Cupra Ateca VZ – years pass and the benefits still stand

Ateca was among the first Seat models to receive the Cupra badge in 2018. Meanwhile, Formentor entered the scene and took the brand to new heights. Ateca lives a little in its shadow – During the 11 months of this year, Formentor found as many as 5,591 buyers in Poland. The Cupra-badged Ateca was sold to just 176 customers. The Kiti-badged Ateca is the most popular: 1,446 units were registered in Poland this year. As the representatives of the brand assure, Ateca – despite its age and lower character than the new Cupra models – is not going anywhere and not only remains in the range, but also has small new things, such as: refreshing the color palette.

However, I am not far from having bad intentions towards the Ateca. Every time I have the opportunity to drive this model, I am amazed by the quietness of its design. The style can’t break hearts, the silhouette is completely boxy, but that’s why the compact shape hides a lot of action. Three years have passed since the Ateca facelift and the design sensibility is still broken only by 19-inch wheels, four exhaust tips and accents in the company’s bronze color.

In the interior and ergonomics of the model, there are sports seats, but good ones that are very easy to get into – this is an argument for those who would like to have a hot hatch, but are discouraged by bending down to take a seat. And you’re sitting comfortably: well supported, upright, with a good view of the car’s surroundings and easy access to switches.

At its debut, the dashboard of the Ateca looked traditional and neat – this is where the age of the design is most noticeable. But on the other hand: ease of use is much better than, for example, the newer Leon or Born. Everything is placed where you expect it to be. The Ateca is one of the last VW group models sold in Europe with climate control knobs. There is no volume knob, but the buttons on the steering wheel are so refined that the lack of touch points on the screen can be forgiven.

In good old fashion, there’s also a big drive mode switch in the tunnel, but it’s still worth paying extra for the steering wheel and engine starter and drive mode button – more for the old, though more functional. can be done from the steering wheel, the better. Starting the engine from the steering wheel has become a habit and you may wonder why more brands (besides Cupra, this includes Ferrari and Alfa Romeo) do not use this patent.

The multimedia system may not have a bigger and faster screen, but the interface and functions are more modern: Apple CarPlay works wirelessly, the menu can be configured. The virtual clock display offers greater customization options: here, the Cupra offers more display options than most of its new rivals, from a sports mode with a large tachometer to a wide map view. Readability is good, even if the resolution could be better.

It’s still in the cabin: the rear offers good conditions for traveling – plenty of legroom and room, a comfortable seating position and less obvious advantages such as high doors for easy climbing or serving a child in a seat, as well as large windows. There are, of course, additional air vents and USB ports, but the climate has only two zones.

The trunk has a volume of 485 litres, but it feels bigger: almost all of this value is allocated to the conventionally shaped main bay and is not wasted on recesses or storage spaces under the floor. Compare this with cars that have a capacity of more than 500 liters on paper and it turns out that the Ateca holds more cargo.

The sofa is folded using levers from the side of the trunk (only PLN 92 extra) and unless you order two floors (PLN 664), you won’t even get a face. However, the ski hole in the backrest of the sofa is normal.

Want to go cycling in the summer? Be sure to order the removable hook from Ateka (PLN 3,885). I was very surprised that the deep exhaust system with four tips does not hinder this practical option. Thanks to this, you can tow a trailer weighing up to 2,100 kg with the Ateka or install a bike rack. The hook extends when you pull the switch, you just need to pull it with your hand to the top position.

There is another practical feature that surprised me in the Ateca: the automatic parking function. In fact this is nothing new, almost every car can have it today and in the Ateca it is not necessary, because the body is only 4.39 m long and, in addition to good visibility, parking is also made easy with a set of sensors and. 360 ° camera. But: the machine does it quickly and efficiently, it recognizes curbs and does not falter in tight spaces. I never once worried that, for example, when changing, the system would arrange the route in such a way that I would accidentally pinch the lip. In the photo below, the Ateca parked itself, cleverly – as you can see, there wasn’t much room to spare.

I devoted a few paragraphs to the practical advantages of the Ateca Cupra, after all, in daily driving, they determine the pleasure of use. But of course there is also a sporty face of this car. Although Cupra also offers the Ateka with petrol engines with 150 and 190 HP, and Seat even offers a three-cylinder 1.0 TSI, the tested version of the VZ with 4-wheel drive and 300 HP best reflects the spirit of the brand.

A refined chassis with adjustable shock absorbers allows you to harness the power of this hot spot on the pole and control the upper body. Cupra drives easily and intuitively, holds the road well and listens to the driver’s commands. It may not be as engaging as conventional hot hatches, it does not respond to steering wheel turns as precisely as the competitive Mercedes-AMG GLA 35, but thanks to the fast DSG gearbox, which can be activated at any time by selecting the S mode, it is always there ready to move and delivers driving excitement on demand.

The 2 liter engine has 400 Nm and plenty of pep. It does not go particularly high – the red belt starts at 6.5 thousand. rpm – but he likes to drive hard. If you refrain from pressing the gas pedal hard, you can achieve a fuel consumption of 6.9 l/100 km on the national road, 8.5 l on the highway and 9 l on the highway. In the city, the amplitude of the results can be very large: in denser traffic it reaches up to 13 l/100 km, but when driving outside rush hours I reached 9.4 l. However, we are talking about 98-octane gasoline.

Driving modes provide many characteristics of engine operation, suspension and shock damping stiffness, and thanks to the Individual program you can combine these settings. There is even a road mode with a special snow setting – it changes the operation of the traction control and ESP, allowing the inclusion of a large wheel. The extra ground clearance doesn’t make the Ateca an off-road vehicle, but driving through the woods to a terrain park or to a resort in deep snow can be quiet.

The bumpy suspension must be stiffer than the Ateca’s civilian variants, but the aggressive chassis setup is not tiring in daily driving: there’s no drama over potholes, but high-speed bumps are quieter to conquer.

Cupra offers an acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h of 4.9 s – with this result, Ateka VZ can compete with, for example, Porsche Macan S (380 HP, 4.8 s). Therefore, I would go so far as to say that the Cupra Ateca VZ is something like the Macan in a more accessible budget, just as the Cupra Leon ST VZ can be considered as an alternative to the Audi RS4.

However, the real competitors of the Cupra Ateca in the VZ version are the BMW X1 M35i, the previously mentioned Mercedes-AMG GLA 35 or the VW T-Roc R based on the same equipment as the Cupra. The cost of PLN 231,600, the Cupra is only PLN 10,000 higher than the Cupra . PLN more expensive than Volkswagen (also an experienced player), but offers better performance. It sets a clear price distance from its premium competitors (24,000 PLN to BMW and as much as 51,000 PLN to AMG). PLN 231,600 is not the deal of the century either – when the 300-horsepower Cupra Ateca went on sale in 2018, it cost PLN 40,000 more. PLN less. Today, for PLN 185,600 you can have a 190-horsepower version. However, the test copy had options on board for around PLN 30,000. and cost PLN 260,000. zlotys.