People tend to wax lyrical about gold and silver, but not as many rave about copper. That’s a shame really because in the right context, copper can work rather well indeed. Jewellery, pipes and watches, especially the latter, can all pull it off. This brings us onto a particular arm of the Volkswagen Group which has taken copper and, in the car world at least, made it its own.
What was once the racing division of Spain’s SEAT, Cupra has forged its own identity and has been carving out a niche in New Zealand for several years now. It has been a while since I sampled a copper clad Cupra, the last being the Formentor VZ. Now its time for a long overdue second act. Enter the Terrarmar.
Named after a Spanish coastal town and the Autódromo de Sitges-Terramar racecourse which was built in 1923, the Terramar is Cupra’s compact crossover. Four spec levels make up the Terramar stable. Things start with the V at the entry price of $70,500, then an extra 10 and a bit grand gives you the V with four-wheel drive at $81,900.
You then have the V e-Hybrid, a PHEV variant which will set you back $87,900, but the focus for this tale is the flagship $91,900 VZ with its four-wheel drive and turbo petrol heart. A four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine no less.
At 2.0L in capacity, it sends 195kW/400Nm to all four wheels via Cupra’s 7-speed DSG transmission and will return a claimed combined 8.1L/100km of fuel consumption and 194g/km of CO2 emissions. The Terramar sits on Volkswagen’s MQB platform, which it shares with the new Audi Q3, it tips the scales at 1815kg and sits at 4159mm long, 1863mm wide and sits up at 1584mm high.
One could say the Terrarmar is a decent looking SUV with a whiff of sporting pretensions. Despite looking a bit generic from some angles, there are plenty of sharp edges and curves to give it a look which is unique, especially in a gorgeous shade of Cosmos blue as my car was. LED headlights up front and lightbar at the rear with Cupra logo look good too. I also just love the copper-coloured touches around the outside, especially on those optional 20-inch Vortex Copper Alloy wheels. It just works.
Inside the copper-fest continues with lashings of it around the switchgear, air vents and centre console, not to mention the logo which seems to glare at you. Or maybe that’s just me? Either way, the cabin of the Terramar is very much driver focused. Everything is within easy reach and angled at the driver, giving a sort of hammock vibe of wrapping itself around you as you adjust your seat and get comfortable. And comfortable you shall be in the front as the leather sports seats serve up some good lumbar and lateral support.
The rear seats feel quite firm at the first instance of getting in, but a few moments later you sink in nicely, a bit like a new lounge suite. You do sit quite upright and while headroom is decent, those with a lankier frame will regard the rear legroom as average at best. That said, the leather trim all around feels rather upmarket and of good quality. Boot space is rated a generous 508L and this swells to 1510L with the rear seats folded flat.
Taking centre stage back in the cockpit is a 12.9-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system. This must be one of the sharpest I have come across in this market. To say it is clear and sharp is an understatement. The graphics, colours and ease of which operate everything from driver assistance functions to in-car audio is mighty impressive.
Onto the subject of in-car audio, I can’t speak highly enough of the Cupra’s “Immersive” Sennheiser sound system. I had heard people rave about Sennheiser headphones for some time but had never experienced their sound quality for myself until now. It is, hands down, one of the greatest car sound systems I have ever experienced. In terms of clarity, bass, tone and everything in between, this 12-speaker system with amplifier and subwoofer leaves so many in the shade. It really does bring Verdi’s Requiem to life in a way only matched by seeing it performed in person. It really is epic.
Other features include wireless charging, a 10.25-inch colour instrument cluster, adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, USB C-Ports fore and aft, driver monitoring, 360-degree camera, exit assist and a whole raft of other features.
Get moving in the Terramar and the 2.0L turbo four pot burbles away nicely in the background as you saunter forward around suburbia. The ambient lighting which sits atop the dashboard and carries on for the width of the cabin is great and even lights up brightly in the driver’s door section to act as the blind spot monitoring system which I thought I was quite clever.
If you decided to switch up to Sport mode, go for it, only I found the gulf between Normal mode and Sport is not as vast as I initially thought. It also requires a firm right shoe to get things going. However, switch up to Cupra and things really start to move. The DSG transmission shifts nicely, and a deeper engine note makes itself known, even though I know its artificial and played through that oh-so lovely Sennheiser sound system.
Between 2500 and 4500 RPM, you can barrel along nicely. The ride is compliant and forgiving despite sportier springs and underpinnings. The Terramar VZ strikes a good balance between comfort and brisk performance. It also feels like it enjoys a spirited run in the corners thanks to dynamic steering, which is nicely weighted and offers good amounts of feedback.
In summary, the Cupra Terramar VZ was an impressive reminder of how unique this brand is and what it can offer in this segment. Despite a few niggles outlined previous, I would suggest give it a chance to impress, because there is very little not to like about this one. Plus, copper is just cool.
RATING: 8/10
