Cupra Tavascan VZ First Drive Review: Sibling Favourite
Cupra’s slick crossover does it better than most, including its MEB family.
Cupra has arrived in Singapore, and the unspoken question in everyone’s mind is, “Is this brand going to make it?”
Not many in Singapore recognise SEAT, so Cupra is even more of a novelty. But with the Tavascan, the brand has a fighting chance.
On looks alone, it already captures the most eyeballs compared with the slightly oddball VW ID.5, the clinically designed Audi Q4 e-tron and the conservative Skoda Enyaq. The Tavascan is low-slung, has all sorts of interesting surfacing and has the best lighting setup of them all. It just looks so darn extroverted.
Its interior continues the same ‘look at me’ theme. Materials are genuinely good, while the cabin architecture looks like something off an Alien movie set. Yet it works ergonomically and features the largest touchscreen of any car on the MEB platform. Being the range-topping VZ, it also comes with a Sennheiser sound system and a panoramic sunroof.
With 340 PS and 545 Nm, the dual-motor VZ is the fastest Tavascan you can buy right now. It has the same 77 kWh battery pack as the single motor Tavascan, although in our short test drive we are unable to test how it affected range.
What we can gather though is that the car could well be the most driver-oriented among the MEB cars right now. Its steering has more clarity and precision than what we remember from the rest, translating to more confidence-inspiring handling. DCC Sport does a masterclass of giving you ultimate comfort or sportiness whenever you want. Just slide to your desired setting. The VZ is also suitably fast, while now having the appetite for corners to back it up.
I truly was pleasantly surprised at just how sorted the Tavascan VZ feels. But then again, maybe I shouldn’t be as it is the latest MEB car to be launched, allowing Cupra to learn from all of its Group siblings before coming to the market. Cupra’s folks are also keen to point out that even though the underpinnings are similar, Cupra’s engineers are car enthusiasts themselves and their test drivers are race car drivers. I guess that counts for those of us who love driving.
Here’s the kicker - at $229,900, it’s $2k or so cheaper than the equivalent BYD Sealion 7 Performance. So it brings a lot of value to the table as well. Could this be the favoured sibling? We reckon so.
Photos by James Wong
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