This Obscure Crossover Has the Audi RS3’s Awesome Five-Cylinder Engine
The Cupra Formentor VZ5 has 384 horsepower courtesy of the distinctive five-banger found in Audi’s smallest sports sedan.
Cupra
VW’s Spanish brand Cupra has revealed a new crossover with a distinctive engine.
The Cupra Formentor VZ5 has the same turbo five-cylinder as the Audi RS3 sedan.
We don’t expect this model to come to the U.S., but Cupra has previously announced plans to sell cars here.
The advantages of being part of a global automotive conglomerate are numerous, but being able to drop one of the only remaining five-cylinder powerplants into an otherwise ordinary crossover must rank close to the top. At least, that’s how we suspect the folks at Seat—the Volkswagen Group’s Spanish subsidiary—are feeling as the properly bonkers Cupra Formentor VZ5 arrives for the 2026 model year.
Technically, Cupra is an off-shoot brand of Seat that was previously used for performance versions of its hatchbacks and SUVs. The Cupra Formentor is a compact crossover with no direct Seat equivalent, and this latest VZ5 packs one of the most charismatic drivetrains available for under $100,000 these days. Audi’s turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five serves as the core of this hot crossover, having been borrowed from the Audi RS3 (and, previously, the Audi RS Q3 SUV, which was never sold in the U.S.).
An Ode to the RS3s Riotous Five-Cylinder Engine
Cupra
Cupra says the Formentor VZ5 makes 384 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque, only slightly down on power compared to Audi’s smallest sport sedan. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission from Volkswagen remains, though Cupra says it is using its own all-wheel-drive system. (Even so, the torque-splitting rear differential present in the Formentor VZ5 sure sounds similar to the hardware available in the Audi.)
DW Burnett
Here’s the engine in the Audi, in case you wanted to stare at it. Which we would totally understand.
The Formentor VZ5 receives a visual makeover too. Model-specific front and rear bumpers as well as a front splitter and rear diffuser come standard on the upscale VZ5 model. Other sporty-looking visual design elements include copper exhaust tips and wider wheel arches. 20-inch copper wheels round out the look. Cupra will offer the Formentor VZ5 in five different hues: Midnight Black, Dark Void, Magnetic Tech Matt, Century Bronze Matt and Enceladus Grey Matt, the latter three of which we assume are non-reflective paints and not odd nicknames of guys in the accounting department.
The interior of the Formentor VZ5 benefits from some slight trim changes and a major upgrade in the form of CupBucket seats. Only 4000 units of this oddball crossover will be available, though Cupra says left- and right-hand-drive units will available for the first time ever. That means buyers in the United Kingdom can gear up to reserve Cupra’s latest enthusiast creation. And, of course, the Cupra Formentor VZ5 will not be available in the U.S. unless the company finally gets its plans together to enter the American market. . .or barring that, until 2050, when it becomes eligible for the 25-year import rule.