We tested the CUPRA Formentor VZ5: much more than a superb engine for the most sought-after Formentor

When  almost a year ago  we got behind the wheel of the  CUPRA Formentor VZ5  for the first time, the model was not yet the star it is today, but it was showing signs of improvement . 'improvement. Today, meeting the first deliveries to customers of the long-awaited 390hp CUPRA Formentor VZ5, we drove it again, this time on the open road, to tell you what's behind the Formentor that everyone will want to have and that only 7,000 lucky people in the world can own them.

Before I start talking about driving sensations, I think it's worth reviewing  the history  of the Formentor as a model to understand why this special and exclusive version, equipped with the original Audi 2.5 TSI five-cylinder Turbo engine , makes more sense than ever .

The Formentor was the first model  developed exclusively  for CUPRA, since previously the LEÓN and the Ateca shared a base with the SEAT models, which also happens, although in a less clear and obvious way, between the  CUPRA Born  and the  Volkswagen ID.3  .

The success of this exclusive model is such that  70%  of CUPRA sales in Europe correspond to Formentor .

Last year, 11,000 CUPRAs  were sold in our country  and 80% of them were Formentors. Within this  mix  of models, with the Formentor, they have succeeded in taking an important step in terms of electrification, since  40% of sales are monopolized by BEV/PHEV  .

Thus, the success of the Formentor at the commercial level has  given wings  to the CUPRA project as an independent brand that complements SEAT, and what is more,  which makes it profitable and sustainable  for the future of the company within the Volkswagen group. .

Ambition with CUPRA

This promising panorama has led the leaders of SEAT and the Volkswagen Group to  bet resolutely on CUPRA  and to develop it at a cruising speed higher than that initially set.

The objective that CUPRA recently made public is  to double everything within two years  : in model range, in sales figures and in turnover. In France, sales quadrupled in 2021  , so a doubling does not seem unreasonable if accompanied by the necessary steps in terms of product and sales network.

This strategy will allow them to launch  four new models  by 2025, but until that date arrives, the big star is called Formentor. Due to its success, it can afford licenses of all kinds, such as having a sports version, high power and produced in limited edition.

Yes, as happens with those  parts of recognized and established brands  that immediately become collector cars desired by many when announced, CUPRA has launched the VZ5, which is also the most powerful production car manufactured in Spain.

At the wheel of another Formentor

On this occasion, I was lucky enough to be able to drive the car on some of my usual roads. I drive through them weekly with a minimum of two cars, so I have  plenty of references  to other cars, some direct rivals to this one and some less so, which allows me to draw more concise conclusions than those I had obtained when I drove it  for the first time on the circuit  and a few months ago on the ice of Lapland with the  CUPRA Born .

To get to these winding and usually deserted roads, the first thing to do is a good streak of freeway miles. Leaving Madrid heading north along the Burgos highway I could see how, despite being the sportiest and most radical version of them all, the VZ5 is still a  perfectly valid car for commuting road  .

Family trips are possible with levels of comfort similar to, or even better than, what can be done in a VZ 310, 150 or 190 HP to name but a few. How is it possible? For  various reasons  .

On the one hand, the chassis and suspension assembly achieves a very good  compromise  between comfort and sportiness despite being 10 millimeters lower than a VZ 310. It has adaptive chassis control (DCC) with 15 levels of suspension firmness adjustment. , either by the parameters associated with each driving mode or independently.

In comfort driving mode, as usual when starting the vehicle, its character is docile and unctuous as desired. The engine has a very linear power curve, but also a constant torque of 480 Nm, between 2,250 and 5,700 rpm and which allows  high cruising speeds  without having to over-rev.

Another aspect to consider is sound. Here there is a double reading, because from my point of view in this version they should have highlighted the mechanical sound, whether pure engine or exhaust,  more noticeable  both inside and outside.

Don't expect to find the backfires, howls and rackets of its Audi RS cousins ​​with which it shares mechanics, because there's none of that here. The exhausts in any of the modes emit a  fine  but not excessive melody, and inside what is perceived is the characteristic sound of the five-cylinder in its purest version.

