Cupra Formentor VZ5: Elwood Blues of the automotive industry – Puls Biznesu

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-Don’t you like it? – Elwood Blues asks Jake’s brother, referring to the car they are traveling in.

– NO. “I don’t like it,” Jake replies.

Elwood puts the pedal to the metal and jumps over the opening of St. Drawbridge. Bridge in Chicago, then says:

“It’s got a four-hundred-and-forty-inch engine, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It’s an old model without a catalytic converter, so it runs fine on regular gasoline. So, will it be the new Bluesmobile or not?

“Fix the lighter,” Jake says.

Many of you have already realized that this is a description of the movie “Blues Brothers”, but you are probably wondering what Jake Blues, who is not satisfied with the new car and the Cupra Formentor, has to do with it? What connects the Spanish brand to the 1974 Dodge Monaco bought at the “spring auction of police equipment?” And it has a lot of it.

Cupra is like Elwood. I like Jake.

Come, come, come…

Before I explain, I should say a few words about the Cupra brand itself. Its origins date back to 1985. At that time, the Seat Sport department was established at Seat, responsible for preparing cars for various motorsport disciplines. He focused on creating high performance models for the WTC racing series and the World Rally Championship. Over time, he also began to improve civilian seats, creating their sports versions. The first model from the Cupra line was the Ibiza Cupra with a 150 horse power, 2 liter petrol engine. The car was the basis for pairing a kit car assembly car. The name cupra comes from the word cup competition. Understanding its origin is made easier by the full name of the rally series in which the Ibiza equipment car competed – FIA 2-Litre World Cup for Manufactures. In 1999, the sporty version of the compact Leon model debuted – the Seat Leon Cupra. It had a turbocharged 1.8 engine with a power of 180 HP and accelerated from 0 to 100 HP in 7.7 seconds Since then, over the following decades, sporty Leons and Ibizas were named Cupra. It was like this until January 31, 2018, when Seat announced that the series of Seats with character will no longer be called Seat Cupra, but simply Cupra. Therefore, a new brand was created, which was initially supposed to produce powerful and aggressive cars. Today, however, Cupra is not a brand dedicated only to sports cars. You can tell it’s just a Chair with a different logo. It offers Leon and Ateca. Both models also have smaller, purely civilian engines. What makes the Cupra stand out is its wide range of engines. While the Seat Leon can have a maximum of 150 HP, the Cupra Leon can have up to 300 HP. Cupra already offers an electric car (birth model), Seat is not yet available. It can be said that the Cupra offer, on the one hand, matches Seat’s offerings, and on the other hand, complements them. As a rule, however, every Cupra model has a Seat counterpart. The exception is Formentor. Built from scratch as an exclusive Cupra.

The Formentor is a crossover with a low slope, a coupé-like roofline, a muscular look and an aggressive stance. Also… the cheapest way to go from Cupra, as prices start at PLN 135,400. zlotys. At the same time, it is also the most expensive model of this brand, because the top version – today’s hero – costs more than 345,000. zlotys. At the same time, it is also (or rather could be) the strongest example of this brand.

Give me five

Cupra offers six engines for the Formentor model. The basic one is the petrol unit 1.5 TSI with 150 HP. One top shelf is the 2 liter TSI, four cylinder petrol with 190 HP. For diesel engines – diesel (2.0 TDI, 150 HP). For more thrill seekers, Cupra has the Formentor VZ (VZ, or veloz – Spanish for fast). Here, the 2.0 TSI unit is also responsible for providing power, but with a power of 245 HP or 310 HP (two versions are available). The sixth recommendation and the cherry on the cake is the VZ5. VZ you already know what it comes from, 5 is the number of cylinders.

Well, under the hood of the VZ5 there is a completely obscure engine – TSI 2.5 from the Audi RS 3 and RS Q3. Somehow, the Cupra bosses managed to get it from the Germans, who have not made this unit available to other brands until now. Although slightly weaker in the Cupra than in the Audi, the Formentor is still very powerful. Compared to a Cupra Leon or Ateca with a 2.0 TSI engine, it not only has a larger capacity of 0.5 l, but also one more cylinder and like 80 HP and 80 Nm more. This changes a lot, both in terms of sound and performance. The 390 horsepower Formentor VZ5 needs 4.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h. This is already in the first league. Of course, such an impressive sprint is not only because of the engine, but also the standard AWD drive and the very fast two-clutch gearbox.

