Cupra Born

Our Joe Duffy Leasing Business Development Executive Dean had the pleasure of using a Cupra Born for the weekend, here are his thoughts.

"It’s practical enough for everyday use, decent sized boot, fits a baby’s car seat and has loads of room in the front. Three adults and a child in a seat will fit no bother."

"I needed to get a few bits for the garden, and I was going to take my wife’s car, a Seat Ateca, but I said I’d take the Cupra and put it to the test. (On the drive there, I did - safely, of course - overtake three people on backroads but I’ll talk about that more later). Anyway, the seats folded down so the rake went in, a bag of peat moss and a couple of other bits, no different than the Ateca to be honest. Only thing I will say that there is nowhere convenient to store the charging cable - there is no ‘froot’ (front boot, forget about calling it a frunk if you’re not American) so that was a bit annoying, but I wouldn’t need it most of the time, so I’d probably leave it at home anyway."

"I don’t do a lot of mileage normally (12kms into work and 12kms out) so range isn’t really a big issue for me. With that said, when I picked it up on Friday evening and headed home, the dashboard said 93% charged and 393kms of range. But by the time I drove home it was at 89% and 288kms… after 12kms? So, I had the air con on, and I did test the right foot was working as well, so that affected the range more than it would in a petrol or diesel. All it needs is a bit of a mindset change."

"I’ve had my fair share of turbo Japanese imports in my time, as well as a few German V8s, and a heap of classic VWs and I enjoyed driving them all in their own way. The Cupra is no different - no, it isn’t a 2-litre turbo or a 4 litre V8, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. It really is. It has a rake (pun intended) of power and is probably the most fun I’ve had driving in a long time."

"There’s a novelty element because it’s so different to traditional cars but putting that aside I could see myself enjoying this car as a petrol head. In fact, I would love to do a track day in one - I think it would do well and surprise a lot of people."

"EVs are different, but they’re useable. I don’t know if I would get an EV just yet, I mean, I still must test it on a road trip and that’s a big ask. I travel to Bundoran regularly and I don’t think I saw any chargers up there at all."

"One thing I do miss is the noise; a turbo spooling up, the rasp of a straight six, that distinctive V8 rumble; no amount of coil whine or electric motor nothingness will ever replace that sound."