Cupra Ateca - Interior, design and technology

The designers have worked hard to give the Cupra Ateca a bespoke, sporty feel, but there’s no disguising the fact that you’re sitting inside a SEAT. Not even with a Cupra logo staring back at you from the centre of the steering wheel.

It’s not that the interior doesn’t impress. The cabin is loaded with soft-touch plastics, while the excellent Cupra-branded Alcantara seats of VZ models are comfortable and supportive. However, you have to put up with the same upright driving position as the SEAT Ateca, which puts you almost on top of the pedals, and it doesn’t feel particularly sporty to us.

We do appreciate some of the other touches that help to put some distance between the SEAT and Cupra versions of the Ateca, such as the Alcantara door cards, copper stitching, Cupra logo puddle lights and aluminium pedals. We don’t like the key, which, unlike newer Cupra offerings, is just a SEAT key with some faux carbon plastic covering it. Overall, the interior design stays just the right side of tasteful, although other Cupra models manage to feel further removed from their SEAT alternative.

There aren’t any complaints concerning the level of specification, though. All cars come with keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging and tinted rear windows, while heated seats, a rear-view camera and an electronic bootlid are available on V2 trim and above.

The Cupra Ateca features a digital cockpit as standard, which uses the same electronics as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit, it features a 9.2-inch display that replaces the analogue dials with full-colour instruments that can be set to show maps, navigation and a host of other information.

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Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

The 9.2-inch infotainment system found on higher-end SEAT Ateca models is standard on the Cupra, delivering the usual navigation and entertainment information, as well as performance-led data, such as oil temperature and G-forces.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are fitted as standard, while a nine-speaker, 340-watt Beats audio system is offered on the top-spec VZN.