Car of the Year Awards 2026: Best coupé SUV
A good coupé isn’t just about style. The trick if it’s to be among the class leaders is that it must feel on point whether you’re enjoying a great road or enduring a terrible commute...
Cupra Formentor 1.5 TSI 150 V1
Anyone can a coupé SUV, right? Just take a regular SUV and make the roofline a bit more curvaceous. And yes, that’s exactly what the Audi Q3 Sportback and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupé are to their boxier siblings. With the Formentor, though, Cupra went to rather more dogged lengths.
You can see that in how the Formentor looks; while it’s technically related to the Cupra and Seat Ateca family SUVs, there’s very little resemblance. But of more importance is the fact that the Formentor lives up to its dashing profile in terms of the way it drives.
Although you can’t expect it be as agile as a hot hatch, the Formentor builds on the Ateca’s already substantial dynamic talent with just enough weight in its precise steering for it to feel involving, and a sense that the car will go exactly where you point it. Body control is excellent, with less lean through corners than in most other similar-sized SUVs, too, and lots of grip from the tyres. And even the entry-level 148bhp 1.5-litre petrol engine feels fleet of foot.
While you wouldn’t choose one over the BMW 4 Series for pure driving pleasure, the Formentor is a more practical family proposition.
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