Seat Ateca review

Prices start at £26,085 for the entry-level 1.0-litre 108bhp petrol. The mid-range 1.5-litre 148bhp starts from £28,010, rising to around £35,565 for the 2.0-litre all-wheel-drive petrol auto. The Cupra costs around £40,000.

Monthly payments start at around £365, £385 and £480 respectively, on a four-year agreement with a six-month initial payment.

That puts it at the cheaper end of the spectrum against rivals, with the Nissan Qashqai starting from £25,505, the Skoda Karoq from £26,255, the Kia Sportage from £26,775, the Peugeot 3008 from £28,290, and the VW Tiguan from £29,550. 

What are my trim options?

The range begins with the SE, which offers an 8.25-inch touchscreen with wireless charging and smartphone link-up, dual-zone climate control, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control and keyless entry. Next comes the SE Technology, which adds full LED headlights, built-in navigation and bigger wheels.

Spend more money and you get more luxuries, obviously. The FR and the FR Sport are the, erm, sporty-looking ones. And they do look the part, with their big wheels and special trim. FR is enough – over SE Technology it adds better seats, ambient lighting and auto mirrors/headlights/wipers.

Top-of-the-range Xperience trims adds a more robust look – think black front and rear bumpers, wheelarch surrounds and the like. There’s plenty of safety tech across the board, including Side and Exit Assist which applies the brakes if a car, cyclist or pedestrian passes behind you while you’re trying to get out of a parking space.

What’s the ideal spec?

The 1.5-litre petrol paired with the six-speed manual in FR trim, we’d wager, is peak Ateca. That gets you a handy bit of extra grunt over the 1.0-litre with little impact on economy, while FR trim comes with pretty much everything you might need.

Retail is £30,095, or £390 on lease – only a few quid more per month than the SE/SE Technology trim.