Cupra's Terramar two-engined hybrid leaves us in two minds

Irish Times

a day ago

Generally speaking, after a week spent testing a car, we can come to a conclusion. That is, after all, the job. Take new car, assess new car, rate new car, rinse and repeat. When it comes to the new Cupra Terramar, however, we're still very much in two minds...
It starts with a continuing difficulty for the Cupra brand. It is, by lineage, a sportier
Seat
, which is fine, but in the seven years since Cupra was spun off from Seat as a separate, stand-alone brand, it has become distinctly expensive and yet is still a brand without a solid, graspable identity.
Clearly, it's meant to fulfil the late Ferdinand Piech's desire for the VW Group to have a sporty, desirable, 'Spanish
Alfa Romeo
' within its ranks, but while Alfa has more than a century of glories and glorious failures behind it, Cupra just has some quick Seats in the back catalogue.
Then again, the brand is a success. Across Europe, Cupra is doing well, taking the same basic mechanical bits and pieces that would once have been sold as a sharply-priced Seat, but which can now be repackaged into a quasi-premium machine that can be sold with a higher purchase price and therefore a chunkier profit margin.
READ MORE
Then again, that higher price brings with it its own problems, as we shall see ...
This new Cupra Terramar is the brand's latest model, and it's effectively the replacement for the ageing Cupra Ateca. Based on the Seat Ateca, the Cupra model only ever came in 300hp turbo petrol four-wheel drive form and, to be honest, it wasn't a bundle of fun. Quick, yes, but actually, seriously good to drive? Not really.
The Terramar follows the Ateca's basic recipe by being based on the same mechanical package as a contemporary Volkswagen Tiguan, but this time there's a full breadth of engines on offer, from a basic 1.5-litre 150hp turbo to this 272hp plug-in high-performance hybrid.
The Terramar also gets off to a good start, with me at any rate, by being not very tall. In fact, compared with a current Tiguan, the Terramar's roof sits 100mm lower down, which is music to my SUV-hating ears. In fact, while Cupra will very definitely sell the Terramar – named after an old racetrack near Barcelona, if you're wondering – as a SUV, it's honestly closer to being a slightly taller estate.
Style-wise, it falls down a bit. The lizard-like face, which is now Cupra's corporate look, leaves me rather cold and I can't help but wish that the look of the first-generation
Formentor
– neat grille, sharp lights – had been carried over. It also doesn't help that our test car was finished in the same metallic dark grey that every other SUV on the road is painted right now. It takes what's not an unattractive shape and smothers it in monochrome camouflage. You'll lose it in a car park, so be brave and delve into Cupra's other colour options, which bring out the shape rather better.
Inside the Cupra Terramar
Inside, it's fine. There is an interest L-shaped section of the centre console, covered in an indented design that looks a bit like fish scales, but which punctures the Terramar's claim to be a premium product by feeling rather cheap to the touch. On the upside, storage space is generous, and the microfibre-clad front bucket seats are very comfortable.
Space is less impressive in the back, where there's not much more rear legroom than you'd find in the Cupra Leon hatchback. Equally, the boot measures just 400 litres up to the luggage cover. Now, in fairness, you can expand that significantly by picking the non-plug-in versions of the Terramar, but even so, that's not a lot of actual room.
The hybrid system itself is impressive, though. With 272hp and a combined petrol+electric total of 400Nm of torque, the Terramar is convincingly rapid, even if the on-paper 0-100km/h time of 7.3 seconds doesn't seem all that impressive.
There's the option of having a fake engine sound piped in through the stereo speakers, which sounds better than you'd think. Even overall efficiency isn't bad – unable to charge at home, I still managed to squeeze 6.2 litres per 100km out of the Terramar, which is considerably better than I managed in the smaller Formentor with the same hybrid system.
The
electric
bit is good too. Against a claimed range of 118km on a full charge of its 19kWh battery, we easily managed 90km, so this really can be an electric car for much of the time. Plus, you can fast-charge it when needed, at up to 50kW, which gives you more flexibility.
However, it's not perfect. There is an odd shunting sensation a times as the electric motor and the petrol engine jostle for pre-eminence, which detracts from the Terramar's refinement.
The Cupra Terramar really can be an electric car for much of the time
It's quite comfortable, though. Our test car came with the DCC adaptive dampers, which have a semi-secret 'ultra soft' setting that you can find if you go in and configure the individual driving mode.
Thus established, the Terramar has a pleasing blend of sharp steering and yet reasonably soft suspension. It's quite good to drive, if not quite what you'd call an out-and-out driver's machine.
That, perhaps, is Cupra's biggest problem. It's taking the same basic bits as every other mid-size Volkswagen Group car and trying to concoct a new recipe with them.
While it's true that, in Italian cooking, tomatoes, pasta, and garlic can be combined and recombined in multiple different variations, here in Cupra's Spanish pantry the results seem less distinct. Cupra, with the Terramar, has produced a tasty dish, but one that lacks the kind of piquancy you'd expect for true distinctiveness.
And then there's the price tag. Our test car, admittedly a range-topping version with optional 20-inch alloys, a brilliant Sennheiser stereo and an upgraded driver assistance pack, costs a fairly massive €63,578 all-in.
That's not only a lot for a brand that, still, few people recognise, but it's also about €5,000 more than the Skoda Octavia RS Combi estate which is sharper to drive, more fun overall and more practical, and everyone knows you've bought something cool. For that matter, the same cash would put a 280hp Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint on your driveway, and that comes with no need to explain to passersby what the brand is about.
So the Terramar, impressive though it is in its overall performance, and in its laudable dedication to being lower-slung than other SUVs, still leaves us with a split decision. It's a perfectly good car, but one that just doesn't quite stick the landing.
Lowdown: Cupra Terramar VZ eHybrid 272hp.
Power:
1.5-litre turbo petrol engine plus 85kW e-motor developing 150hp and 250Nm of torque, powering the front wheels via a single-seed automatic transmission.
CO2 emissions (annual motor tax)
10g/km (€140).
Fuel consumption:
0.5-l/100km (WLTP); 6.2-l/100km (observed)
Electric range:
118km (WLTP)
0-100km/h:
8.3 sec.
Price:
€63,578 as tested, Terramar starts from €44,100.
Our rating:
3/5.
Verdict:
A mixed result – the Terramar has a good hybrid system and it's decent to drive, but it lacks a touch of magic.