Photo: Cupra
Part of a car's success on the market has to do with the name it wears. When a powerful word such as Mustang or Challenger is at play, customers are almost certain they'll get something truly amazing. Not the same can be said about the Renault Zoe, on the other hand.
There are many carmakers that place powerful names on the products they make, but few of them seem as hell-bent on really going for impressive words as the Spanish from Cupra. Spun off as an independent carmaker from SEAT not long ago, it presently makes the headlines first and foremost thanks to an SUV called Formentor.
The vehicle takes after a namesake peninsula in the Spanish island of Mallorca, but to westerners it sounds potent to the point of viciousness even in its raw form. And things get even more exciting when you throw in the names of the thing's trim levels: VZ, VZ Tribe Edition, or VZ5.
VZ is an abbreviation of the Spanish word for speed (veloz) and it's enough to add a touch of meanness to the already impressive Formentor moniker. And that becomes even more apparent now that a new version of the SUV is out in the open, the Cupra Formentor VZ5 BAT.
The variant is described as a darker take on the successful (at least over in Europe) model, meaning it does not come with serious technical enhancements compared to the VZ5 it is based on.
That means we get a 2.5-liter engine under the hood capable of developing 385 hp and 480 Nm of torque. The engine spins 20-inch alloy wheels on the BAT model.
Changes are mostly visual, and they mostly come as a serious addition of black elements. That kind of tones down the impact of the chosen name, but the modifications made are still probably enough for people to get all worked up about the new version.
In a nutshell, we get the roof bars in gloss black, the grille and frame in the same shade, carbon fiber mirror covers, and black-coated exhaust pipes. The Cupra logos and lettering front and rear have also turned black.
The interior gets about the same treatment, with black chrome spread on the air vents surrounds and elsewhere on the center console.
We're not told what the BAT in the name is supposed to mean, but it's not hard to imagine it stands for the namesake animal. We do know only 500 people in the entire world will get to enjoy the Cupra Formentor VZ5 BAT for real, as only that many will ever be made. Pricing and availability for the most vicious-sounding, "most exclusive version" of the Formentor to date have not been announced.
The vehicle takes after a namesake peninsula in the Spanish island of Mallorca, but to westerners it sounds potent to the point of viciousness even in its raw form. And things get even more exciting when you throw in the names of the thing's trim levels: VZ, VZ Tribe Edition, or VZ5.
VZ is an abbreviation of the Spanish word for speed (veloz) and it's enough to add a touch of meanness to the already impressive Formentor moniker. And that becomes even more apparent now that a new version of the SUV is out in the open, the Cupra Formentor VZ5 BAT.
The variant is described as a darker take on the successful (at least over in Europe) model, meaning it does not come with serious technical enhancements compared to the VZ5 it is based on.
That means we get a 2.5-liter engine under the hood capable of developing 385 hp and 480 Nm of torque. The engine spins 20-inch alloy wheels on the BAT model.
Changes are mostly visual, and they mostly come as a serious addition of black elements. That kind of tones down the impact of the chosen name, but the modifications made are still probably enough for people to get all worked up about the new version.
In a nutshell, we get the roof bars in gloss black, the grille and frame in the same shade, carbon fiber mirror covers, and black-coated exhaust pipes. The Cupra logos and lettering front and rear have also turned black.
The interior gets about the same treatment, with black chrome spread on the air vents surrounds and elsewhere on the center console.
We're not told what the BAT in the name is supposed to mean, but it's not hard to imagine it stands for the namesake animal. We do know only 500 people in the entire world will get to enjoy the Cupra Formentor VZ5 BAT for real, as only that many will ever be made. Pricing and availability for the most vicious-sounding, "most exclusive version" of the Formentor to date have not been announced.
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