Cupra Raval VZ Extreme: Say hello to my little friend

It’s been all change Chez Allan in recent weeks. My beloved Renault 5 has departed, to be replaced with something altogether spicier.

The little French hatch has made way for a brand-new Cupra Raval – the latest all-electric offering from the booming Spanish brand.

The Raval and the Renault 5 are, fundamentally, rivals. While the Raval is fractionally larger, lower-spec versions track pretty close to the R5 in price, performance and specification.

But not this one. No, what I’ve got on the driveway is the top-of-the-tree Raval VZ Extreme, which is gunning directly for the Renault’s sporty cousin – the Alpine A290. It’s also placed directly to compete with the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa GSE, Mini JCW, Peugeot E-208 GTI and Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI in the suddenly burgeoning compact hot hatch segment.

It’s actually related to the Polo GTI but positioned as the more edgy, rebellious member of the VW Group stable. The Raval district is a famous/infamous area of Barcelona known for its mix of trendy boutiques and bars alongside some of the more “colourful” aspects of urban life. It’s the sort of place where you can enjoy a Michelin Guide-level dinner then encounter a local “character” wielding a hammer and throwing a shopping trolley around. You know, edgy. Like the car’s attitude.

Anyway, away from the name, the Raval is a massive deal for Cupra. It’s the first time the sporty Spanish brand has led development of a model family for the VW Group, so there’s a lot riding on its success. And early signs are good.

Under its achingly cool Manganese Green Matte paint, the Raval VZ Extreme upgrades the standard car’s 207bhp front-mounted motor to a 222bhp unit that delivers 0-62mph in just under 7 seconds. While that isn’t blindingly quick, Cupra wants the Raval to be about more than raw speed. So it’s been fitted with the latest version of the widely-used Dynamic Chassis Control, tuned for this new MEB+ platform. It also features an electronic limited-slip differential and unique steering hardware to give it an edge over lesser versions of the Raval.

I was really impressed by the Raval VZ when I spent a couple of days driving it in the mountains around Barcelona earlier this year. But a few hours on smooth Spanish Tarmac in the sunshine are very different from six months of Britain’s miserable roads and climate, so it will be interesting to see if I’m still so enamored in a few months’ time.

So far, it’s slotted in nicely as a replacement for the Renault. Even on a dull September day, the Raval’s edgy styling looks bold, and the matte paintwork stands out and turns heads. The Extreme spec means it gets the full whack of kit – from Matrix LED headlights to a Sennheiser sound system and fancy 3D-printed trim – so I’m already feeling spoiled, especially with the optional panoramic sunroof.

The first few trips out haven’t disappointed either. Even in comfort mode there’s a pleasing liveliness to its responses, and the suspension has coped surprisingly well with what the council laughably calls “roads” around here. Meanwhile the big standalone Cupra button brings a pleasing weight and tautness to everything outside the town limits, and engages the Cupra e-Sound, which my youngest child has already declared the coolest thing about the car.

One thing I will be keeping a close eye on is the real-world range. Cupra claims 238 miles for this model, and the trip computer is estimating around 200 miles on a full charge. How that changes with a bit more hot hatch-style driving and the impending drop in temperature will be interesting to see.

But the first challenge is to see how the Raval fares against what could be one of its biggest rivals with a trip west to test drive it back to back with the new Peugeot E-208 GTi.

Long-term log

• Arrived: September 2026
• Price as tested: £38,580 (excl. ECG)
• Mileage since arrival: 638
• Average consumption: 3.8m/kWh
• Monthly charging costs: £18.37
• Costs: None
• Faults: None