Cupra Ateca vs Ford Ecosport

What's the difference?

The Cupra Ateca V is a much needed more affordable way into this small SUV while still offering a high-end feeling with plenty of standard features. Yes, the V isn't as high-powered as the VZx but it's still great to drive in the city and on the open road. Big on the inside and small on the outside the Cupra Ateca can perform urban and (small) family duties well.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

So, should you buy a base-model Ford EcoSport Ambiente? 

For the money it’s a great little daily commuter with an odd mix of dated trim and a great multimedia, but it’s definitely worth making room in your budget to investigate the Trend or Titanium grades.

Plus, it’s worth keeping in mind that many competitors now offer more comprehensive safety or more powerful drivetrains for not much more money.

Once you know the Cupra Ateca V is closely related to the Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Karoq you can definitely see a resemblance. Still, all three have their own look with the Cupra clearly given the role of being the fierce, sporty one. 

While the Ateca V doesn’t have the same menacing styling as the VZx, it’s definitely a seriously sporty looking SUV with its 19-inch alloys, aggressive front bumper, triangular LED running lights and blacked out wing mirrors, roof rails and CUPRA lettering across the tailgate. 

The bronze Cupra logo really signals the sporty intent of this brand and I’ve been told on more than one occasion that it looks like a biohazard symbol by people confused by what it is I’m driving. According to Cupra the blade-like design represents “the sense of belonging to a clan”. 

Measuring 4381mm long, 1841mm wide and 1625mm tall with 2630mm wheelbase the Ateca V is about 15cm shorter in length than a Tiguan, but as you’ll see in the practicality section the interior dimensions might be larger than you think.

The Ateca V’s cabin is full of dark-coloured materials with black leather upholstered sports seats and steering wheel. In the same way it feels like Batman designed the exterior the interior it has a ‘Made in Gotham City’ feel with a brooding style incorporating high quality textures and surfaces.

The EcoSport has had a second refresh this year, simply removing the spare wheel from the back. According to Ford, this was due to consumers not liking the extra 12kg it added to the rear hatch. Fair enough. 

Personally though, I think it detracts from the EcoSport’s look, the rear spare was a cheeky stab at small soft-roaders of the ‘90s. 

The lack of a spare also makes the side-swinging door a bit pointless now (it also swings the wrong way, toward the kerb instead of away from it, due to its European design origins) and just gives the rear three-quarter another anonymous SUV look.

Aside from that the EcoSport has come a long way styling-wise. 

It has ditched the weird hatchback grille it used to have, instead employing a tough-looking single plastic grille insert, bringing it stylistically in line with larger Ford SUVs like the Everest and Escape. Plus, the plastic guards on the underside give it a fun off-roader look.

Importantly, it strays far enough from its Fiesta underpinnings to look like something new entirely, unlike the Holden Trax, which simply looks like a Holden Cruze on stilts…

Inside, it maintains a little too much of that last-generation Fiesta look. The dash juts too far into the cabin, feeling as though it reduces space, and there is an abundance of terrible plastics and hardly aesthetic textures across the entire cockpit.

The seat trim is some el-cheapo nylon material, but at least it will be easy to clean.

A saving grace is the slick-looking multimedia interface, but it looks so much newer than its surroundings its obvious Ford has simply tacked this on as part of a facelift. Thankfully, unlike some other current Fords, the volume, fan-speed and temperature controls are all dials instead of buttons.

The touchscreen itself, as with most new Ford products, is a pleasure to use and not difficult to navigate. The Apple CarPlay connectivity didn’t throw me any lag or problems.

In terms of interior trim, the Honda HR-V is still the target to beat in this segment, but the EcoSport shapes up pretty well compared to the Trax and ASX with their tiny media screens and equally average interior materials.

The Ateca V is only about 4.4m long which is a lot shorter than a Kia Sportage, Nissan X-Trail or Subaru Forester, which are truly mid-size SUVs. So, the Ateca is a small SUV but on the larger side compared to say a Volkswagen T-Roc.

Despite its fairly diminutive exterior proportions the Ateca V has excellent storage and is remarkably spacious. If you have a young, small family and want a five-seater SUV big enough for them but small enough to make urban driving easy the Ateca V ticks both boxes.

Up front there are the gigantic door pockets, two cupholders, a decent-sized covered centre console bin and under-dash storage with wireless phone charging and two USB ports.

