Honest experience of the formentor from october to may

[Oceanic]

PART 1

I do not regret my purshahse however I was aware of the risks of buying a first gen car... from a new brand..but I also know 4 year warranty will most likely cover most of the problems that comes up.

I am still in love with the looks of the car...it does really stand out...and I guess you either love or hate it but most will love it... I was very lucky to get my car already in october the first 5 people in Sweden who have got it.. and the dealer did make a misstake to sell the car too me that early and they had to pay a fine for it afterwards I heard... I was just happy to buy the car and I had not even test drived the car before I bought it...I had however test drived the Cupra Ateca...

The First drive from Dealer to home was about 1 hour and it was an Euphoric experience... I was also driving it very careful... the seller told me to take it easy the first 3000 km to drive in the engine.

First thing I noticed was how flexible the suspension was I could change soft to hard I did like it. I was of course in love with the look, and inside it feels almost like a lamborgini in some ways...

I have got a lot of comments for the car... For me I bought it mostly as a winter car but right now I will drive it all year round unitl I can afford a more fun sport car at summer like Nissan GTR or something or Nissan 400Z Nismo (when it comes out).

Road Noise on the Bridgestones are not that impressive, but fully acceptable... I changed to Michilin Pilot Sport 4 ( A in GRIP ) C in in fuel efficiency). As always... when you buy a new tier they can differ a lot depending on what you choose.. they also exist in B in grip and A in fuel efficiency.

So yes I am not sure it was worth to change it... I would recommend to pay little bit extra for the Piltor sport 4S they are a lot more silent... noise level is about the same with the bridgestones and Piltor Sport 4...but yeah when you drive the car hard the PS4 is probably better. I am just saying... it is not worth the extra money if you don't buy the 4S... I deeply regret it now ofc... but too late now...

I have tried Lauch control one time... and it was very euphoric it felt like I was driving a different car almost... unfortunately.. you do not get the same push with launch control... without ESP you will get more torque...but easy to forget to disable it...

I would love to compare the torque curve with the Ateca... but you can also see it on youtube.. people who drive the Cupra Ateca seem to have more fun then in the Formentor not sure... it could be the engine noise...

Engine/exaust noise is the biggets disspointing thing with this car... Listen to Cupra Ateca you hear more engine and exaust... the pop and bangs on Formentor are most pathetic.. but sometimes if you are "lucky" you can get some pop/bang that people around you will actually take notice of....

I think most owners of the VZ want to modify the sound in some way... there is no option right now to upgrade exaust thru dealer... this is disspointing...
It is a total lack of bass frequencies in the engine sound... it is just very very boring...and there is many example of lower HP cars that will sound more brutal... the skoda octavia at work sounds almost more sporty... (if you do not use the fake engine sound).

It is possible the engine will start to sound louder with more miles when it gets older.. but yeah I think the lack of engine and exaust noise make this car less fun to drive compared to Ateca... I understand.. they want to have a good balance.. Formentor is however superior on the highway... where you do not want a droney sound... but if you buy a VZ you want certainly more sporty sound....

And the 6 Cylinder engine is going extinct... in EU... so on more sporty 4 cylinder car you really need to put more effort to make it sound more sporty... and fun... and I am sorry to sake.. the Fake engine sound... is not forfilling this need...at all.. it can do to some extent at low speed.. at higher RPM the fake sound sound very bad....and not very trusthworthy..
You can turn it off in individual setting... which is not satisfying at all..give us a big button on the first screen to turn it off...despite what mode you use... do not make it mode dependable.. a lot people want Cupra mode without the fake sound... especially if they have upgraded the exaust..
personally I will unplug the fuse to the fake sound speakers when I upgrade my exaust...also... look into more ways to make more sound in cabin... Lexus have this way that they let sound in thru some piple..you can open and close the valve.. I like this...idea...cause on longer trips I want a silent car actually.

I know there is a 5 Cylinder version (limited to 7000 cars)....do I reget I did not wait for it... probably not...cause... you will enter a new price range where maybe other cars area more interesting maybe... and...I also know that the car I have I can chip tune to atleast 380-450 HP and up to 600 HP with hardware mods. So for a long term perspective I am sure... it will keep me entertained... the 5 Cylinder Version you can probably get even more HP out of ...but 600 HP is fine with me...until I buy a faster car ofc...

