He is one of 7,000.
Cupra, the premium and performance brand from Seat, will only build so many copies of the new VZ5.
We were able to test the 390 hp SUV.
A Cupra has never had as much power as the new Formentor VZ5.
With 390 hp and 480 Nm of torque you can curve, carve and drift.
But if you want one, you'll have to hurry - there are only 7,000 of them.
Olé, caramba and hasta la vista!
Anyone who still thinks that
Seat
is a snorted VW subsidiary from Spain has never encountered a
Cupra.
That's the name of the fairly successful Perfomance subsidiary, which, with the Formentor in 2021, sent the first completely independently developed vehicle onto the streets and immediately won the title of "most popular German leasing vehicle".
But that's not all.
There is now a special
edition of the Formentor, limited to 7,000 units, with 390 hp and the legendary five-cylinder engine from Audi
.
A fighting bull in sheep's clothing.
If you are interested in more detailed driving reports, you will also find them here*.
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The exhaust is also copper-colored on the VZ5, this special Cupra can be recognized by the offset tailpipes.
© Cupra
The secret of the Torque Splitter
What makes the
VZ5
so dynamic is the so-called torque splitter.
On the rear axle, two multi-plate clutches that work independently of one another distribute the power differently to the wheels.
Up to a hearty 1400 Nm of
torque
are therefore possible on a single bike.
We were able to test what that means for the lateral dynamics of the vehicle on a new site at Munich Airport.
The Cupra Center is now where Audi does its training loops.
A marked asphalt course is waiting for us directly behind the Lufthansa maintenance halls.
This is important because you cannot and should not use the drift mode, which is only available in the Cupra VZ5, on public roads.
Because in this driving mode, the electronic stability control (ESC) is actually switched off completely, only tipping the vehicle sideways over the wheels is still prevented in an extreme emergency.
Otherwise you drive a car like you used to drive a car.
Without net and false bottom.
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The VZ5 offers six driving modes.
If you switch to drift, you can skid in the corners, but be careful!
All safety systems are then switched off.
© Ferran Nadeu / Cupra
Drift with the VZ5 on asphalt as well as on ice
There is plenty of power even for a short start up to the corner.
The legendary
five-cylinder turbo petrol engine
, which is also used in the Audi RS 3, delivers
390 hp
on the street.
The torque already reaches its highest level at 2,250 rpm and only bites out again beyond 5,700 rpm.
Stepping on the gas pedal whips the Formentor forward, aim for a curve and after a remarkably small steering angle, the rear comes around the corner.
For a short time, the torque splitter sent up to 100 percent of the rear axle drive power to the wheel on the outside of the bend.
A little twist with a big effect.
Countersteer, catch the vehicle – and on you go to the next curve and the next drift.
This is almost as easy as on ice, but much more ruinous for the tires.
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The sports seats specially developed for the VZ5 are hard but comfortable and offer the necessary lateral support in sharp corners.
© Cupra
If you want even more: Abt brings the Formentor to 450 hp
With its
390 hp
, the
Cupra Formentor VZ5
is the most powerful model from the Spanish VW subsidiary to date.
For internal group reasons, a small distance is maintained to the technically quite similar RS 3 from Audi.
The Ingolstadt-based company gets ten more horsepower from the same engine and also increases the torque by 20 to 500 Nm.
If you want to top all that, but with the
Cupra
If you want to stay, you have to make your way to the Allgäu.
That's where Abt's specialists sit and conjure up 450 hp from the petrol engine, the torque increases to 530 Nm, which is also reflected in the sprint values.
3.8 seconds from 0 to 100, the RS3 still crosses the finish line first, but the Abt comes just behind with 3.9 seconds.
The "normal" VZ5 receives bronze with 4.2 seconds.
But the Formentor brakes on par with the RS 3 - because both have received an upgrade.
No, not Brembo, but a number above: a 6-piston brake from Akebono.
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Also cuts a fine figure off-road.
The Cupra Formentor VZ5 climbs over hill and dale, but it is really at home on asphalt.
© Ferran Nadeu / Cupra
Cupra Formentor VZ5: Cruising comfortably and dancing around the curves
All of these values are well and good and the best stuff or in the fight for air supremacy at the real or virtual regulars' table in the Facebook group.
Much more important is how the cars can be driven in everyday life.
And there they placed the
Cupra Formentor VZ5
quite well.
He knows comfort and he can dance around corners.
This is real driving pleasure with real and, if desired, also artificial sound accompaniment from the loudspeaker.
Here he looks specifically for the VZ5
designed, four-pipe exhaust as if it could also make itself heard properly.
In any case, the double-ended pipes are cool.
They are arranged slightly offset one above the other.
After all, the proud VZ5 owner wants to be recognized as such on the streets.
Because the other distinguishing features compared to the standard Formentor are quite subtle: the
accent color black,
as well as the front lip and rear diffuser in carbon look are easily overlooked.
The fact that the VZ5 is ten millimeters lower is probably only noticeable to experts.
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Curious: From time to time, the display gives eco-tips, all over the place, so that information such as the speed can only be shown very minutely.
© Rudolf Bögel
Our conclusion: It's a shame that only 7,000 have this fun
The VZ5 is also quite agile beyond the test tracks.
That's pretty much what you gave him with his name.
VZ is short for the Spanish word "veloz" which means fast and agile.
And so it goes through the mountain roads.
The way the Formentor drives around the podium, in skiing that's not called curves, they're called carving.
What we can do without is the
eco display,
which appears on the digital speedometer at the inopportune moment and gives comprehensive eco tips such as "Please put the selector lever in position D".
Extremely pointless when you're circling around corners in sport mode because you want to have fun.
As you can hear from Cupra, you can also switch it off.
It is better that way.
Our verdict on the VZ5
: It's a shame that there are only 7,000 copies, we would have given many more people so much driving pleasure.
Specifications Cupra Formentor VZ5 4drive
Engine: five-cylinder turbo petrol
Displacement: 2,480 cc
Output: 287 kW (390 hp) at 5,710 - 7,000 rpm
Torque: 480 Nm at 2,250 - 5,710 rpm
Drive: seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, all-wheel drive
0-100km/h: 4.2s
Top speed: 250 km/h
Standard consumption: 9.3 l
CO2 emissions: 212 g/km
Length/width/height: 4.45/1.84/1.51 m
Curb weight/allowance: 1,683/437 kg
Trunk: 420 - 1,474 l
Price from 62,700 euros
Rudolf Bögel *tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