The engine itself is a small work of art and is truly handcrafted. A single VZ5 engine has 500 parts and takes about 40 people to assemble. In this way, only 77 engines are produced per day, which translates into the exclusivity of the model. The plan is to produce only 7,000. copies of VZ5.

– The Cupra VZ5 designer redefines engineering capabilities and pushes the car’s power to the highest level. The characteristic sound of the Cupra Formentor VZ5’s five-cylinder engine evokes a sense of urgency and sets new standards in the sport-cross segment – enthuses Christoph Vierling, director of all-wheel drive and chassis development for the Cupra brand.

It’s true – VZ5 has a lot of testosterone. It not only feels, but also looks. Matte paint, brass inserts, 20-inch rims and four exhaust tips. In addition, the center of gravity is lower (VZ5 is 10 mm lower than VZ). There are also carbon inserts on the bumpers. It is also sporty inside. Although the cockpit is similar to the Seat Leon, the Cupra gives it a high-performance look. This includes, for example, a steering wheel on which – like large cars – there is a button to start the engine, or almost high-performance bucket seats (with Sabelt) prepared for the installation of five-point seat belts.

There is also a driving mode switch on the steering wheel. The transition from “comfort” to “sports” is obvious. The steering wheel puts up more resistance, the gearbox immediately drops a gear or two and keeps the engine revs up. The suspension tightens and the beautiful sound of the five-cylinder engine from Audi becomes clearer. In “cupra” mode it is more aggressive, and the transmission switches to manual mode. There is also a “drift” mode (known from the Audi RS3), and this is a real rarity in cars with the same body type. Thanks to this, Formentor VZ5 can take interesting turns and slides. All this makes it a perfect car for a road aggressor, but … not about it. It is a car with two origins. It can be a daily family hauler. It has a deep interior, the trunk can hold 420 liters of stuff. In comfort mode, the five-cylinder engine rumbles gently but not tiringly. In the “cup” or “drift” state, it changes polarity. It becomes wild, breaks away from the driver and surprises. He screams like a five-year-old at the dentist, but it’s you, not him, who chooses the situation. Driving calmly, you will be satisfied with 12 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers. Driving in “modes”, well … it will burn as you pour into it.

Bluesmobil

Everyone has their Bluesmobile or everyone has an idea for it. Sometimes it happens that this car turns out to be the one we would never have chosen – like the confused Jake Blues not accepting his brother’s Dodge Police car or my Cupra.

I agree – I was like Jake. I considered the whole Cupra idea an unnecessary marketing gimmick. Formentora, on the other hand, is another car from the VW Group, not different from the others – after all, it has a Volkswagen suspension, a Volkswagen engine and everything else is also Volkswagen.

Who will buy, I wondered. I was wrong. Both for the Cupra and Formentor brands. The brand is doing well, breaking more historical records. In 2023, it has already delivered more than 150,000 worldwide. cars – by more than 60 percent over a year ago. It is the fastest growing car brand in Europe. Its popularity is so great that soon there were rumors that Kiti will disappear from the market. They were expelled. However, the division of forces was strengthened. The seat will remain a flagship product, Cupra – for those who decide what they want to drive.

Today I can also answer the question I asked myself about who will buy Formentor. It turns out that each Formentor is the best seller of the brand. Agreed – not VZ5. But it is the VZ5 that proves that the market is not alone with the Audi RS Q3. Proof that a heart transplant does not mean an organ transplant. Cupra has its own. More feisty. I loved it. Elwood Blues had to jump over a bridge in Chicago to convince his brother to go with the “soldier” idea. For me, it was enough to press the gas pedal to the floor and spend several minutes or so in “drift” mode. The Cupra Formentor VZ5 offers excitement behind the wheel, but the wonderful thing about this car is that it does not involve any sacrifices, because it can be comfortable for everyday use.

Agreed – the Audi is more powerful (it has 400 HP), but the Cupra is … more expensive. Prices for the new RSQ3 start at around PLN 300,000. PLN, VZ5 costs PLN 45,000. more. I have two arguments to defend this basically indefensible argument. First – the VZ5 at this price is equipped with a roof and what the RSQ3 still needs to be equipped with. Second – I made a lighter.