Cupra Raval review

Let’s overload your brain with the models and designations, just so you get some facts. Trims run through Origin, V1, V2, V2 Launch Edition, VZ and VZ Extreme. Overkill o’clock.

The £23,785 Origin only comes with the 37kWh battery and 113bhp, with 50kW charging. So for townies only. The V1 and V2 trims can be had with the 37kWh battery and 133bhp (88kW DC), or the 52kWh with 207bhp (105kW DC), stretching between £26,995 and £32,580.

The V2 Launch Edition doesn’t invoke a premium, so that’s also £32,580 because it’s essentially a V2 with ‘Launch Edition’ written on it, and gets different wheels and some extra bits of electrickery. Worth having, then.

The punchier VZ and VZ Extreme (knitted Cup bucket seats, remote control parking) are the same car with slightly different specs and the same 52kWh battery and 222bhp, as well as the dynamic chassis control, e-diff, lowered suspension and the rest: £34,995 and £36,310 (top price for the Raval) respectively. Benefit-in-kind is four per cent across the board.

But those last two are the best, right?

The issue here is that for the full Cupra experience, you’ve got to have a VZ. If you want a car that looks the same (ish), but is a bit more ID. Polo in the driving experience, then the 207bhp V1 or V2 has the longest range (277 miles).

Cupra is expecting the Raval to qualify for UK EV grants, so they’ll need to be taken into consideration (not confirmed officially at the time of testing), and there are a few options. But consider the special paints, which look really rather good and weigh in at under a grand. The cars come with a decent amount of kit as standard, and bar wheels, all look similar. So it’s a solid little entrant to the market.

What kit, exactly?

Depends on the spec level, obviously, but the Raval gets quite a lot of stuff plumbed in if you need it. So the usual ADAS-related cameras and sensors, but LED headlights that jump to Matrix versions if you spend a bit more, a really good stereo that hops to 12-speaker Sennheiser on more expensive grades.

A 360-degree surround-view camera including top-down view, Travel Assist semi-auto driving, Traffic jam Assist, Parking assist with remote control from your phone, adaptive and predictive cruise control. Electric seats with pneumatic lumbar, cool 3D knitted bucket seats (all recycled), nice ambient lighting with a multifunction lightbar under the windscreen and projectors in the dash that splash pretty patterns on the doorcards.

Little notes like folding and heated door mirrors. Mobile digital key if you want it, heated seats on everything bar the ‘Origin’ spec. There’s a lot more, but generally this really does feel like a consciously small car, rather than a cheap one if you do some research as to what you really want and which model covers the bases.