Cupra is a company which is quickly finding its feet in the world of motoring. It split apart from Seat to become its own brand back in 2018, but since then has been largely tasked with creating go-faster versions of the Spanish firm’s existing cars. Vehicles like the Cupra Ateca have arrived, shown their faces, but left the firm lacking any real impact.

This car – the Formentor – looks to address that. It’s the first car that Cupra has had a proper hand in designing and creating, which means it’s been able to influence all aspects of its make-up. What does that mean when it comes to driving, though? We’ve been finding out.

Cupra has a fine pick of things, in truth. It’s able to access the wider Volkswagen Group’s technology and engines but is free to design the look and feel of its cars as it sees fit. It’s why the Formentor sits on the same MQB Evo platform that underpins the latest Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia, while this car’s 2.0-litre engine is shared with cars such as the Tiguan R.

Yet the exterior and interior have been given some real flair – and we’ll look at that in more detail shortly – which really does allow Cupra to make a name for itself outside of the larger VW Group.

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