The second row is incredibly spacious for a small SUV with so much room for me at 189cm tall to sit behind my driving position. Headroom is excellent, too.

There are also cupholders in the fold-down armrest, two USB ports and big door pockets.

The back door apertures are tall and wide which makes getting little kids in and out of their car seats easier for parents.

A 485L cargo capacity is large for the class and under the boot floor is a space-saver spare wheel.

Despite being based on a car as compact as the Fiesta (complete with aforementioned dash design that feels like it detracts from space), the EcoSport has a good amount of head and legroom in both seating rows.

In terms of storage, there’s a little trench under the air conditioning controls, two decently-sized cupholders in the centre console and what has to be one of the smallest storage boxes I’ve ever used under the armrest.

Rear passengers get… um… not much. There are no storage areas in the doors, no drop-down centre armrest and no air vents in the back of the centre console. They do get two ISOFIX points on the outer seats, though. At least in terms of dimensions, space is decent back there.

The EcoSport’s boot is large. As Ford provides measurements in SAE rather than VDA, it’s hard to compare number for number, but the boot is deep and tall with the seats up, and with them down there’s a nifty variable boot floor so you can level it out or take advantage of the extra depth.

CarsGuide colleague Matt Campbell points out in his latest range review, that one of the EcoSport's main selling points in other markets is that it can fit a whole washing machine in the boot.

The HR-V still aces this segment in terms of flexibility, but the EcoSport possesses one of the most useful boots in its class.

Oh, and the missing full-size spare wheel on the back? That's now gone entirely, replaced with an inflation kit under the boot floor. Don't blame Ford, blame the consumers.

We’ll start with one of the most appealing points of the EcoSport, and that’s price. Our Ambiente is the base-model and comes in at a total of $22,790 before on-roads.

That’s cheap. Especially when lined up against competitors, like the base automatic Holden Trax LS ($26,490), the automatic Mitsubishi ASX ES ($25,490), and the Honda HR-V VTi ($24,990).

It comes closest to the base-model Suzuki Vitara RT-S, which can be had in automatic form from $23,990.

Obviously cheapest doesn’t always mean best, and you’ll notice right off the bat items like the dorky 16-inch steel wheels with plastic hubcaps, cheap black plastic finishes on the door handles and wing-mirrors and bargain halogen headlamp fittings.

Better features for the price are the wing-mirror mounted indicators, new 6.5-inch multimedia touchscreen with DAB+, two USB ports, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as a very welcome reversing camera and rear parking sensors.

Frustratingly, auto headlights are missing… a let down in any 2019 car.

The new touchscreen with Ford’s 'Sync 3' software is the most important value add for the base EcoSport, It’s way better than similar offerings in more expensive base-model competitors, although, unlike the Suzuki Vitara, does not offer sat-nav at this price.

One thing I’m not entirely sure of is why you wouldn’t simply stretch the extra $1700 to upgrade the EcoSport to the mid-spec Trend grade, as it scores a better turbocharged engine, alloy wheels, bigger 8.0-inch multimedia screen with sat-nav, ditches the dorky black plastic finish and adds a leather-trimmed steering wheel. Worth the money for sure.

The Ateca V has a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine making 140kW and 320Nm. That’s a step down in output compared to the VZx’s 221kW and 440Nm, but the V doesn't feel underpowered.

A seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission shifts gears lighting fast with the drive going to all four wheels. Yes, it’s all-wheel drive.

The EcoSport Ambiente is the only EcoSport in the range powered by a 1.5-litre non-turbo three-cylinder engine.

The Trend and Titanium levels get a more advanced 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo engine bearing Ford’s 'EcoBoost' branding.

On paper the 1.5-litre in our car is underpowered. It produces just 90kW/150Nm, comparing poorly to four-cylinder competitors like the Holden Trax with its 1.4-litre turbo (103kW/200Nm), the Mitsubishi ASX with its 2.0-litre non-turbo (110kW/197Nm) and Honda HR-V with its 1.8-litre non-turbo (105kW/172Nm).

In practice though, it’s not too bad. Quite a bit of the available torque arrives early, letting the EcoSport zip around city surroundings with ease. It’s only really out on open roads where you’ll feel the power fade away at higher revs.

