Cupra Formentor VZ5 Review: We’re Not Sure Why It Exists, But We’re Glad It Does

Given we exist in the year 2025, and almost 2026, we’re quite pleasantly surprised to say that there is still a brand-new five-cylinder car you can buy. That being the Audi RS3, which is clinging on to its 2.5-litre turbocharged five-pot while its rivals downsize, or completely disappear.

Oh, but that’s no longer the only five-cylinder car you can buy. Amazingly, another is coming to the UK market, and we’re not quite sure it’s one you could have expected.

Meet the Cupra Formenter VZ5, a car that isn’t new to anyone living in Europe. Left-hand drive markets have been able to buy this hottest version of the crossover since 2021, although it has been forbidden fruit on our island shores. You may recall Cupra had originally planned to bring enough LHD cars over to the UK that you could count them on one hand, but that never came to fruition.

This time, though, 250 of the facelifted are confirmed to be heading our way, and that may even rise to 400 if demand is there. Why? We’re not entirely sure, but after spending some time with the VZ5, we’re quite glad it is.

That five-cylinder is the same seen in the RS3, with the VZ5 the only time the Ingolstadt manufacturer has released its engine to another brand within the VW Group. Perhaps the death of the similar-ethos RS Q3 has paved the way for its introduction to the UK, on that note.

It’s not in the same state of tune as the Audi, though, presumably so as to give some artificial distance between the two cars. In the Formentor VZ5, it’s producing 385bhp and 354lb ft, 10bhp and 42lb ft down on the RS3. That’s sent to a four-wheel drive system through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and double dips the RS3’s parts bin for its very clever torque vectoring rear differential.

The result? On the measurable format of paper, a Cupra Formentor that’ll dust 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and power on to a 174mph top speed. In the real world? A quite hilarious, quite brilliant and quite strange car.

Although not a million miles away from the next-most powerful Formentor, the 328bhp four-cylinder VZ3, it offers a completely different character. Whereas that car’s performance is delivered in a properly brutal, mad-dash manner, the VZ5 feels more cruise missile-esque. Yes, it’s quick, but its performance feels clinically delivered and progressive when you’re pushing on it. It’s marked down a touch by its occasionally hesitant older iteration of the DSG, but it’s rarely unpleasant.

There’s a real treat in feeling that extra power in reserve when you’re not on it either, as if there’s a transverse-laid-out beast waiting to be called upon at any moment.

Not too surprising, if you’ve experienced that engine in an RS3, but perhaps genuinely surprising is how it drives. Despite riding taller, this doesn’t feel a far cry from the way the Audi drives.

Grip is immense, with a neutral balance to the way it handles, albeit with a touch of understeer if you try to provoke it. The rear torque splitter does a fantastic job of keeping the rear in check, too, although it’s rarely keen to encourage sideways action. A drift mode is baked in to solve that, but that’s one we’ll have to test another day.

Despite its high-riding stature, body roll isn’t much of a concern either. Sure, compare it directly with hatchback rivals and there’s naturally more lean to it (physics cannot be defied), but it remains confidence-inspiring and composed. Relocating the 12-volt battery to the back helps keep its weight balance in check too, despite the extra mass over the front axle.

Increased braking force comes courtesy of a VZ5-specific Akebono six-piston callipers up front, gripping onto 375mm discs. They do a brilliant job of bringing the car to a halt, and a stiff pedal feel suits it perfectly.

Oh, and it sounds good. Even in this heavily petrol-particulated form, the warble of the five-cylinder still sounds distinctive from the outside and brilliant with its convincing augmented speaker trickery inside too.

Downsides to the VZ5, then? Not too much feel through the steering wheel for a start, giving a slight numbness to the experience. There’s the ride too, which, despite offering 15 levels of adjustment, doesn’t ever sit properly comfortably.

There’s the price as well, depending on how you look at it. Nothing’s nailed down yet, but a £60,000 ballpark has been cited by Cupra UK when it arrives next year. That either positions it as a slightly cut-price RS3 with a hipster edge to it, or having to explain to everyone why you’ve spent almost twice the UK average salary on a five-cylinder car that isn’t quite a Seat.

Truthfully, its existence sits as a strange one, but in a world devoid of strange combustion-powered cars, we’ll welcome it with open arms. Hopefully, the buying public will, too.

The stats

• Engine: 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder
• Power (bhp): 385
• Torque (lb ft): 354
• 0-62mph: 4.2 seconds
• Top speed: 174mph
• Weight: 1650kg (est.)
• Starting price: £60,000 (TBC)