Software is kind of glitchy... it has crashed a few times...and some things are bugging out... heat seater for right chair did not work one time until the day after it worked again...
Software in general need to be updated and faster... biggest and most noticeable problem is that sometime when I start the car I do not have the fake sound...despite what mode I select... if you select individual mode and use the mode selector on the steering wheel you can actually see that exact parameters for every mode... when this happen it does not change... when I use the mode selector it happens time to time...

Many people complain about the climate control... to them I say one thing... do not use slide use tap... tap works good..slide works not....

On the infortainment screen...I wish we could have more sensor data just like Nissan GTR..in fact Cupra Ateca have more Sensor data on the screen...
we have such big screen on the formentor... yet it full useless most of the time... cause.. I would want to have more real time data... which I do not see on the drivers screen...

Maps are what they are... they are not better or worse then other brands... it is just that.. if it is not google maps or waze they are not trustable or dependable... I have been using waze and the formentor satelite nav... and cupra nav would try to make very strange suggestions when it comes to roads... so yeah.. make sure you get the Seat uplink... so you can install android auto or Apple Carlplay... unfortunately it seem like you will not get to use the full screen... which is really bad... I hope it something they can fix...

Drivers screen.... it is kind of noticable that the quality of the LCD is not the best... black level is not on par with cupra Ateca... but.. it still works... it is certainly not the worse..but it is nothing near as good the infotainment screen.....On the driver screen... I wish I could see more info... not much to customize..also I wish to get better info how the power is distrubted thru all wheels... if the 4W is active or not..

Climate sytem in winter...is ok.. does not get warm super fast... however in summer it gets cold very fast...

I bought this car first of all to have the ultimate winter car...which is sexy sporty fun but also safe because of the 4WD system...
I have tested the car in a lot of snowy condition and the 4WD system would help me a lot when I was driving by long trucks on highway in snow storm...
during this snow storm which was 120 km/h road people was driving in in 70 km/g because of the snowstorm only right lane was plowed the left lane had snow maybe.. 4-5 centimeters..
Here it was very clear who was the king of the road...you would see all AWD car drive without any problem in the right lane...
And the Formentor VZ because of the 4WD system could also help me pass the trucks in the left lane... with snow...Problem is that the 4WD is not predicable... there is no way for you to set that you want power into all wheels.. this only happens as it seem when the car lose grip... so you actualy seem to make the tires lose grip for the 4WD to kick in...this make it a lot less safe.. I was passing the trucks..but with the car going as a snake back and forth... if I would had been able to set the car to put all power into all 4 wheels always... the car would had been soo much stable.. this is one more thing I hope Cupra add in the software updates if it is possible...

So is it the ultimate winter car... I would say no cause even though the 4WD kick off in a extreme scenario and helps... it usually little bit too late and you will get some uncofortable slide of the car where you feel that the car is out of control... the 4WD will kick in fast and stablize the car..but I wish I could make it set so if it is very snowy or icey that that it always push the powers too all wheels,.. cause... then I would not need to worry about the dealy of the 4WD system to kick in,..this could really change things between life and death..

 

[Oceanic]

PART 2

And this get me to driving modes.. there is no SNOW mode... I wish it was...I do not always care about fule. effiency let me drive with all wheel drive when I want...
There is not any ECO mode either.... if you drive longer trips and dont care about power... let me have a ECO mode... do not force me to have to set it in the individual mode.

The Individual mode have one bug... which is very irritating if you use the suspenion slider and for instance have set your gera into D but the preset have gear S then when you change suspension setting it will fall back to S... so for instance if you want to drive Cupra mode without the Fake sound you will rely on Individual mode, but if you just want to change the suspension on your drive depnding on current conditions be prepared that it will change into gear S then every time even though you want to have it in D when you drive,..

This is one other problem... the Gear mode D/S is mode dependable... it should be independent... when flip thru modes during drive... it is mainly... because to change the suspension...right now I have set cupra mode in individual mode with softer suspension.. So yeah... the whole mode selector system is not flexible enough right now...

It would be more useful if the mode selector on the stering wheel is to tune suspension only..this would hlep you to change fast before you enter a corner... since formnetor does not change this dynamically... to have a button give you easy and fast access..I also want harder suspension in curves.....I also wish formentor did firm suspension automatically.. in curves... anyway it is what it is.. it is sitll a budget car after all and very good bang for buck still compared to the compition so do not expect a perfect car.

