Published:
3 November 2023At its launch, the Seat Ateca tapped right into Europe’s burgeoning appetite for compact SUVs – and its neat looks, keen prices and equally keenly tuned driving experience met with approval from the critics and public alike.
To recall the breadth of its engine and trim range in those early years is like looking back several model generations, but in fact this car has yet to complete even one full model cycle on sale. Since there is already a Cupra Ateca, though, we’re perhaps safe to assume that life will go on for the car, even without a Seat badge on its nose.
Having been sold for a number of years with a multitude of petrol and diesel engines and a choice of front- or four-wheel-drive layouts, a cull of derivatives executed earlier this year left the Ateca with just two petrol engines in its range, each of which drives the front axle.
A 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol provides 109bhp of peak power, as well as sub-£30,000 affordability. It can only be had in tandem with a six-speed manual gearbox.
Above that sits the 1.5-litre Eco TSI four-cylinder engine that used to be called the 1.5 TSI Evo. It doesn’t use the 48V mild hybridisation of VW’s related eTSI but it does have active cylinder shutdown technology and it produces 148bhp and 184lb ft of torque, channelled through a choice of six-speed manual or (as tested) seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
So there’s no mild- or plug-in hybrid Ateca and no fully electrified option – absences that age the car compared with key rivals. The most efficient version is rated for WLTP emissions of a little under 140g/km.
