Cupra Formentor vs Toyota Prado

What's the difference?

The Cupra Formentor VZe Tribe Edition offers some great luxury features and is coupled with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that should entice those wanting something more efficient than the standard petrol grade. It's peak efficiency is only available with a fair amount of charging commitment, though, and the driving comfort isn’t always the best but its fun and looks hot. The price point also makes it appealing compared to its rivals.

While no doubt the hybrid would appeal to some buyers, given the limits in towing capacity and higher fuel consumption, the extra performance doesn’t really make the i-Force Max a compelling proposition for the LandCruiser/Prado. Australian buyers have made it abundantly clear they’re happy with the Prado already on sale, so it’s hard to see the hybrid having too much success here alongside the diesel engine.

The Cupra Formentor sounds like a Transformers name and if it were one, it’d be a Decepticon, for sure. It’s way too sharply styled and sexy to be a good guy. 

The special-edition model sees it paired with black and copper 19-inch alloy wheels and every design aspect doubles down on its sports-car presence from the crisp pleating across the body, to the twin exhausts and shapely grille. And this sporty presence is what its rivals lack.

Head inside and you'll notice the biggest change from the standard VZe model are the sport bucket seats in the front and the blue leather upholstery that has been liberally applied across the cabin.

The dashboard features gorgeous copper accents and contrasting stitching while being headlined with large tech screens that immediately catch your eye.

The interior has a killer design but it's not one you'd call plush as the edges and surfaces are as sharp as they look.

The Prado and LandCruiser largely look the same, but the 1958 we drove did have a few standout elements from a design perspective.

The most obvious are the retro round headlights of the 1958, which are meant to hark back to the original FJ Cruiser. The retro theme is helped by the round light framing the large rectangular mesh grille with ‘TOYOTA’ in big, bold letters.

Personally, I really like the round lights and think it’s a shame the Australian-bound Prado misses out, purely for the aesthetics.

Inside the cabin also feels like a throwback in time, but not to the 1950s, rather the late ‘80s and early ‘90s with the grey cloth trim. It’s a brave decision from Toyota to ditch a more modern look and feel, but, again, I really like it. It feels hard-wearing and suits the nature of the Land Cruiser in the US market, where it has to woo buyers away from Bronco and Wrangler.

One design choice of note is the US-spec version has ‘LandCruiser’ embossed on the dashboard ahead of the passenger, something else we miss out on here with our Prado.

For something that leans more towards a sports car than SUV in its styling, the cabin is still fairly practical when it comes to space and access.

Front occupants enjoy the best of each, though, and it's easy enough for a taller driver to get into a comfortable position.

The rear row offers excellent headroom but the legroom may be cramped for a tall passenger. It's best to think of the car as a four-seater as the middle armrest won't go down when there is a car seat installed.

In terms of seat comfort, fatigue will set in early on a long trip for front rowers as they are decidedly hard under the butt but the padding is a lot better in the rear row.

Overall, storage options and amenities are great throughout the car with the tri-zone climate control, heated front seats and steering wheel functions giving a premium cabin experience.

The glove box is extra large and can easily fit a small handbag and a manual while the middle console is on the small side. There are four cupholders and drink bottle holders (4/4) but the front cupholders need to be spaced out more to accommodate two cups properly. A few loose coffee lids were had!

In the rear you also get two map pockets and the boot has 345L of capacity available which is on the tiny side for a medium SUV! However, the wide boot aperture tricks you into thinking it’s bigger and the powered tailgate is always a handy feature.

Technology looks great but the multimedia system is finicky to use and one that takes a while to get used to. At first it's difficult to recognise what you have to touch to access the different menus available but the screen is responsive and the graphics are clear.

The built-in satellite navigation is easy to use, and the Tribe Edition also has wired/wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, four USB-C ports, a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt socket.

As the entry-grade variant in the US range, the LandCruiser 1958 is more utilitarian than pampering. That translates to a cabin that has plenty of usability, just like the Australian-delivered LandCruiser Prados we’re used to.

There’s nothing overtly different about the US-spec model, with good space and small item storage in the front and decent room in the second row.

The multimedia system is the same as the one used here too, which speaks to Toyota’s strength for consistency of product around the world. It means anyone driving a Toyota - whether it’s in Australia, the US or elsewhere - has a sense of familiarity immediately.

It also helps that Toyota has stuck with a large amount of physical buttons and switchgear (I counted nearly 50) in addition to the touchscreen. While other brands look to cut controls to save money at the expense of usability, Toyota is sticking with what people know and enjoy.

However, the US version of the Prado has the same riser box inside the boot, which limits its cargo capacity in the same way as it has done here. It's still a reasonable size, but the riser does eat into space and compromises practicality.

For a bit of context to why the Prado is known as the LandCruiser in the States, Toyota USA skips the Fortuner for the 4Runner and ignores the LandCruiser 300 Series in favour of the Tundra-twinned Sequoia. That leaves the iconic LandCruiser nameplate unused, so it does make sense to ditch the ‘Prado’ name.

In the US it is positioned as a rival to the likes of the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler, aimed at off-road adventure types, rather than the family market.

We drove the LandCruiser 1958, an entry-grade specification that has a ‘retro’ look and feel and features some unique design elements. It’s priced from US$56,700 (approx. $86,300), which is significantly more than the $72,500 Prado GX that starts our local range.

Despite the retro elements the 1958 variant gets a reasonable level of standard equipment, including keyless entry and ignition, heated fabric seats, climate control, a 7.0-inch digital instrument display panel, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, six-speaker sound system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android auto.

The VZe Tribe Edition is a plug-in hybrid that has an electric motor that produces up to 85kW/330Nm. This is paired with a 1.4L four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. Together, they produce outputs of up to 180kW and 400Nm.