Suspension is hard to judge... I have been comparing with the different cars... I think the biggest problem is the fact that there is different suspsion in back and front and that they are not interconnected... a new more premium suspension maybe adjustable air suspension could make it into a new car for sure... but once again.. this is a budget car... for the money it is still very good... you get what you pay for afterall... to get prices down they probably made the comprimises in the right places.

Some problems I have had with my car is... the Paint did actually wear of in the front.. I had to change the whole front of the car... ofc..it did not cost me anything..but it did not give me a feeling of premium.

Second problem is the clunky suspension noise,...which I will send to the dealers in about 2 weeks... to fix also on warranty if they will agree to do it..but warranty should cover it...since it is mostly because of a careless assembly at factory.. it is not actually and easy job to assembly...so I can understand it gone wrong but it should not had passed QC.
Some people might not care about the noise though some might not notice it etc...

Third problem... keyless system only works when it wants too is highly unstable..and I am thinking about using my warranty for this... cause it does not work as advertised... and I even think I paid extra for this system..

Otherwise... I havea not really had any problems with the car... it works good.. Beats stereo is not worth the money.. I will upgrade it...
performance wise it feel like the car have about a few hours too little..because of the weight.. with the software tune of 373 HP I think it will feel more like I did expect it to to be..

But in general though despite all problems under the surface I am very happy and proud of the car... it is car with a lot of potential it is a well balanced car if you want to drive all year... winter and summer... but it especialyl feels perfect in winter.. in the summer ofc the is more fun cars to drive I will not deny that..but in winter I do not think I would had choosen a differnt one despite not having AWD... which is probably what you want to have in winter...to have a more smooth ride..

Some plans I have for upgrade in the future includes after the 4 year warranty runs out

1. New Exaust system
2. Software chip tune
3. other hardware maybe new turbo(s) hopefully reaching 600 HP
4. maybe new rims (more lighter rims stock rims are 14.5 kg)
5. get darker windows
6. Disconnect Fake sound speaker in the fuse box.
7. New suspension ideally adjustable with AIR suspension so I can make it into a hatchback with one click and SUV in winter or in terrain or speed bumps.

Right now the car is still kind of new I have not seen much mods and aftermarket products yet. ABT have a exaust system which I am not is even sure to buy and there is a firm called JE design they have released a few products... I want to wait until the aftermarket mature little bit.. even though.. a new exaust system is very much something I want right away... it is just too bad once again why we could not got the cupra ateca stock exaust it sounds twice as good..

 

[Agnes.Surrey]

Welcome to the forum. In which part of Sweden are you? If I was living up north, I would go for real 4x4. I survived in rental C-class there, which wasn't fit for the area in my opinion. But visiting and living the area is different.

Infotainment could show a lot more information, but it's pretty basic. I don't use built-in nav too often. Nissan GT-R shows plenty of info, but it's much more expensive driver's car.

I recommend switching off Soundactuator under the bonnet and it will solve a lot of issues.

 

[Peyton]

I agree with Agnes. Turn off the sound actuator immediately and keep the engine sound setting on Cupra. I am relatively sure that the valves remain closed if you keep engine sound mode on Comfort so you will not get ANY pops and bangs if you drive like that. Disconnecting is a 1 minute job, just need to raise the bonnet and reach in (Agnes wrote a tutorial about it).

Did you try using offroad mode when driving in snow? I would expect Offroad mode to be 4WD all the time. Don't know for sure.

I am surprised you think Cupra Ateca has better dashboard. I'd expect it to be better in Formentor, infotainment in Ateca is last gen while drivers LCD looks to be the same. VAG usually uses all the same parts across the range so I would bet Cupra Ateca has the same screen for the driver.

 

[rafletcher]

WRT to driving on snow, I think studded tyres would make almost any car driveable with care, 'though handling on bare tarmac is interesting!

 

[Fishbowlhead]

Great impressions there and im sure anyone that was thinking about it for snowy climates will find your write up invaluable.

 

[Oceanic]

Welcome to the forum. In which part of Sweden are you? If I was living up north, I would go for real 4x4. I survived in rental C-class there, which wasn't fit for the area in my opinion. But visiting and living the area is different.

Infotainment could show a lot more information, but it's pretty basic. I don't use built-in nav too often. Nissan GT-R shows plenty of info, but it's much more expensive driver's car.