All this means that on the road the noise in the cabin is also very low, which translates into even better driving comfort than that of a Formentor VZ 310.

when the curves come

But the best in a car of this approach usually comes when you pull off the freeway and head down that perfectly undulating road you know by heart. The one you could do almost with your eyes closed.

A few meters before arriving, I did what it takes to get the most out of a car with these characteristics:  activate CUPRA mode  .

This is selected  from a satellite button  on the steering wheel, by pressing several times until it is found, or directly by pressing longer.

Thus, the character of the car changes and that without, as we have said, excessively modifying the sound experience. The engine  responds  quicker to throttle movements, the steering is more direct and stiffens up for better steering feel. For its part, the suspensions are used so that the body oscillates as little as possible and that you can go as fast as the chassis allows.

Running this engine is a real delight. It hits you on the back  of the CUP Bucket seats, with visible carbon fiber back shell, with might and main. At no time will you miss these 10 HP less compared to Audi models with the same engine block.

It revs very quickly and you have to be very careful if the  sequential change is activated  , because contrary to what happens in the rest of the Formentor, in this one when it reaches the injection cut-off it does not automatically change. at the next speed.

In the VZ5, you have to  be the  one pointing it through the shift paddle so it goes up when the green, amber, and red LEDs flash red, an indicator that 7000 rpm is approaching. If you relaunch one, it continues to be pushed like a beast. This system avoids the involuntary changes that sometimes occur in acceleration, for example when exiting curves, cutting off your exit rhythm. Or quite simply in those moments when it is better to play with the cut by injection rather than putting in a gear more and being slower.

But without a doubt, the most remarkable aspect of the Formentor VZ5 is the way it walks. It is from my point of view, with the Porsche Macan, the SUV with the best dynamics on the market.

It's a car that does everything well in that regard. It is agile when entering curves, it does not pitch, the steering transmits a lot of confidence and the specific braking equipment of this VZ5 version, signed  Akebono  with six-piston calipers on the front wheels, accompanied by discs larger ventilated and perforated (375 x 36 mm) have a fantastic touch that allows you to take advantage of them in sporty driving.

The VZ5 has slightly wider front and rear tracks than the rest of the Formentor, and beyond that it has a  dramatic footprint  thanks to the extra 49' of negative camber on the front axle and 20' on the rear that make the stiffer propellers of the car. trampled with incredible aplomb.

I make turns one after the other and everything is so delicious, so easy and so efficient that I don't hold myself back to seek the limit. And you think it's  hard to find  . The steering and front axle offer unprecedented agility, partly because the hubs are slightly stiffer. So much so that it's hard to believe you're driving an SUV instead of a sporty compact.

Conclusions of the CUPRA Formentor VZ5

Now yes, after three intimate dates and off to another opportunity to thoroughly test  Drift mode  , the one in which the ESC is completely disabled and alters the distribution of power to the rear axle until it sends 100% of the engine torque to the wheel that takes the outside path of the curve, I think I am now  100% able  to draw clear conclusions from this Formentor VZ5.

Without a doubt, it is a car that  will go down in history and will be a coveted piece  in a very short time, as soon as the 7,000 copies to which its production has been limited are sold out. It will be a sought-after car because it has an engine that is undoubtedly one of the best in history and very few cars have been able to hide it under the hood.

It is one, and it is  different  from the others that mount the 2.5 TSI, since it houses it in an SUV-shaped package, with a behavior worthy of one of the best sports compacts, and at the same time with a configuration which makes it perfectly valid for everything from use as a daily and family car, to getting away from time to time to enjoy it alone.

The price of the  CUPRA Formentor VZ5  is  65,340 euros  , which is 7,000 euros less than an Audi RS Q3 or 12,000 euros less than an Audi RS3 with identical mechanics. It is worth the comparisons to be hateful, but on this occasion we have not stopped making them.