Car review: Cupra Tavascan is an electric hot hatchback

SINGAPORE – Car enthusiasts like performance hatchbacks because they are fun, practical and fast. The best of the breed also have the ability to transcend class and occasion, so they do not stick out from the crowd too much, whether on the driveway of a posh hotel or parked outside a heartland kopitiam.

The Cupra Tavascan has all the attributes of a performance hatchback, despite its taller sport utility vehicle (SUV) form.

“Coo-what?” you say.

The name “Cupra” is the amalgamation of the words “cup” and “racing”, coined by Seat, a Spanish car brand under the Volkswagen Group from Germany.

First used as a badge to denote the performance version of the Seat Leon hatchback in the late 1990s, Cupra was spun off as an independent brand in 2018. Cupra-branded cars tend to be sold by the same dealers who carry Seat.

Locally, Cupra’s agent is Volkswagen Group Singapore, which also distributes Volkswagen and Skoda from the Czech Republic. While Seat continues to be sold elsewhere, it has not been available here since 2023, when the distributorship changed. This is the first time a Cupra electric vehicle is available in Singapore.

The connection among the three Volkswagen-owned brands goes beyond having their showrooms housed within the same building in Alexandra Road. They also share the core technological and mechanical bits underpinning their electric vehicle (EV) models.

The Tavascan is closely related to the Volkswagen ID5 and Skoda Enyaq Coupe. In fact, the wheelbases of the three models are nearly identical – at between 2,765mm and 2,770mm.

All three are so-called coupe SUVs, where the rear windscreen tends to be more gently raked than regular, more utilitarian SUVs. Incidentally, Volkswagen and Skoda offer SUV versions of these models, while Cupra does not.

The styling of the Cupra is clearly more flamboyant and curvaceous than the models from the other two brands. One practical downside is having a slightly smaller boot (540 litres) than the Volkswagen (549 litres) and Skoda (570 litres). But when it comes to packing human bodies, the Tavascan is more than spacious enough, complete with child seat-mounting points.

Perhaps in reference to Cupra’s motorsports roots, there are a fair bit of aerodynamics-inspired elements on the Tavascan’s skin. The slits on the top of the front bumper channel air to the two vents on the leading edge of the bonnet, near the illuminated Cupra logo. It is a design cue that is similar to some of the latest supercars.

The Tavascan’s interior really makes an impression. It is wild, like a motor show concept car. Everything from the dashboard to the housing for the air-conditioning vents is exaggeratedly sculpted. The sizeable spar that separates the driver from the front passenger houses the hazard light switch, which is an extravagant touch.

There is a lot of LED illumination in the cabin, from the edge of the vents to the numerous angular motifs on the door panels. When lit, the vertical blades running across the width of the dashboard look like a computer gamer’s keyboard.

The interior feels well-built. Even the hard plastics at the lower half of the cabin seem quite substantial and robust. There is a squeak coming from somewhere in the middle of the dashboard of the test car, but it is sporadic, making it hard to pinpoint the source or the cause.

In terms of digital screens, the set-up is identical to the one in the Volkswagen and Skoda models. There is a 15-inch infotainment touchscreen, with comically large fonts, that is really easy to use, and a 5.3-inch instrument display for the driver.

Getting used to the infotainment system is easy, be it wirelessly pairing a smartphone or setting the user profile. There is a generally sound logic in the way the system operates, so it is easy to navigate.

That said, having physical knobs or switches for frequently used functions – such as to control the volume – is still the superior solution to sliding a touch-sensitive bar under the screen.

Like with the Skoda and Volkswagen EVs, the Cupra uses touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel, which are not as comfortable to operate as conventional switches because it is easy to unintentionally activate them.

But the Tavascan’s steering wheel has two additional physical buttons that the Skoda and Volkswagen EVs do without. The circular switches flank the middle steering wheel spoke.

One of them cycles through the car’s various drive modes, including the “Cupra” mode, which sends everything – from motor response to suspension to steering – to the most hardcore setting. The second satellite button sends the car straight to this Cupra mode.

The version tested is the VZ, dual-motor, 250kW Tavascan. It costs $20,000 more than the single-motor, 210kW Endurance version. The battery size is the same for both variants. The hotter dual-motor VZ has a claimed maximum range of up to 521km, while the Endurance is said to manage up to 568km.

The test car posts an average energy consumption rate of 19.8kWh/100km. I am probably more heavy-footed with the car than during some of the other test drives. But it seems unlikely that the car can realistically deliver close to the claimed 16.7kWh/100km figure.

The dynamics of the Tavascan qualifies it as a performance hot hatch. But this is more than sheer pace, although the VZ does have plenty of speed.

The appeal of the car is that it is capable of being driven spiritedly down a challenging stretch of road and also handling the daily commute, while cosseting its occupants. And the car seems just as happy doing both.

The brake pedal needs getting used to because there is a bit of dead spot during initial application, felt more keenly when I am trying to edge the car forward in start-stop traffic. Elsewhere, the braking performance is more than adequate.

There is a range of preset drive modes with obvious names like Comfort and Performance. But the car also indulges truly obsessed drivers with the option to tweak individual parameters. This includes picking from a range of 15 levels for the suspension’s firmness, which is exclusive to the VZ, as the dampers in the single-motor Tavascan are not adjustable.

In reality, the difference in ride comfort between the two most extreme ends of the scale is not quite like night and day.

In the most comfortable setting, the ride is really quite good, much better than you would expect from a car sitting on enormous 21-inch tyres with rubber-band thin sidewalls. Crank the setting to the other extreme, and even though bumps are more keenly felt, there is still a layer of pliancy in the ride.

There is also a customisation setting menu for the all-wheel-drive system – probably to determine how the two EV motors do their work – but it is difficult to work out if it makes any difference in the real world.

What is obvious is how easy it is to drive the Tavascan with enthusiasm and confidence when called on. For the rest of the time, it is as usable and friendly as any capable family car.

Cupra Tavascan VZ

Price: $316,900 with certificate of entitlement (COE) before discounts
Motor: Asynchronous and permanent magnet synchronous with 77kWh lithium iron phosphate battery
Transmission: Single-speed, all-wheel drive
Power: 250kW
Torque: 545Nm
0-100kmh: 5.6 seconds
Top speed: 180kmh
Power consumption: 16.7kWh/100km
Charging capacity: 135kW DC; 11kW AC
Agent: Cupra Centre Singapore
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Comparable considerations

Volkswagen ID5 GTX ($321,900 with COE before rebates)

Volkswagen kicked off its EV strategy with the series of ID models, and GTX represents the hotter variant. The ID5 GTX’s performance is pretty much identical to the Tavascan, with some specification differences. Besides the ID5, Volkswagen also offers the ID4 GTX. This is the boxier SUV version of the same car, but goes for $311,900 with COE before rebates.

Skoda Enyaq Coupe RS ($339,900 with COE before rebates)

The Skoda Enyaq is the Cupra Tavascan with a serious face, complete with an illuminated front grille for a moustache. The RS form is the equivalent of the Tavascan VZ, so it has the same dual-motor set-up. The single-motor version, known as the Sportline, retails at $316,900 with COE before rebates.

BYD Sealion 7 Performance ($301,888 with COE before rebates)

The BYD Sealion 7 is bigger than the Tavascan. The top-of-the-line Performance version is competitively priced and has 390kW of power, which is enough to leave the Spanish EV firmly behind in a drag race with its 0-100kmh timing of 4.5 seconds.