Cupra Ateca - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Cupra Ateca shares its five doors and five-seater body with the SEAT version, so there’s little change in terms of flexibility and practicality. However, it does feel like it’s a little less spacious than its SEAT sibling.

That’s partly thanks to the fact it sits 10mm lower to the ground, making it feel a little less like an SUV, while the combination of the dark headlining and standard-fit tinted rear windows make it feel more claustrophobic, especially in the back. The heavily bolstered front bucket seats also encroach more on rear seat room compared with the SEAT Ateca. 

Size

At 4,376mm long, the Cupra Ateca is 13mm longer than the SEAT version, with the ‘sporty’ rear bumper the major contributor to this slight increase in length.

The Ateca is based on the Leon hatchback, so space inside is good, if not remarkable. It’s roughly the same size as a Nissan Qashqai and Renault Austral inside. Crucially, however, you cannot buy performance versions of these crossovers.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

The amount of legroom is adequate for a car of this size, but only slightly more than you’d get in a Leon hatchback. However, the taller crossover body means that headroom is improved, which is especially noticeable in the back. Only a child will appreciate sitting in the centre rear seat for a prolonged period, mind.

Two ISOFIX child seat mounting points are provided on the outer positions of the rear seats.

Boot

In most areas, the Cupra version of the Ateca remains as family-friendly as the SEAT versions, but you will have to put up with a slightly smaller boot. Thanks to the four-wheel drive system, the boot floor is slightly higher, bringing the luggage capacity down from 510 to 485 litres.

The rear seats split 60:40 and can be released via a mechanism in the boot, but they leave a significant lip, so you’re not left with an entirely flat floor. There is a ski hatch, which might help with longer items, while an electric tailgate comes as standard on V2, and on high-performance versions, VZ2 and above.

Towing

The Cupra Ateca offers a maximum braked towing weight of 2,100kg with the 2.0-litre 300 TSI engine. The less potent 1.5-litre 150 TSI engine can still haul around up to 1,800kg, which is still enough for a big caravan.

A towbar pre-installation kit with hook is available for just over £800.