Cupra Ateca vs Land Rover Discovery

What's the difference?

It's a racetrack taste test rather than a comprehensive road drive, but there's plenty to like about the Cupra Ateca, which fulfils its brief of injecting a little driving fun into the SUV space. The only question is whether its sportiness will be too sporty for your day-to-day, but for that, you'll have to wait and see.

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

The Land Rover Discovery D300 S is a great family-friendly 4WD wagon.

It’s quiet, refined, and supremely well appointed; it’s also very nice to drive on-road and it’s a lot of fun – and very capable – off-road. 

It’s packed full of driver-assist tech and its Pivi Pro system is a real treat to use once you’ve mastered the art, which doesn’t take long.

But you could say all of those same things about the new Defender. 

So, is the Discovery still relevant? I reckon it is … at least for the time being.

Cupra talks about its born-in-Barcelona design inspiration, but you can still see plenty of VW in the Ateca's side profile. But that's no bad thing, with the Cupra managing to look both polished and performance focused, but without looking like it's trying too hard.

The big change is in the front-end treatment, with a smaller centre grille that houses the Cupra badge (which looks a bit like a fox, and a bit like the Decepticon badge from Transformers, but which was actually "modelled on the attitude of tribal civilisations.")

The cool DRL designs, the two-tonne bronzed alloys and the quad exhaust tips all point a pretty strong picture of performance here, and for mine, the Ateca cuts a handsome figure.

Inside, though, it definitely feels a little less premium than modern VW products, with a greater use of hard plastics, and last-gen air-con and media controls, which – if you've driven the new Golf, for example – feel a little old-school by comparison.

As always, I’ll avoid waxing lyrical about the styling of a vehicle – suffice to say, it looks good.

In terms of dimensions, this Discovery is 4956mm long (with a 2923mm wheelbase), 2220mm wide and 1888mm high.

It has a listed kerb weight of 2437kg.

The Ateca measures 4386mm in length, 1599mm in height and 1841mm in width, and there is some 485 litres of boot space with the rear seats in place, and a substantial 1579 litres with the back pews folded flat.

It's a strong back-seat story here, too, with ample leg and headroom, individual device charging ports, and a pull-down seat divider that houses two cupholders.

There are two more upfront, as well as storage in every door, along with the ISOFIX attachment points in each window seat in the back.

Now it must be said that our test was conducted on a racetrack, with limited laps, no on-road driving, and no chance to fill the vehicle with passengers or baggage, so for a full practicality play-by-play, you'll have to wait until we get the Ateca through the CarsGuide office for a more comprehensive test.

The interior has a real premium feel about it, but it still serves as a very practical space.

In terms of cargo space, there is 2391 litres with the second and third row stowed away; 1137 litres with the third row stowed away; and 258 litres with all rows in use.

The third-row seats can be either manually folded down into the floor to use that area as cargo space, or lifted up into a seating position.

There is a load-space cover, light, luggage tie-downs, bag hook and 12v in the rear, and two USB charging sockets for the third-row passengers.

The second row is a 60:40 electric-folding set-up with manual slide and powered recline, centre headrest and armrest, as well as map pockets, and door-moulded recesses. Second-row passengers get two USB C and one USB A charging points, air vents, air-con controls and more.

The front seats are 14-way electrically-adjustable with captain’s armrest, grained leather seat facings with Ebony interior; the Pivi Pro 11.4-inch touchscreen with digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; as well as one USB A and three USB C points.

The Discovery has a fixed front and rear panoramic roof.

For reference, this Discovery D300 S has a price-tag of $101,875* (plus on road costs).

As standard, the seven-seat Discovery’s list of features is considerable, as it should be at this price-point, and includes a 11.4-inch Pivi Pro multi-media touchscreen (like an all-in-one vehicle operating system, but more about it later), Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, fixed sunroofs, 3D Surround Camera, height-adjustable air suspension, 20-inch five-split-spoke, gloss silver wheels, and a whole lot of driver-assist tech.

There are also plenty of optional features available, which obviously push the price up the more you add to your Disco.

Our test vehicle was equipped with a stack of those extras and, because of that, its price-tag was $110,910* (plus on-road costs). (Prices correct at time of writing.)

Optional features on our test vehicle include Advanced Off-Road Capability Pack ($3970, twin-speed transfer box (high/low range), All Terrain Progress Control, Terrain Response 2, Configurable Terrain Response; Active Rear Locking Differential $1110; Tow hitch receiver $1000; Leisure Activity Key $960; Black Roof Rails $940; Privacy glass $920; Premium carpet mats $640; and wireless device charging $455.

By the way, the Discovery is available in a variety of colours including Fuji White, which is on our test vehicle, as well as versions of black, blue, grey and silver.