I recommend switching off Soundactuator under the bonnet and it will solve a lot of issues.

Thank you. I am middle Sweden, so there no big need for studded tires. Also studded tires take away all the joy of driving. Up north they use sand on the roads down here road salt...If I would live up north I might go with studded tires...

GTR was about the same price when it was released.. it is just that it has become more and more expensive for every year...
they do not want to big volumes out on the market for some reason..

 

[Oceanic]

I agree with Agnes. Turn off the sound actuator immediately and keep the engine sound setting on Cupra. I am relatively sure that the valves remain closed if you keep engine sound mode on Comfort so you will not get ANY pops and bangs if you drive like that. Disconnecting is a 1 minute job, just need to raise the bonnet and reach in (Agnes wrote a tutorial about it).

Did you try using offroad mode when driving in snow? I would expect Offroad mode to be 4WD all the time. Don't know for sure.

I am surprised you think Cupra Ateca has better dashboard. I'd expect it to be better in Formentor, infotainment in Ateca is last gen while drivers LCD looks to be the same. VAG usually uses all the same parts across the range so I would bet Cupra Ateca has the same screen for the driver.

Offroad mode is not 4WD all the time... there is some videos on youtube that proves this... I do not care if it will double fuel consumption give me the option if I want it... there is a lot of things I hope they will bring with future software upgrades...I hope they will give a lot of love for us new "loyal" cupra drivers...

Yes Ateca had better LCD, better black level and contrast and resolution... but the one on formentor does its job... it is just that as a computer geek I am sentistive to lightbleed on LCDs and bad black levels..so that is why I did notice it..most people probably will not.

 

[Oceanic]

Great impressions there and im sure anyone that was thinking about it for snowy climates will find your write up invaluable.

For winter it meets the perfect balance with fun factor and also good winter performance.

The tyres I did go with was Continental ContiWinterContact TS 860 S 245/40R19. They do their job..but it is clear that these tires is maybe...more performance orianted then saftey orianted..so I am not super impressed...even though it is clear that it is way better then on most normal cars.. On Paper it might be that the Pirelli Sottozero 3 would had been a better choice... Anyway...on Continental's website the TS 860 S was what they recommended for high performance cars instead of the Continental Viking Contact 7.

 

[Oceanic]

I agree with Agnes. Turn off the sound actuator immediately and keep the engine sound setting on Cupra. I am relatively sure that the valves remain closed if you keep engine sound mode on Comfort so you will not get ANY pops and bangs if you drive like that. Disconnecting is a 1 minute job, just need to raise the bonnet and reach in (Agnes wrote a tutorial about it).

Did you try using offroad mode when driving in snow? I would expect Offroad mode to be 4WD all the time. Don't know for sure.

I am surprised you think Cupra Ateca has better dashboard. I'd expect it to be better in Formentor, infotainment in Ateca is last gen while drivers LCD looks to be the same. VAG usually uses all the same parts across the range so I would bet Cupra Ateca has the same screen for the driver.

I will look into disconnecting the fake engine sound speaker... 1 minute job sounds good..I better get used to the car without the fake sound..

 

[Peyton]

I will look into disconnecting the fake engine sound speaker... 1 minute job sounds good..I better get used to the car without the fake sound..

Soundaktor

So i am just about to place an order for the VZ2 to replace my current Cupra 290 and i've a quick question on the Soundaktor in Cupra mode. I've head various reviewers mention that its a bit too imposing and i just wondered does anyone know if its much lounder than my current Cupra? To be fair...

www.seatcupra.net

 

[ninja_geezer]

what was the paint that came off on the front ??
Some problems I have had with my car is... the Paint did actually wear of in the front..

 

[ninja_geezer]

Soundaktor

So i am just about to place an order for the VZ2 to replace my current Cupra 290 and i've a quick question on the Soundaktor in Cupra mode. I've head various reviewers mention that its a bit too imposing and i just wondered does anyone know if its much lounder than my current Cupra? To be fair...

www.seatcupra.net

on my test drive today i never found it to much tbh, you can turn it off if you dont like it ,my wife said it sounded really good lol.
not as nice as my straight 6 beemer sounded with aftermarket exhaust....and that was real.....

 

[Oceanic]

what was the paint that came off on the front ??
Some problems I have had with my car is... the Paint did actually wear of in the front..

