Cupra Tavascan review

Acceleration is brisk, but not with that step-off jolt some fast EVs give you on the first micron of pedal travel. That's fine. Who wants to be slammed in the back of the skull by the headrest every time a traffic light goes green? More importantly, the acceleration is enough to give decent overtaking gumption, and to give the tyres something to think about on the exit from a corner. In numbers, the AWD version is 5.5 seconds 0-62mph.

The front motor is called into play only when rear traction is close to its limit, and in any case it's the weaker of the pair. Bottom line, this feels rear-driven. A point you can emphasise by selecting a sports AWD mode which defers the front motor's arrival, and a sports setting for the ESP. You can also tauten the dampers.

Set that way, it's more amusing than rivals in a corner. You can use the regen paddles to slow it progressively, but even so too much ambition at the start of a tight bend will see you lost in understeer and steering-wheel numbness. That's your 2.3 tonnes right there. But then when you add the power it feels engaging, giving you a sense of the tyres working for you. The steering is precise and well-weighted.

The brake pedal is a bit soft underfoot, with a mild sense of delay as regeneration hands off to friction, but which of its rivals isn't like that? Apart from paddle regeneration, there's also an auto mode that slows the car when it catches up to the vehicle ahead or gets to a junction, and a B mode that's strongest of all.

Cupra has lowered the ride height by 15mm compared with the related VW Group MEB crossovers, and made adaptive dampers standard with the AWD version, and done its own software for steering and brakes and damping and ESP, and given the option of light 21-inch wheels. It all helps.

I hope they didn't ruin the ride?

Most of the roads where we were testing were pretty smooth, if undulating. The Tavascan coped well. A button on the steering wheel cycles between drive modes, which affects damping among other things. And a second one shortcuts you to the Cupra mode that puts all settings to their most aggressive.

You can also play with an on-screen slider for damper programming, but don't. The very softest setting is just floaty without adding comfort, and the hardest is shuddery. The ones the engineers provided (comfort, sport, Cupra) are between the extremes and work just fine.

Tyre noise isn't an issue on these surfaces, but coarser roads on this side of the Channel will be a sterner test. It's not bad on the related Group cars, mind.

How about the assisted driving?

Glad to say there's now a screen shortcut to defeat the lane system because, like most of them, it can yank at the wheel when the road lines are inconsistent. On motorways the lane centring and radar cruise work well and smoothly, although the displays could do more to reassure you by telling you what they're up to.

It can remote-park via its app, and also learn a tricky parking manoeuvre so you can repeat it more easily next time.