Cupra Terramar long-term test

The car Cupra Terramar V2 1.5 e-Hybrid 204PS DSG Run by Stuart Milne, digital editor

Why it’s here To see if the Terramar could be a practical, low-cost Porsche Macan alternative

Needs to deliver the driving experience those looks promise, while being an economical family workhorse

Miles covered 12,066 Price £46,700 Target price £37,995 Price as tested £47,395 Dealer price now £30,000 Trade-in price £28,826 Official economy 176.5mpg Test economy 70.6mpg Running costs (excluding depreciation) £1128.92 (fuel)

21 May 2026 – Coast to coast, and bon voyage

The rivers, estuaries and seas around the UK are my happy places. I love the wildlife, the sound of the lapping current and the vast expanses of water. And I take every opportunity to explore.

Linguistically, my Cupra Terramar is the perfect car for those particular journeys: terra being Latin for earth and mar being Spanish for sea. In other words, the Terramar is speaking my language – which is why you see me parked on a local slipway, placing all my faith in the family SUV’s electronic parking brake.

For my journeys to local beauty spots, it’s been the perfect accompaniment over the past six months. With 50 miles of real-world electric range, it meant I could roll virtually silently off the beaten track to enjoy the green and pleasant land. And with my son’s new-found interest in fishing, there’s been some serious bonding time, too.

Those family days out have been farther afield than I might previously have ventured. A recent land and sea combo was a visit to Stonehenge on the way to the Jurassic Coast to indulge my son’s other passion: fossil hunting.

That east-coast to south-coast trip was the first long-distance journey we’ve taken as a family in the Terramar, and was a baptism of fire. I felt the boot ought to be slightly bigger, and the rear legroom is rather limited, yet both proved just about plentiful enough for a weekend away without everyone feeling hemmed in. Still, if space (and perhaps a slightly softer ride) is a priority, you might be better off sacrificing those sleek looks for the more practical Volkswagen Tiguan.

The journey along the M25 and A303 was unremarkable (aside from the stunning Wiltshire vistas), but it was at journey’s end where the Terramar really came into its own. I’ve remarked before how the 1.5-litre engine sounds strained as you push on, but with the family in the car, I wasn’t going to be setting lap times in rural Somerset.

However, on these country lanes, at family-friendly speeds, the Terramar came to life with its responsive handling, and suspension that’s sporty but not uncomfortable. It’s the right size for Britain’s country lanes, and the raised driving position was ideal. It even slotted into spaces at a packed Cheddar Gorge.

What was less ideal was that it refused to connect to Apple CarPlay on a couple of occasions, and every so often the audio would come through the rear speakers only, which sounded like listening to an old cassette tape under water. But aside from the occasional ping of an unhappy safety system – commonplace on modern cars – the Cupra ran with metronomic reliability. And that’s something that Cupra’s improving reliability score attests.

I’ve no such quibbles with the Cupra’s running costs, because they’ve been low thanks to a punchy plug-in hybrid setup. My lifetime average was 70.6mpg, a figure that was achieved by charging at home pretty much every night, regardless of how much juice was in the battery. It takes about two hours, 50 minutes to charge the 19.7kWh (usable capacity) battery, which on Octopus Energy’s Intelligent Go home electricity tariff cost as little as £1.57. Not bad at all.

However, my 160-mile round trip to the What Car? office was better served by selecting hybrid mode, and allowing the SUV to shuffle between battery and petrol power as it saw fit. But because I didn’t always use the car’s native sat-nav – which can select this automatically – I had to remember to do this manually. That was a bit of a faff, and easy to forget, but at least the menu is accessible via a hot key on the infotainment system.

Speaking of which, some of the Volkswagen Group’s infotainment systems get a bad rep, but the Terramar has the slickest version I’ve yet tried. I’ve found the system responsive, with clear graphics and the position of the screen means it’s easy to steady your hand. I’d appreciate some nicer graphics on the driver’s digital information screen, though.

As I waved farewell to my Terramar, the odometer clicked over 12,066 miles – but you wouldn’t think it, because aside from some scratches on the boot floor caused by vacuuming, there was no sign of wear whatsoever.

So, the verdict. I had originally wondered if the Terramar might be a low-cost alternative to the Porsche Macan. It’s the kind of car that provokes reactions, that you’ll turn back to glance at once you’ve parked on the drive. In that sense, it has some of the Macan’s stardust.

But after 12,066 miles, despite being of a broadly similar size, with smart, sleek looks and a sporty persona, I’ve not found it the kind of car I’d actively seek out the long way home. But for many, that styling alone will be enough to seal the deal.

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