Used Cupra Ateca Review (2018-2026)

After being spun off from SEAT into a brand of its own, the first thing Cupra did was to make a go-faster version of the SEAT Ateca. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

The Cupra Ateca is almost a proof of concept. It laid the foundations for Cupra’s big-selling range of sporty yet practical cars, and it still offers a compelling blend of attributes if you want a fast family car.

With 300hp under its tall bonnet, the Cupra Ateca is twice as powerful as a SEAT version. And the upgrades are more wide-ranging than that, with extras such as a Cupra drive mode, bucket seats and VW’s Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) system, which allows you to firm up the suspension for sporty driving or soften it off for when you want to cruise.

Now, Cupra models come with high-performance options that sit above more sensibly powered options. In recent years, the Cupra Ateca has also been available with the same 150hp 1.5 engine as the SEAT version, which gives you the sporty styling without the high running costs of the range-topping model. However, we’d argue that you’d be better off buying a SEAT Ateca because it’ll be cheaper.

The Cupra Ateca muscled into an area dominated by premium brands – fast SUVs used to be exclusively high-end machines with extreme performance and extreme pricetags. Fitting the VW Group’s 300hp engine into the Ateca made speed accessible. Other options soon followed, so you might cross-shop the Ateca with other 300hp-ish SUVs such as the Volkswagen T-Roc R and Tiguan R, Audi SQ2, Mercedes-AMG GLA 35 and BMW X2 M35i.

In terms of balancing practicality, excitement and price, you’ll often find that the Ateca comes out on top.

Being one of the brand’s older models, the Cupra Ateca doesn’t come with the latest interior design or a cinema-sized touchscreen. While the interior design could be described as a bit plain, the layout is superb, with physical controls for important features within easy reach.

The Cupra treatment has jazzed up the Ateca’s interior. The copper accents on the steering wheel are obvious, and they’re joined by matching stitching on the seats and gearlever. Suede upholstery on the sporty seats immediately makes the car feel sporty.

A digital instrument cluster comes as standard, which helps to keep the Ateca feeling up to date. It’s very configurable, so you can choose to have all the necessary information on the screen at once, or a stripped-back view showing the essential data.

The colourful infotainment system is split into main functions, which are accessed via the home menu or the icons at the bottom. Main menus are easy to navigate, although some submenus are a bit confusing. In its early versions, this system has also had its fair share of bugs – software updates should have fixed these.

As with Cupra’s other models, the trim level range is split, with V1 and V2 reserved for lower-power engines and VZ versions used for high-power options. The cheapest V1 trim includes 19-inch bi-colour alloy wheels, cruise control, wireless phone charging, auto LED headlights and auto wipers, two-zone climate control and keyless entry. V2 adds heated leather front seats, a reversing camera and a powered bootlid.

VZ1 adds a reversing camera, drive modes and Dynamic Chassis Control over the V1 trim. VZ2 again adds the heated leather upholstery, and adds a powered driver’s seat and more driver-assistance tech. The toppiest VZ3 trim gets copper-coloured wheels and Brembo front brakes.

Being based on the SEAT Ateca (and the Skoda Karoq) means this Cupra has massive amounts of space. Rear-seat room is generous in all dimensions – unless you’re incredibly tall you’ll have legroom, headroom and shoulder room to spare. Fitting three adults across the rear bench is certainly doable, even if the centre console and transmission tunnel rob space for feet.

The Isofix points are easy to find if you’re concerned with child seats, and there are USBs so you can keep kids’ devices charged up on a long journey. Big windows give a good view out. Other comfort and storage features include air vents, seatback pockets, overhead lights and a fold-down armrest with extra cupholders.

Boot space stands at 485 litres for four-wheel-drive versions and 510 litres for the base 1.5 engine with front-wheel drive. That'll be fine for most families' clutter, but it's overshadowed by the 615 litres on offer in the Volkswagen Tiguan R.

For most of the Cupra Ateca’s time on sale, it exclusively came with a 300hp 2.0-litre petrol engine and grippy four-wheel drive. This is a familiar combination that’s used across VW Group performance cars, so all the parts are tried and tested.

In the context of the Ateca, the turbocharged EA888 engine gets the car from 0-62mph in just 4.9 seconds. It feels genuinely quick, and you’ll hit motorway speeds almost in the blink of an eye – on the way to a 155mph top speed.

On newer models, you’ll also find 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre ‘EcoTSI’ petrol engines. The latter is detuned to 190hp but keeps the four-wheel drive, and manages the 0-62mph sprint in a respectable 7.2 seconds. Base 1.5 versions feature the same 150hp engine as the SEAT Ateca, but cost more and don’t provide the driving thrills you’d expect from a Cupra. It’s a bit slow for the badge in our opinion, taking 9.3 seconds to get to 62mph.

And having half the power doesn’t double your fuel economy. The 150hp 1.5 officially returns up to 42mpg, compared to 31mpg for the VZ performance versions. You will save a fair bit in insurance – the 1.5 is in groups 17-18 whereas the 300hp 2.0 is in groups 30-32 out of 50 – and servicing costs are likely to be cheaper for the lesser-powered version.

Every Cupra Ateca comes with a slick-shifting DSG automatic gearbox – there’s no manual gearbox available.

All the fast Cupra Atecas have Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC), which lets you choose how soft or firm the suspension is. This is great because it changes the character of the car – you can opt for a relaxed setting for motorway cruising, and then switch to a firmer setup for fast cornering and sporty driving.

You can either fiddle about with the Individual drive mode setting, or pick from predetermined Normal, Sport and Cupra modes. The latter is the Spinal Tap mode where the throttle response, brake response, gearbox and suspension are as aggressive as they can be. This is where the Cupra Ateca shows its fun side. Despite sharing the majority of parts with the SQ2, Tiguan R and T-Roc R, the Ateca manages to be more engaging than those cars – which left us feeling cold and detached.

The steering is direct and quite heavy in its sportiest setting, while the brakes are strong and positive.

Given that the Ateca is likely to be used for family transport duties, it’s a bit of a shame that the ride is never truly supple. Even with everything in the comfort-focused settings, the Ateca is still quite bobbly over all but the smoothest surfaces. There’s also a lot of tyre noise present at motorway speeds.