Right, so the Ateca's 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine produces 221kW and 400Nm, which is slightly less than the 235kW and 400Nm generated by the new Tiguan R.

But the Cupra is faster, knocking off the sprint to 100km/h in 4.9secs compared to the VW's  5.1secs – and it feels plenty quick from the driver's seat with your foot pinned to the floor.

That power is fed through a seven-speed DSG, with AWD standard fit on the Ateca.  

The Discovery has a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder twin-turbo-diesel engine – producing 220kW at 4000rpm and a whopping 650Nm at 1500-2500rpm – working with a mild hybrid system. 

Those impressive power and torque figures don’t tell the whole story of just how well the Disco’s engine is able to punch this big unit along the road at a comfortable clip and – bonus – its chunk of torque, useable across a decent rev range, comes in very handy when off-roading.

It has an eight-speed automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system.

Cupra is yet to reveal official fuel figures for the Ateca in Australia, but international guides claim an 8.9-9.5L/100km figure on the WLTP cycle.

That's not a small number, and it's one that will no doubt be made worse if you drive it the way you're almost certainly going to drive it, but such is the price of performance.

The Ateca will also demand 98RON fuel, which will sting at the bowser, too.

Fuel consumption is listed as 7.5L/100km on a combined cycle. 

Fuel consumption on this test was 9.8L/100km. That’s sound considering I did a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing on this test and the Disco is quite a hefty unit.

The Land Rover Discovery D300 S has an 89-litre fuel tank, so, going by those fuel-consumption figures, I’d expect an effective touring range of about 860km, but remember that figure includes a built-in 50km safe-distance buffer. 

Choosing to launch your new SUV on one of Australia's fastest racetracks shows either supreme confidence or bewildering foolhardiness, but in this instance, it was also a necessity.

See, Cupra is mere months away from official launch now, with orders for launch editions to open in May, and the only vehicles the brand could secure for its media preview were brought in from New Zealand, and unable to be driven on public roads.

And so Sydney Motorsport Park would play host to our first experience behind the wheel of the Ateca, and after only a handful of flying laps it was beginning to feel like a masterstroke.

This is not your average family SUV, and any vehicle in which you can drop the kids at school before clipping 200km/h-plus down the main straight of your closest race track is something to be celebrated.

The downside is that it's next to impossible to tell you what the Ateca is going to be like on your local streets, or whether the sporty suspension is going to be firm enough to shake the hairs loose from your head should encounter some questionable road surfaces.

But I can safely report that the power is prodigious, the steering smooth and confidence inspiring, and the AWD grip impressive in both tight and high-speed bends.

But perhaps the most surprising thing about the Ateca is its ability to feel both planted and agile in dynamic driving situations, with the SUV feeling altogether more stable than the smaller Cupra Leon, and hanging onto the tarmac in corners with more tenacity than the 140kW Cupra Formentor.

On first blush, engagement and enthusiasm are standard fit here, and that's likely no bad thing no matter what your daily commute looks like.

The Discovery is very impressive on-road. No surprise really as it has always had a reputation as a comfortable on-road cruiser – and it's lost nothing in this latest iteration. 

It is a smooth driving experience: quiet, refined and you suffer little to no noise from outside intruding into the cabin. 

The seats are very comfortable and supportive, and that makes it perfect for long-distance trips. 

The straight-six engine and eight speed auto are a nice combination, quietly effective, and well-managed. 

Acceleration is good with sharp throttle response, so you can crack on the pace when you need to, say, for instance, from a standing start or when you need to overtake a vehicle. 

In terms of overall driving experience, there’s nothing too outrageously exciting or dynamic on offer here, because this is a large SUV, but it’s always comfortable and it’s lively enough if you want to give it the boot. There are paddle shifters if you want to get fancy with your up- and down-shifting.

It’s not all good news: visibility from the driver’s seat is a bit pinched out the rear of the Discovery (due to its styling); there is pronounced body-roll through corners; the brakes are quite spongy, with a real delayed-action feel about them; ride is a tad harsh because you are rolling along on 20-inch tyres and rims, which is something I’m not so used to; and, the steering column is manually adjustable only, which I reckon is a bit slack for such a pricey vehicle.

The Land Rover Discovery D300 S has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on 2017 testing. 

As standard, its suite of driver-assist tech includes AEB, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot assist, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, front and rear parking aids, and trailer stability assist (TSA).

Don’t forget the Discovery’s terrain response system, and front and rear diff-locks.

Cupra are trying to minimise the stress here, so the Ateca wears a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with three years of complementary servicing built into the purchase price, with five-year packs also available to purchase.

The Discovery has a five year/unlimited km warranty with five years roadside assistance.

The service plan applies over five years/130,000km (whichever occurs first) with a cost of $2650.