Building good cars for the occasional break from everyday life is not that easy.

In the best case, they are loyal, but sleeveless companions between the office and the supermarket, and when the slopes are clear, they let the devil free.

The Cupra brand, which belongs to Seat, can do that. It has been driving independently for two years, but is struggling with its low level of awareness, and the expansion of the model is also progressing rather hesitantly.

This year, the range, which is somewhere between the mass and premium market, should include seven models, but if we look at the configurator correctly, there are only three models, and the Leon Kombi four models.

The entrance marks the fresh Formentor, which maintains a quite spectacular appearance.

The electric Born will be added soon.

Holger Appel

Editor in business, responsible for "Technology and Engine".

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The Ateca drives in the golden mean of society, which has been with us from the very beginning and is still good for a few enjoyable moments, as we were able to experience in a refresher course.

Even as Seat, the compact model developed for the commode transport of families and family accessories willingly takes care of bringing tennis bags in a quartet or bicycles as a whole to their place of use.

In the Cupra with 300 hp and 400 Nm torque from the 2.0-liter four-cylinder over a solid plateau, the obligation becomes a freestyle.

With its moderately lowered chassis and precise steering, the Ateca finds a fine compromise between everyday ride comfort and gripping unleashing. If the nerve tracts, which can be adjusted using the rotary knob, are adjusted to "Cupra", he even mixes well-dosed explosions in the four-pipe exhaust system that Akrapovic supplies for 3900 euros. And the 20-inch alloy wheels with 245/35 tires fit powerfully into the picture.

With the Ateca, which is so tempered and nonetheless riot-free, even our cars had a rather indifferent attitude, while acquaintances who were all the more inclined towards design enjoyed their lives. She liked the accents in copper and the stylish petrol blue leather furnishings so much that she completely forgot to complain about the acceleration. We probably drove too gently again. This is because 100 km / h can be reached in just under five seconds, which is usually sufficient, unless a Tesla driver has to overtake and prove what his batteries are capable of. But the tank in the Ateca goes further. According to the realistic WLTP standard, 9 liters of Super are burned, we calculated an average of 9.3 liters. It would have been easy to do more, we actually never made the most of the top of 150 mph.

We know that the world of minivans is rather bland and longs for SUVs. The parent company Volkswagen offers such a counterpart, the T-Roc R. There is also fierce competition from Audi or BMW, but the charm of the Ateca is also in the comfortable seats and a luggage compartment that can hold up to 1579 liters behind the high-opening flap. The edition variant starts at 50,000 euros, the test car came to 57,000 euros. Successful understatement included.