However, once the lithium-ion battery is depleted, those figures drop to 110kW/250Nm and you notice the difference on the open road. 

The Tribe has a smooth six-speed automatic transmission and can do a 0-100km/h sprint in 7.0-seconds. Not crazy fast but still fun.

This is the heart of our review, the unavailable hybrid engine, the so-called 'i-Force Max' hybrid powertrain. This is because the US market has never embraced diesel engines, which are so beloved by Prado owners in Australia, so in the search for greater efficiency, Toyota USA is leaning on hybrid technology.

The set-up in the LandCruiser combines a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor in the bell housing between the engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. The combined output of this petrol-electric hybrid is 243kW of power and 630Nm of torque, which is significantly more than the 150kW/500Nm offered by the 2.8-litre turbo diesel offered in Australia.

The catch is, despite the additional power and torque, the LandCruiser is only rated to tow slightly more than 2700kg compared to the 3500kg towing capacity offered by our diesel Prado.

Like all plug-in hybrids, you get the best efficiency if you recharge the Tribe often. If you want to get close to the official combined (urban/extra-urban) fuel cycle figure of 1.9L/100km you need to charge it every single time you use it.

Following this procedure over 347km of a mix of open and city driving, saw the real-world usage pop out at 2.3L/100km, which is outstanding.

However, the second half of the week saw 336km travelled and no recharge and the real-world usage stepped up considerably to 6.0L.

With its 40L fuel tank, you have a theoretical driving range of up to 2105km but expect less in real-world conditions. Worth noting Cupra recommends a minimum 95 RON unleaded petrol for this model.

The Tribe has a lithium-ion battery with a usable 10.9kWh capacity and the claimed pure EV range is up to 58km, as well as, a claimed 14.1kWh energy consumption figure.

Over my week with it, the consumption hovered around 22.8kWh/100km when cruising on the highway going 100km/h.

Obviously one of the biggest reasons for offering/choosing a hybrid engine is fuel efficiency and on that front the LandCruiser runs into the classic problem of big car, small engine. The official combined urban/highway fuel economy figure for the hybrid is 10.2L/100km, which is well behind the official claim for the diesel-powered Prado of just 7.6L/100km.

Drilling in deeper, the LandCruiser hybrid can drop as low as 9.4L/100km on the highway but rises to 10.6L/100km in a purely urban environment, which is typically the opposite to how hybrids excel.

The other major difference between the LandCruiser and our Prado is the size of the fuel tank. The US model only gets a 67-litre tank compared to the 110L offered in Australian models. That, naturally, has a major impact on range, with the LandCruiser hybrid only able to go a theoretical 656km on a single tank, compared to nearly 1300km for the Prado diesel.

The VZe Tribe Edition is happiest in the city and when you have a full battery. This is when it feels the most responsive with its power delivery. In the city, it’s quick and sure-footed. 

However, once that battery hits empty and you’re on the open road, the power is there but it stops feeling as fun.

The firm steering keeps it nimble and the driver's cockpit makes you feel well connected with what the car is doing but the ride comfort is like the design, not what you'd call plush.

The suspension is firm and you feel every bump in the road. Road and wind noise are also pretty high and in general, you feel a bit weary at the end of longer trips.

The visibility is good despite having narrow windows but a car seat or passenger in the back seat compromises the rear view vision. 

The Formentor shines in a tight car park with its 10.7m turning circle and compact proportions. The 360-degree view camera system is also most welcome but the quality of the feed is reflective of the grade level.

While it may be a hybrid, the LandCruiser is no urban ‘show pony’ and Toyota USA is adamant that it is tough enough to live up to the reputation of its famous nameplate. It’s built on the same TNGA-F platform as our Prado - as well as the Tundra pick-up and others - so it has the foundations for rugged adventure.

It comes standard with locking centre and rear differentials, rear coil springs, full-time four-wheel drive, a two-speed transfer case, ‘CRAWL Control’, a 2400W AC inverter and standard trailer brake controller, which are all must-haves for anyone planning a serious off-road trip.

While we have little reason to doubt the off-road ability of the LandCruiser, our test drive was limited to the urban jungle of Los Angeles, which allowed us to really focus on the powertrain.

Not surprisingly, given its similarities with other Toyota hybrid set-ups, it felt very familiar, albeit in a very different vehicle than the RAV4 and Camry we’ve driven previously. Despite its big on-paper numbers, there was some noticeable lag on initial acceleration and the engine sounds like a modern four-cylinder - a bit gruff when revved hard.

It certainly has enough performance to pull the LandCruiser along, but it isn’t over-endowed with power and torque. At least not in the way its stats suggest.

For the most part, around town, it did a good job of quietly motivating the big SUV around with a minimum of fuss.

Being a US-specific model there is no ANCAP or Euro NCAP crash testing data, but given the diesel model scored a five-star rating there’s little evidence to suggest it would be any less safe.

All US LandCruiser models come standard with the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite of active safety features. This includes pre-collision warning, lane departure warning with steering assist, lane tracing assist, road sign assist and full-speed adaptive cruise control.

The Formentor has a five-year/unlimited km warranty but it’s becoming more common to see longer warranty periods being offered now.

You can pre-purchase a three- or five-year servicing program. The three-year program costs a flat $990, averaging $330 per service. The five-year option averages costs $1990, averaging $398 per service which is reasonable for the class.

Servicing intervals are good at every 12-months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

One big plus for the LandCruiser over the Prado is Toyota USA offers two years of free servicing - a nice bonus.

It does have different warranty coverage for different components though, the overall vehicle warranty covers the first three years, the powertrain is covered for five years but the hybrid components are warranted for 10 years.