Early last year, SEAT released a concept called the Formentor. Although it was said to celebrate the 1st year anniversary of the Cupra brand, everybody could see that it had production intent. Now the Formentor is inching closer to its debut, and not all is as we expected.
The Formentor was the first to preview a new type of VW Group performance powertrain, which is a 1.4-liter plug-in hybrid system with 245 horsepower. It's been earmarked for the Golf GTE, the Cupra Leon and the Octavia RS iV, all of which should come out in Geneva next month.
Everybody knows where the charging port for that kind of car needs to be installed - the front left fender. It was even the same for the Formentor concept. But as you can see (if you zoom in), there's no port on this prototype. In addition, there's a number of other things that make us think this prototype has a 300 horsepower 2-liter like the Cupra Ateca.
For starters, the front brakes are ventilated and cross-drilled, which is usually a Cupra optional upgrade. Also, the back exhaust box is huge and quite meaty for a 1.4-liter turbo engine which makes about 150 hp on its own. But it's just the right size for something related to the Golf R. Speaking of which the output for the Formentor could be 333 hp, not 300.
The vehicle also seems to sport conventional AWD, ideal for launching a car with lots of power and torque, but inefficient when dealing with an electrified vehicle. The plug-in would either be FWD or have the electric motor mounted right inside the rear axle.
But we have no doubt that the car will be available as a plug-in hybrid as well. You've got similar expensive 200+ horsepower crossovers from almost every European automaker this year. They look cool and make a lot of sense as company cars, but probably not individuals. We expect a base price for one of these Cupra PHEVs somewhere around €50,000, which sounds like BMW money.
Everybody knows where the charging port for that kind of car needs to be installed - the front left fender. It was even the same for the Formentor concept. But as you can see (if you zoom in), there's no port on this prototype. In addition, there's a number of other things that make us think this prototype has a 300 horsepower 2-liter like the Cupra Ateca.
For starters, the front brakes are ventilated and cross-drilled, which is usually a Cupra optional upgrade. Also, the back exhaust box is huge and quite meaty for a 1.4-liter turbo engine which makes about 150 hp on its own. But it's just the right size for something related to the Golf R. Speaking of which the output for the Formentor could be 333 hp, not 300.
The vehicle also seems to sport conventional AWD, ideal for launching a car with lots of power and torque, but inefficient when dealing with an electrified vehicle. The plug-in would either be FWD or have the electric motor mounted right inside the rear axle.
But we have no doubt that the car will be available as a plug-in hybrid as well. You've got similar expensive 200+ horsepower crossovers from almost every European automaker this year. They look cool and make a lot of sense as company cars, but probably not individuals. We expect a base price for one of these Cupra PHEVs somewhere around €50,000, which sounds like BMW money.