Cupra Terramar review: sporty crossover brings style and performance to family SUVs
The Cupra Terramar mixes bold styling, sporty driving dynamics and family practicality in a crossover that stands out in a crowded market
Cupra is one of those brands that feels a little bit off the radar. You see quite a few about, but the cars deserve to be more popular. And the Terramar, Cupra's roomiest hatch, embodies this hypothesis perfectly.
It's a petrol-powered model with plenty of competition in the family crossover sector, but unlike some of the dreary and predictable mainstream stuff, the Terramar is genuinely interesting.
Visually, even in Cupra's deliberately subdued range of colours, it's styled aggressively at the front, and the purposeful lines flow to a nicely sculpted rear. It screams sportiness, especially in the more fruity variants, but even base models get faux diffusers and nicely-designed wheels.
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And then there's the interior. The seats are sporty but very comfortable, the dash and centre console are driver-focused and feel aimed at keen drivers, and the rose gold accents add a touch of elegance.
The sports seats do eat into rear space a bit, but it's still a usable family car, and boot space can get swallowed up by a plug-in hybrid option, which brings me on to drivetrains.
There are two plug-in hybrids available, and then a pure petrol range, topping out with a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder that sends either 201bhp or 261bhp to all four wheels.
While the plug-in hybrids obviously make the most financial sense, the petrols really do add a beating heart to the Terramar, and it really suits it.
Its driving modes, including the fiery Cupra setting, encourage you to press on, as does the nicely judged synthetic engine sound, and the chassis and suspension respond to keen driving with more enthusiasm than you'd expect from any crossover.
The seven-speed DSG is clumsier than I'd like it to be, and the safety warnings obviously get in the way, but they can be turned off through the steering wheel controls, which is handy.
Obviously any frivolity is paid for in reduced MPG, but in calmer driving it's surprisingly efficient, and there's a plug-in hybrid version for proper hypermilers.
Pricing certainly puts you at the premium end of the family run-about spectrum, with only the base model V1 slipping below £40,000, and the fruity VZ2 range-topper nudging over £50,000. But this is a car that genuinely feels like a premium product. The hybrids are easy to live with and offer a sporty flair, and the fruity ones are genuinely quite thrilling.
It's the distinctive looks that firmly put the icing on the cake with the Terramar though. In a world of bland family crossovers, it really stands out, and makes you feel much more special than most cars of its price do.
It might be based on the Skoda Kodiaq and VW Tiguan, but it's infinitely more interesting. And if that's not enough to sway you, then we can never be friends.