred to keep for itself. This means the VZ5 gets 390hp and 354lb ft of torque. But more important still is the physical and emotional presence of easily the most characterful petrol engine this side of six cylinders.

While it makes a good deal of sense to sell the time-limited EA855 unit more broadly (there has long been talk of a five-pot Golf), clearly it also provides Cupra with a much-needed counterweight to the grinding anonymity of so many family-friendly EVs. And though it isn’t an entirely new concept - as Matt B noted in his international first drive, the VZ5 has previously been made available in Europe as a left-hand-drive, limited edition model - it is new to the UK. Which suggests it has been sufficiently well received in on the continent to justify the development of a right-hand-drive option - or else UK buyers have been clamouring for it.

Either way, the five-cylinder Formentor is here now, and we’re going to no more complain about that fact than we would if Skoda installed Audi’s 4.0-litre V8 in a Kodiaq. Otherwise humdrum cars equipped with oversized engines used to be two-a-penny 20 years ago; the VZ5 is a timely reminder that the strategy rarely failed to produce a more interesting alternative to the cooking models. So it proves here. Swaddled in particulate filters the current iteration of five-pot might very well be, but no other Formentor fires up with quite the same authority. No other Cupra, period.

That so much of its full-throated warble has gone isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the VZ5. Not if you’re willing to buy into its under-the-radar look, which, stacked exhausts and slightly chunkier 20-inch wheels aside, barely seems to differ from a regular Formentor. There is a model designation - but precious few people are going to know what the ‘5’ refers to. This makes the car that rare thing in 2026: a high-powered combustion derivative that might actually qualify for legitimate Q-car status. Assuming that 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 174mph are still sufficient to earn that kind of recognition.

Certainly the VZ5 feels good for it from behind the wheel. It’ll dawdle peaceably in Drive, its initial throttle response being butter knife-dull for the sake of economy; but in Sport (a familiar tug rearward on the peewee gear selector) and you get something like the old magic. Not nearly as vocal or as rabid as the outgoing RS3, perhaps, but a very pleasingly, Dad-appropriate tribute act. And not inappropriate to the role of powering a fast Formentor it must be said, given the fervent generosity of its mid range above 2,000rpm, which makes the EA888 in the lowlier VZ3 seem positively tin-can-ish by comparison.

As you might expect given the tried-and-tested nature of the AWD system dealing with the torque, the VZ5 has no issue with accommodating the additional power - though you’ll find reason enough to temper your ambitions if you go looking for RS3-style tenacity with some steering lock on. A nailed-down, super-hatch the Formentor is not, even with its adaptive chassis in lock jaw mode; rather it is a crossover where the best compromise between handling and liveable ride quality is to be found two notches above the point marked ‘Comfort’ in the 15-stage damper settings.

But that’s fine. It’ll still cover ground remarkably quickly at eight-tenths, and anyone after real incisiveness and superior lateral control is free to avail themselves of the shoutier RS3; the Formentor is plainly meant to seem a shade taller and slower and, yes, more grown-up. It is still targeting family buyers after all, much as the Audi RS Q3 did previously. And the VZ5 is much more likeable than that car, even if the difference is mostly about the intangibles. And the styling.

It is also, as Cupra doubtless knew it would be, a good deal more likeable than any other model in its short history. That perhaps says something about the Leon’s failure to properly escape the Golf R’s shadow - but it also says everything you need to know about the inline five. Its odd-firing resonance and deep enthusiasm for revs means it fills out the Formentor’s engine bay like Sir Ian McKellen fills out Gandalf’s hat. Without it, there would be only a insignificant heap of matte grey. Little wonder its maker is rumoured to be exploring a Terramar VZ5, as well. In an ideal world, it would power the Raval, Born, Leon and Tavascan, too.

SPECIFICATION | CUPRA FORMENTOR VZ5

Engine: 2,490cc, five-cyl turbo
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 390@5,800-7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 354@2,250-5,700rpm
0-62mph: 4.2sec
Top speed: 174mph
Weight: c. 1,650kg
MPG: 27.9
CO2: 230g/km
Price: £64,495 (starting price)

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SydneyBridge

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