Cupra Ateca 2023 review: VZx

It’s smaller than its cousin, the Tiguan, but not by much and it shares a lot of DNA with the Skoda Karoq. So much so, that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. They share the same sharp lines running the length of the body and similar cut aways in the rear.

The nose is different, with the Ateca’s grille being less ‘toothy’ than the Karoq and its headlights look like arrowheads. The rear is cooler too with it jutting out over the quad exhaust but what really sets it apart is the heavy use of copper accents on the badge, 19-inch alloy wheels and detailing. It looks smart and edgy – immediately making it pop out against the pack.

The Ateca’s headlights look like arrowheads. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

The rearfeatures quad-exhaust tips. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

The Ateca wears 19-inch alloy wheels.(image credit: Dean McCartney)

At first, the badge sort of looks like the kind of tribal tattoo you get when you want to look cool … but the longer you drive this, the quicker that badge starts looking a little waspish and mean.

The interior carries through the sporty vibe but it’s here that it sort of loses its way. There’s quite a bit of hard plastic looking finishes inside and the dash design is practical but not particularly fun. The steering wheel and blue leather sports seats help make you forget about some of the hit and miss aesthetics, though.

The driving performance is what will make you sit up and pay attention if you were on the fence about this car. The Ateca has one variant and the 2.0L four-cylinder turbo engine is more than enough to earn a few whoops and grins when you put your foot down (it has a claimed 0–100km/h sprint time of 4.9 seconds).

The low profile helps it hug the road and there’s no wobble when you have to shoot forward in a turn. The seven-speed auto transmission makes the gear changing feel supple. It does have a harder suspension but you won’t notice this as much on the open road. The stop/start feature makes it feel laggy at lower speeds but you can turn this off, if it bothers you. Otherwise, it’s fairly responsive off the mark.

The steering wheel feels great under hand. The flat bottom leans into the sports vibe but it’s the mounted controls that I like most. The Start Engine and Drive Mode buttons are mounted on it and now it feels like the most logical place to have them.

The Ateca’s size makes it a friend in small carparks and it was pretty easy to park with the front, rear and 360-degree camera views. The sensors feel accurate and turning circle is good. It does have a park itself feature but it was a bit finicky to do a 90-degree park, however, still very handy as a confidence booster on those tricky parallel parks!

It’s a medium SUV, so it’s not a huge car but it makes good use of the internal space that occupants of both rows won’t feel like sardines in a can. The headroom and legroom are comfortable but the rear seat feels a little shallow. There’s no real knee/thigh support but it is heavily padded. It did make me wonder how comfortable adults (or taller teenagers) will be on a longer roadie in the back seat.

Storage is okay throughout. The glovebox and middle console are rather shallow but the height adjustable/ slide function of the arm rest is welcome. There are storage bins and drink holders in each door, plus, the two cupholders in each row.

The through storage space that’s accessed via the back seat armrest is a great stowage option for longer gear/ equipment – just make sure that they’re secured properly.

The boot is a good size and fits large luggage well. Plus, it’s deeper than it looks meaning you can stack gear higher than you realise. There’s only a space saver tyre though.

Boot space is rated at 485 litres. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Fold the rear seats flate and cargo capacity grows to 1579L. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Tech aside, this is a very easy car to drive and handle. The driver’s seat is electric with lumbar support and three-position memory function but it’s a shame that those features weren’t carried over to the passenger’s side, which is all manual.

My five-year old enjoyed the lower height of the car too, as it meant he didn’t need my help scrambling in and out. The higher sills and narrower windows meant he didn’t have as much of a view as what he likes but the view out the sunroof made up for it. The reading lights in the back seat are well positioned and there’s directional air vents with fan control in the middle console. Coupled with the USB-C ports, there are enough amenities for back seat passengers to feel looked after.

The squared off door apertures makes the car easy to get in and out of without bumping your head – always good in a family car, especially when you’re buckling in kids!

This also comes with one of my fav features – a powered tailgate and it’s made even better by the kick function, perfect for when you have your hands full.

This has a healthy safety features list that includes items like: forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, driver fatigue detection, lane keeping and departure aids and adaptive cruise control. It also comes with front and rear parking sensors, front and rear cameras and 360-degree view camera to aid in parking.

It has the standard airbags, as well as, a driver’s knee airbag. At the time of this article, the Ateca hasn’t been tested with ANCAP.

In the second row, there are ISOFIX mounts on the outboard seats plus three top tether child seat mounts but you’ll probably only fit two seats side by side. The middle tether also feels rather flimsy but that just might be me.

It was easy to fit my harnessed booster seat but front seat passengers’ will know about it when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed. It can feel a tad squishy up front but taller front seat occupants will suffer the most.

The technology is pretty healthy, as you might hope in a new car, but sometimes a little annoying to use. The dashboard is headlined by a sloping 9.2-inch touchscreen multimedia system that isn’t terribly intuitive to use but you do get used to it. It has wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which was seamless to connect my iPhone 8 Plus to. It also has a built-in sat nav, which I always like to have, but it doesn’t ‘predict’ destinations. You have to know the address of your destination.

The 10.25-inch digital instrument panel is nicely nestled but isn’t always easy to read. The fonts and graphics can look too similar, like the font for five and S are nearly identical and you might think you’re reading your speed but it’s actually the gear your car is in.

The wireless charging pad has been handy this week but if you can’t get your phone charging, there are two USB-C ports in each row, as well as, a 12-volt port up front.

The Beats Sound System is a highlight and the subwoofer and sound quality are very good. The powered tailgate is also a highlight at this price point.

There’s only one high spec model being launched for the Ateca and you can order one for $60,990 before on-road costs. If you’re comparing this against a VW Tiguan R, or maybe a Volvo XC40 – both of which take a different tact to the Cupra – then it seems like you get quite a bit for your money here. You get some lovely features as standard, like: heated front seats, heated steering wheel, leather sports seats, 19-inch alloy wheels and full LED lights to name a few.

Our vehicle has been fitted with the optional panoramic sunroof and that costs $1800 but it’s worth it! It totally brightens the interior and transforms what could be a ‘penned in’ space into something more in line with a convertible. This would be a lovely summer roadie car.

I was hoping for something standout for a new brand but the Ateca comes with the standard five-years/unlimited km warranty. It does come with a sweetener though, if you purchase one of these prior to the end of December 2022, the first three-years of services are included. You can add an extra two years for $1200 and that works out to be pretty cheap servicing over five years! Servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The official combined cycle fuel figure is 7.8L/100km and I achieved 9L/100km on a mix of urban and open road driving. I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by the economy given it’s a turbo but you should expect higher if you do mostly city driving. A thing to note too is that this only takes premium petrol, so expect to cough up a little more at the bowser.