Cupra Born

Watched the Autogefühl review on this and I really like it. As I said before the front end is savage. If a decent spec ID.3 is around €40k I reckon the Born, with the sport seats, bigger infotainment, surround cameras etc will probably be pushing €45k.

Then add on the performance package to get the boost mode 220hp and possible alcantara seats...

Not sure how I feel about the boost mode. 30 minutes is probably enough for 99% of my driving and to be fair the standard 204hp electric is nice power so may not be a need for it if it's optional. Seems like the German spec is fairly bare, I thought 230hp would be standard. Optional sport seats, DCC etc. Wonder what spec will be here. Now that a GTI is around €52,000 it's out of my budget so eyes on the Born for now.

Colour is a tough one, I like the gray but it's becoming very common on the Golf and ID.3 but it accents the copper well. Would like the surround camera too. I think it will be easily €45k though.

It's a shame they didn't put the reversing camera in the boot latch like VW. Found the reg plate location wasn't great on the Leon compared to the Golf but the surround camera might help.

Really looking forward to this. I wonder will the early supply be limited in term of customer spec, option etc. Any VW dealer I spoke to re: ID3 said that, other than which trim you choose, colour is just about the only choice you'd have for the foreseeable future.

Curious to see what prices will be for 222/231, there's no way they will stay down.

Watched a few more 'reviews' of this recently, a few journalists were sent to Barcelona in October and basically just spouted the same bullet points. Also silly that none of the cars are the eboost model so there wasn't a ton of feedback. Considering the Born has factory sport suspension and review models had DCC I'm surprised none of them were too impressed by it.

Autogefuhl are the only ones I've seen with the eboost model so far which I personally wouldn't bother paying extra for. You do get the massage alcantara seats and HUD included in the price but the 30 minute gimmick for the boost isn't worth it.

I'm a bit tempted, so on a whim I stopped off at McCoys Lucan to get so info:

They're not sure of supply levels, may be as low as 10 this year.

Production is 5 id3s for 1 Cupra

No straight cash deals, trade insurance only (as they are so low in stock, different dealers may be different)

Test car should be available March

Lots of expressions of interest, no orders yet

Just to follow up, dealer got back to me with a trade in value for my car...

It's probably on a par to what a trade in should be, but I know I could easily sell it privately for a lot more - It's a BMW i3, so equally in demand.

But since they'll only accept trade ins, I'll end up losing thousands on any deal. While they get themselves stock...

Seemed to be- has to have a trade in, so straight in deals. Not sure about if you're signing up with them. I had been saying I'd be possibly buying outright.

But a lot of sales focus was on my car, assessed it for trade in right away, just needed a few minutes if I could spare etc

McCoy's are probably the biggest Cupra dealer. They'll have plenty of crappy crossover sales to keep them happy, don't see the point on restricting the Born. Cupra was never a big seller here and there's not a huge interest in the Born, people are still fond of their VW badge so don't see them selling big numbers.

My local dealer confirmed they will have one in the showroom for viewing in March and they should be able to place orders in April. August for first cars to customers but dealer allocations unknown.

I seem to get less range than most from my ID.3 but in the winter I would get 240/250km at best. No motorways, average speed in mid to high 70s and in normal commuting traffic. But this is when temps are around freezing or just above.

So it really will depend from person to person but I wouldn't go on a 250km trip knowing 100% I'll make it in winter.

The ID.3 and Golf were heavily criticised for being slow and buggy at launch but seeing newer videos it's clearly more responsive. Reviewers like to pretend it's still crap by moving around the map in the navigation quickly which nobody would actually do, everyone will use Android Auto or Carplay anyway so it's a non issue.

A lot of reviewers also don't know you can double tap temperature controls to turn on heated seats or add shortcuts to the drop down menu on the screen for quick access so forget what they have to say. In the real world, how often are people really messing around with infotainment outside of radio and climate control? Worth asking in the ID.3 thread how people find general infotainment use. Aside from setting tyre pressure every 2-3 months, I don't use the infotainment in my Golf. Android Auto does all the work.

I've been in touch with a dealer and he said that it'd be April or May before he has a demo.

I don't want to put down a €500 deposit on am order and then lose that because I don't like the feel of the Born.

Does the online builder account for the grant?

I put together a build that I'd be interested in and it's coming in around €43K. I'm not sure if that's before the grant is deducted though and I couldn't see any mention of it on the Born builder.