Regarding the paint... I think the problem was that the car was too new when I got it... it did leave the factory 3 weeks after I got it, and I had a car wash here locally that would allow me to wash the car as much as I did want per month for around 25 EUR. So I did use this automatic car was more then I had too..I think this is the reason the car paint took damage perhaps... maximum unluck I guess it is not often the car is so freash from the factory.

 

[Oceanic]

PART 3

now After some more time I can tell you all... The car have more or lesse worked good I have had none big problems only small probems.
Like this problem that hopefully just was a one time WTF thing https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/th...noise-on-car-speakers-on-my-formentor.471600/

I have not put much miles on the the car honestly, in Sweden we have among the highest gas price in the world it is very expensive to fill up the car it could cost like 100 eur for a full tank of V power.

The inflation has also made the interest goes up from 1.8 to 5.0%, so the monthly cost is a lot more expensive, I hope it will go down again after the summer...
Of course If I would know this... I would probably have got a cheaper car...

I am still happy with the car itself... I am however worried of the second hand value.... I think more and more of how to protect the value of the car...
one good thing is I have only been driving 24 000km on it. Sweden seem to adapt fast to electric cars so I really wonder if I even can sell this car later..
I think more and more of to maybe trade it in into a cupra dealer to some of their new upcoming electric cars maybe ( I really do not like the Born)

I still think the performance need more power... BSR have now a trim around 403 HP for about 900 EUR.
The car feel little bit underpowered because of the heavy weight and aerodynamics, 403 HP would be good..

But I will most likely not modify the formentor cause the value of the car is still to high,..maybe it is a better idea to to try to get upgrade while I can maybe..
right now it is hard to pay the monthly cost it is more then I am comfortable with and I also pay around 1500 EUR in tax also per year.

So yes I am little bit ambivalent about this car. I still feel very proud of the car but at the same time I feel I want maybe something more areodynamic and faster but yes this car is indeed a very good allround car... the idea when I bought this car was to have it as a winter car and a Nissan 370Z Nismo in the summer. Right now I feel I am not sure it is worth the financial sacrifice.

But yeah the car is really a very good allround sport car... VZ5 is probably even more perfect but not very good value if you ask me in that price range you can get more fun cars for sure.

Also... Cupra was a kind of new brand when I bought this car... I was not really sure where Cupra as a brand was headed when I bought this car, for being a sport brand and to be taken seriously they need to offer more power I think thank good VZ5 was released, the Cupra born was for me kind of embarrassing it did not look very masculine if you ask me, and the upcoming line up I really wonder how much they will focus on the performence to difference themselves from the market. The urban rebel will get around 200 HP I think they did promise also more first... Urban rebel with 500 HP would for sure make it be taken seriously.

Regarding the Formentor line up, I am disappointed with how many drive trains it does offer, if you ask me if Cupra want to be a sport brand they should offer none of the hybrid options only the VZ models the none VZ model make the formentor into fake sport car category it does poision the brand IMO.

So yes I wonder where the future of Cupra is headed, is it for the more sporty nisch market or the mainstream market where they will make cars that look sporty but without the power to back it up ?

I think the feeling you have for the brand is important, it was very positive in the beginning it felt like a very fresh and mordern future brad now I do not know... all I am saying they need to step up the game in the performance department

 

[pkaps]

Enjoy your car man, never mind ifs and what ifs, do you know how many would have loved to have a chance to be in your shoes?

 

[Oceanic]

Enjoy your car man, never mind ifs and what ifs, do you know how many would have loved to have a chance to be in your shoes?

Yes trust me I do. But I enjoy it more after winter now I do not use much only transportation to work no road trips etc.

 

[pkaps]

That's the idea, to enjoy it under any conditions, even on short trips to work or out for shopping, you don't have to have the ideal weather all the time to get the max out of in order to enjoy it. Even relaxing rides are good enough.

 

[Oceanic]

That's the idea, to enjoy it under any conditions, even on short trips to work or out for shopping, you don't have to have the ideal weather all the time to get the max out of in order to enjoy it. Even relaxing rides are good enough.

Yes I only have like 10 km to work the var barley get warm I also have installed a engine Heatee which mainly seem to heat up the cooling aid. I wish sometimes I had longer way to work cause yes I enjoy drive it but also economically I want to drive it as little as possible now. In the summer months there could be like 600 eur gas for one month though because of raid trips now in winter just one full tank per month I drive mostly eco driving with a lot of engine break.