All EcoSports have a six-speed torque converter automatic transmission and are front-wheel drive only in Australia.

Cupra says that after a combination of open and urban roads the Ateca V should use 7.1L/100km. That’s not hugely fuel efficient and urban consumption of 8.6L/100km will mean higher fuel bills than a hybrid SUV of this size.

On the launch we saw a fuel consumption average of 7.7L/100km and that’s after city roads, motorways and country roads.

Once we have the Ateca V in our CarsGuide garage we’ll be able to perform a real-world test of its fuel consumption.

The Ateca V has a 55-litre fuel tank and requires 95 RON premium unleaded petrol. Theoretical driving range is around 775km.

The bad news for the 1.5-litre three-cylinder is clearly in this department. 

Ford claims a not-great combined figure of 6.9L/100km, and after my mixed drive (freeways on the weekend, traffic during the week) I managed to add another 2.1 litres to that total, bringing my final number to 9.0L/100km.

An average score, considering you can extract better fuel figures from much bigger and more engaging engines. For comparison, I recently scored 8.0L/100km in the 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo Suzuki Vitara.

All EcoSports have a 52-litre fuel tank, and happily drink base-grade 91 RON petrol.

The launch of the Ateca V saw us drive the V and the VZx back-to-back, which highlighted how good the V is for the money when it comes to its on-road performance.

The 2.0-litre engine is superbly responsive with loads of torque for such a small petrol SUV, while the dynamics were equally impressive on winding country roads. Even when those roads occasionally and suddenly turned from bitumen to dirt at 100km/h excellent all-wheel drive traction kept everything under control.

The Ateca V we tested has the optional Tech Package fitted which adds dynamic chassis control and adjusts the suspension in the Comfort drive mode setting to a softer level compared to the firmer level in Sport. The ride in any mode, however, is comfortable with great handling. 

As standard the Ateca V is given sports suspension and after a quick sample of the Ateca V with this set-up I also found the ride to be comfortable and composed.

There's good visibility even through the rear window, along with nicely weighted accurate steering and a good pedal feel under my feet make the Ateca V effortless and enjoyable to drive.

The EcoSport is a great city companion. With long suspension travel that’s comfortable and compliant, neglected infrastructure didn’t bother the ride much at all, and it was surprisingly quiet during our week.

Prodding the accelerator too far will only lead to disappointment, the engine starts to make a bit more noise, but doesn’t propel the car with an equal amount of gusto. It’s hardly the most entertaining car to drive, even in the small SUV segment.

The steering is great, if a little light and the transmission makes itself largely unknown. Ford’s choice to stick with a torque converter rather than a CVT has probably saved this little engine from being a major let down.

All those features combine with a high seating position and great visibility for a little SUV that’s simply easy to pilot in urban surroundings. 

More can be had from competitors like the HR-V with its excellent ride, and the Suzuki Vitara with its fun-packed engine, but Ford has nailed the experience for daily commuters.

The EcoSport carries a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating as of December 2017, although it has not been rated to the more stringent standards introduced in 2018 that place a higher importance on autonomous systems.

No EcoSport grade has auto emergency braking (AEB), Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) or active cruise, but Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) does become available on the top Titanium grade.

It’s a letdown given most competitors are now at least offering low-speed AEB.

Our understanding is that Ford doesn’t even plan to add those more recent active safety features to the EcoSport for the foreseeable future, unlike the Suzuki Vitara which is set to get features like AEB soon.

The Ambiente still has seven airbags, the standard suite of stability systems and hill decent control, as well as the aforementioned reversing camera and rear parking sensors.

The Ateca V is covered by Cupra’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with servicing needed every 15,000km or annually.

You can buy a five-year service plan for $1990 - which isn’t overly pricey.

Just like Mazda, Honda and Holden, Ford has updated its warranty recently to five-years/unlimited km coverage. Kia doesn’t operate in the small SUV segment (unless you count the quirky Soul) so five years is the bar to beat.

The 1.5-litre non-turbo three-cylinder engine option was not available in Ford’s service calculator tool at the time of writing but expect it to cost between $230-270 per regular service, jumping to somewhere just under $500 every four years (assuming it keeps a similar pricing structure to the previous engine options).

Ford offers a free loan car while your car is down for servicing, which needs to happen once a year or every 15,000km.