Updated Cupra Formentor Gets 328bhp And An Angry New Face

Launched in 2020, the Formentor was the first car from the Cupra brand that was its own, standalone product rather than being a SEAT with some new badges. It was a pretty much instant success, selling over 120,000 units globally in 2023 alone and helping establish Cupra following the decision to make SEAT’s former performance badge its own thing.

Now, the time has come for a mid-life update for the swoopy crossover. The biggest change on the outside comes in the form of that aggressive new front end, with new triangular lighting elements in both the front and rear lights. A couple of new colour options complete the exterior changes.

The inside has been given a light tweak, too. It gets a new 12.9-inch infotainment screen and Cupra has sensibly followed in the footsteps of parent Volkswagen by illuminating some of the touch-sensitive sliders. There’s also a new 12-speaker Sennheiser audio system and more sustainable upholstery options.

It’s the powertrains where the big news is, though. The headliner is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder making 328bhp – up from 306bhp in the previous top four-cylinder – and driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. It gets a torque splitter system that can shuffle more power to the rear wheels for oversteery antics and also features beefy Akebono brakes.

If that’s a setup that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s identical to the one in the newly-updated Audi S3, and one we can expect to see rolled out in various other VW Group products in the coming months, including the Mk8.5 Golf R.

Cupra says other powertrain options will include pure petrols, mild hybrids and diesels. It hasn’t gone into more details, but we expect they won’t differ too much from the pre-facelift car’s range. The 1.4-litre plug-in hybrid version carries over too, now with a combined power output of 268bhp and a quoted all-electric range of over 62 miles.

No word yet on whether the raucous five-cylinder turbo VZ5 version will return, although we never got that version in the UK anyway – sad face. There’s also no confirmation on when the update Formentor will go on sale, but we’d imagine it’ll be with customers before the year’s out.