Cupra Ateca | Test Drive | Auto Class Magazine

Cupra Ateca | Test Drive

7 December 2019 Redazione News, Stories, Tested

NOVA ERA

Words by Marco Mancino / Photo by S. Lomax

I take a deep breath and move once again. As the hours pass by and since the pace wasn’t exactly relaxing, I almost forgot which sort of car I was comfortably sitting on. A quick glance at the steering wheel and the copper-colored logo awakens in me that sense of amazement I’ve first felt once I really started pushing this Ateca. It is not just any Ateca, of course you’ve already seen the photographs, but the Cupra, the first proper car of the newborn Iberian brand, no longer limited to represent the Seat sports and motorsport branch. And if you’re pointing your finger, accusing it of simply being an Ateca with different badges, be prepared because you’ll have to think again.

We could spend weeks of debate over the fact that Cupra decided to enter the market with a small-medium size SUV, but take it for the most practical segment on the market, way more easy to deal with than traditional sports car or bigger SUVs, the choice was certainly not accidental. The skeleton of the Ateca is then excellent on its own and on a mechanical level you can fish here and there in the Volkswagen catalog, going to concentrate on how to make this automotive debut really effective and not start from scratch, also having to face a much more consistent investment in terms of money. The Cupra Ateca is a close relative of the Seat Ateca, of the Golf R, of the Tiguan and does not mind hiding this umbilical cord, after all the instrumentation is practically identical to that of the Seat counterpart, with the sole difference of some surfaces covered in Alcantara, of the copper tribal logos scattered around the cockpit and for the Cupra mode – in fact – to modify the character of a family car ready to put in trouble a good portion of the entire Autoscout24 browser list. All with “just” 300 horses and I mean “just” for the simple fact that we are now used to much more high-sounding figures, right?! Good news in terms of taxes, but at the same time one can inevitably have a couple of doubts in the precise instant in which we have to look at it as the angry sister, the one which, still maintaining the ability to take your children to school, puts into you the desire to come back home raping some curvy roads.

To be completely honest I was a bit anxious and grinding the first few kilometers on the motorway, in Comfort mode, it certainly didn’t help to remove my doubts. Fortunately, the road that separates me from Menton to the meeting point with colleagues and the photographer has a name that sounds familiar even to those who think that all red sports cars are Ferrari. After having entered into French territory, I switch to Sport mode and I already realize that the subdued sound of the exhaust becomes thicker, the gearbox does not hide the desire shift a gear up and the steering improves its feedback by sharpening the resistance to my inputs. It is easy to imagine that after the first bends still faced with a rather civil pace, I move the gear lever to the right, thus triggering the manual action on the 7-speed DSG. Time to really understand what Cupra’s official debut in the world of production cars is made of and which baptism of fire is better than the switchbacks of the Col de Turini?

Attacking these curves with a supercar close to the ground is never the best choice, we will repeat it until the end. The real trump card has the forms of a coupe or a hatchback, not too wide or long, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive is fine too, while as far as horses are concerned, 250 would already be enough as long as you really exploit them to the last. The Ateca has 300 hp and thanks to the four-wheel drive it manages to ground 400 Nm of torque, already available at just 2,000 rpm. I soon begin to realize the incredible capabilities of a chassis that takes credit for being the secret ingredient that, together with a more rigid suspension tuning, can turn an excellent SUV into a purebred sports car. There’s no body roll and the 2-liter 4-cylinder turbo has a constant thrust that, a millisecond of lag later, catapults you to the next bend. The Brembo Performance brakes of the model of our test are tireless and so I devour these curves like I have never done in my life, all with a simplicity that is too absurd for a car raised from the ground like this. Also due to the fact that we have not yet spent enough time in its company, I find myself clinging to the steering wheel crown, completely forgetting that this toy carries five seats, a large trunk and 4Control all-wheel drive system, a fundamental help through corners, where it limits understeer even through wider ones, helping to maintain the desired lines and offering unimaginable safety and cornering effectiveness.

A little annoyed by the lack of a soundtrack adequate to its absurd ballistic performances, I have already reached the summit of the Turini and kept further north towards Camp d’Argent, reaching the guys, not at all surprised to see me arrive with an advance attributable only to the spirited nature of the Cupra. Almost like wanting to break my wings, the road becomes narrower and loses all the connotations of a “driving road” transforming itself into a path immersed in the wildest corner of the region. We continue as in a relaxed walk for families and between one photo and the other we stop and admire a carpet of clouds formed just behind a grassy hill that has become buffet for a herd of cows. The slowest rhythms are the same ones that allow you to assimilate the information that bombarded me during my solo ascent and I can hardly believe that a rocket that until a few minutes before has tossed me like a ball inside a pinball machine, is now able to move even on dirt paths – maybe using Offroad mode – and reach places impossible to approach with the Golf R cousin, just to mention a close relative just as capable of maneuvering in various situations.

Today we are no longer impressed by a 0-100 kph of 5.2 seconds or a top speed of almost 250 per hour. We need to feel chills strong enough to shake convictions and stupid prejudices, the same ones that many could mistakenly throw giving a sneak peek at this Cupra, which aesthetically differs from the Seat for just a few details. The reality of the facts is that no one in Cupra was going to upset the world with an unlikely design (at least not with their first real model), but having managed to do it dynamically certainly has something to do with the experience gained in motorsport and the broad shoulders of the VW group. The four tailpipes leave no room for doubt, as the 19-inch alloy wheels and the sharper bumpers. The cabin remains sober, with the infotainment system that we know well including virtual cockpit and the proven ergonomics of your sister’s Ateca. All this requires a considerable economic effort, since the Cupra Ateca starts at just over € 44,000, which is absolutely not an unjustified figure taking into account the versatility of the car itself and its quality. If, on the other hand, it is not even an affordable number for everyone, always keep in mind that a Golf R costs three thousand Euros more.

That said, I finally manage to convince my colleagues that they have tasted enough of the practical side of the Cupra and we go down towards Lucéram, punctually turning for the Col de Braus, an after all short bit of road, ideal if I wanted to swallow a cocktail of switchbacks. Sport mode and then Cupra, which keeps the engine constantly above 2,000 rpm and therefore always ready to supply the maximum torque reserve. Now that I am about to embark on another thrilling climb, I know I am dealing with something special and I try to push myself further than before, noticing how much traction always comes into play, even when the stiffness and the angle of the hairpins leave a wheel in the air. Once again I am amazed and left stunned as if I had been hit by a train on the back of my neck. Cupra enters the production game with brutality and does so with a car that wears the sober clothes of an exceptional machine that loses nothing of the functional side of the Ateca from which it takes shape. Here all my doubts have been swept away in the best possible way, with few words and many facts. And from here the road is downhill. Let a new era begin.