Hotter Cupra Formentor could get 450bhp and uprated hardware

The forbidden fruit that is the Cupra Formentor VZ5 – a left-hand-drive five-cylinder flagship largely denied to the UK market – could soon be offered with an engine upgrade that sees it outpunch the raucous Audi RS 3. 

Speaking from the reveal of the new Cupra Terramar SUV, brand boss Wayne Griffiths told Auto Express he is currently driving a tweaked version of the Formentor, running an uprated 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine with extra power and uprated hardware.

Talking about the fettled Formentor, Griffiths told us: “I have a car in Germany; a Cupra [Formentor] VZ5 that has been to ABT. I think with 450 horsepower and an Akrapovic exhaust on it.”

While this in itself isn’t confirmation the car is coming, Griffiths has form in this department. Seven or eight years ago, as the newly-appointed CEO of SEAT, he told us of a secret company car he’d been bedding in: an ABT-tuned SEAT Leon with 340bhp and a few choice modifications. This exact specification later made production as the Leon Cupra R ABT; a car imagined by him, and created using pieces and partnerships available to the brand. 

In fact, it was this very car that helped Griffiths convince the powers that be to launch Cupra as a standalone brand rather than carrying on as the performance arm of SEAT.

“I joined SEAT in 2016, and this is where the Cupra story started,” Griffiths said. “I didn’t want to drive a normal car, I wanted the best. Then I sent [the Leon] to ABT; I even got [an ECU] map on it. And then we did the Akrapovic. I was pushing with Mattias Rabe, I said ‘OK, you want me to drive an Ateca? I want a Cupra Ateca. When you do that, I’ll drive an Ateca.’ So that was the first car.”

When asked if he thought we’d be sitting here today at the launch of yet another standalone Cupra had that process not taken place, Griffiths responded: “No, I don't think that. I think we'd have started totally from scratch.

“We'd have never been fast enough,” he said. “We had our hit song (the Formentor) early in our career. That's what we've been able to do, to get to this critical mass early enough to keep the brand going.”

With the faster Cupra Formentor VZ5 currently a one-off made exclusively for the Cupra boss, performance specifics are under lock and key. But given it shares an engine and platform with the updated Audi RS 3, a 0-62mph time of less than four seconds is possible, as well as a 170mph-plus top speed.

That Akrapovic exhaust should add precious extra horsepower, while the braking system could feasibly be taken care of by specialists Akebono. The Japanese producer has designed the braking system for the top-spec Terramar, and the need for increased stopping power could see the set-up used on the Formentor too.

But any Brits keen to get their hands on such a car will need to temper their enthusiasm. Cupra had a strict limit of 7,000 engines for the original VZ5, which is why the decision was made not to offer the car in right-hand drive. Unless Griffiths and his team can secure more stock, the same may also be true for any future flagships.

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