FEATURED THIS WEEK
CUPRA FORMENTOR
We’re about to get familiar with this head-turning crossover in plug-in hybrid form
CUPRA FORMENTOR
DACIA SANDERO STEPWAY
KIA SORENTO
MINI CONVERTIBLE
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI
VOLVO XC60
FIRST REPORT
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
To see if Cupra’s classy crossover is up to the rigours of day-to-day running
S ome enthusiastic horntooting accompanied my first drive in the latest addition to Autocar’s long-term test car f leet: the alluringly different Cupra Formentor. There was I, waiting at the traffic lights when I looked to my right and saw an excited man gesturing at me to lower my window. “What is that? I like it so much.” I told him. Maybe now he’s a Cupra customer-in-waiting.
Evidently this is a car that has an effect on people, and that alone ought to make the coming months interesting. I remember finding it similarly arresting when I first saw the Formentor concept on a motor-show stand a couple of years ago (the production version hasn’t changed much in the meantime). The details all look great. The fullwidth light bar at the back is really well integrated and more cohesive than it is on the Cupra Leon. The front foglights, tucked away neatly beneath the headlights, give a concentrated look to the car’s face. And I’m particularly taken by the crease above the rear wheels: it’s confident, it adds dynamism and it breaks up the car’s visual mass in a clever way.