2026 Cupra Born VZ review: Quick drive

Australia has something of an on-again, off-again relationship with the Cupra Born.

The Spanish brand’s all-electric hatchback, which trumpets its Latin design and passion (despite the fact it’s actually made in Germany and its batteries come from China…) and is now discontinued in Australia, has long been acclaimed by Car Expert, and one local customer – just the one –was keen enough to snap up the high-performance VZ variant from a dealer outside Sydney.

Now, there’s a new Born. Well, not new-new, but certainly significantly updated with new batteries, motors and tech, and with revised styling on the outside, as well as an upgraded cabin.

In theory, the Born will be coming back to Australia soon, now that this 2027 model year version has been launched in Europe, potentially leading with the high-performance VZ model, with the lesser 170kW and 140kW versions to follow.

Impatient as we are, we popped over to Madrid to check out the updated 240kW VZ to see if it’s worth waiting for. 

How much does the Cupra Born cost?

Previously, the Born VZ was priced – when you could get one – at $59,990, which is pretty stiff for a compact electric hatchback. The 140kW version should cost a whole heap less when/if it arrives, though.

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

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What is the Cupra Born like on the inside?

The Born’s cabin architecture hasn’t changed much, but there’s been a distinct lift in quality.

Cupra is trumpeting its use of recycled and recyclable materials, which is good, but importantly those materials look and feel plush once they’ve been reshaped into the Born’s cabin fixtures. 

Theres an obvious physical change and that’s the new 10.25-inch driver’s instrument screen behind the steering wheel, which replaces the old 5.3-inch display. It looks way more impressive, and it comes with some attractive graphics and switchable layouts. It’s a definite improvement.

There is a head-up display for the VZ model too, but if you’re wearing polarised sunglasses, you probably won’t be able to see it, which is annoying. 

The main infotainment screen in the centre of the dash, measuring 12.9 inches across, looks familiar but it has been given entirely new software, based on Google Android technology. This makes it much slicker and easier to use than before, and the screen feels far more responsive than it used to.

However, the touch-sensitive ‘slider’ controls for cabin temperature and stereo volume remain an irritant. 

Elsewhere, proper buttons have made a return to the Born’s cabin, with a new steering wheel that ditches its annoying haptic touchpads for physical push-buttons and scrollers. That’s much better, as is the appearance of four individual buttons for the power windows, rather than two buttons and a front/rear selector. 

The VZ version, as befits its sporty image, gets a set of gorgeous high-backed bucket seats in the front – Cupra calls these ‘CupBuckets’ – which are hugely comfortable and which give just the right amount of supportive squeezing.

They also come with lots of recycled material, including ‘Seaqual’ fabric made from recovered ocean plastic, and flax-fibre – not carbon-fibre – for the hard-shell seatbacks.

There’s plenty of storage space – and fast 90-Watt USB-C sockets – in the centre console, and useful door bins too. 

Headroom and legroom are fine in the back, if nothing special, but taller passengers will have their knees cocked up in the air because of the high-set floor.

The centre rear seat gets a seatbelt, but the seat itself is too narrow to be of much use, especially as the rear bench is sculpted into semi-bucket seats for the outer two.

At least you get ISOFIX child seat anchors in those outer rear seats, and another in the front passenger seat too. 

The Born’s boot is unchanged and at 385 litres it’s far from the biggest in the class, and there’s no backup from a ‘frunk’ storage area in the nose. You do at least get an adjustable boot floor, bag hooks and a 12-volt socket. 

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

Well, actually, the Born’s motors are under the back, as it’s a rear-wheel drive vehicle with single electric motors for each version.

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the Cupra Born drive?

If you’re expecting the visceral thrills of a traditional GTI… well, sorry, you’re not going to get that. However, the Born VZ has some delights of its own.

With 240kW, even with a chunky two-tonne kerb weight there’s no lack of step-off performance, and with the Cupra driving mode selected (the others are Range, Comfort and Performance – all selected via two buttons on the steering wheel), the initial torque hit is sudden enough to count as savage.

The Born VZ leaps up the road when you ask it to, although acceleration tails off above 100km/h, as is common with many EVs. There’s lots of tip-in torque for a boost when you need it, though.

Cupra mode also includes some fake engine noises, which are almost convincing initially, but which soon give way to too much Captain Kirk-style whooshes. You’d think the optional Sennheiser Contrabass stereo could pipe in a V8 rumble, but no…

What’s more important than the noise, though, is the way the Born VZ responds. The steering lacks a bit of true feedback, but it’s nicely weighted and fast, and the updated tyres – now 235mm wide all-round – find plenty of grip.

True, the weight starts to pull you into understeer the longer a corner goes on, but the torque means you can use the rear of the car to adjust your line a little, especially on the way out of slow corners. It’s not quite thrilling, but the Born VZ has enough entertainment in its bones for it to be fun.

More impressive is its all-round performance. With the adaptive dampers that come as standard in the VZ, you can have spectacularly comfortable ride quality when you can’t be bothered rushing about, and then switch into Cupra mode to stiffen everything up when you can. That trick suspension gives the Born VZ an enticing dual personality.

The least impressive aspect are the brakes. There’s a new one-pedal driving setup for the first time in a Born, activated via the paddles behind the steering wheel. You’ll soon deactivate it though, as it’s just too aggressive and sudden.

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

Australian prices and specs aren’t set yet, but here’s what we expect the Born VZ to come with as standard.

2026 Cupra Born VZ equipment highlights:

• Heated front seats
• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Adaptive suspension
• 10.25-inch driver’s instrument screen
• 12.9-inch infotainment screen
• Forward collision alert and automatic braking
• Adaptive cruise control
• Selectable driving modes
• ‘CupBucket’ seats

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the Cupra Born safe?

The Cupra Born has been given a full five-star rating by ANCAP, including a 93 per cent score for adult occupant protection, 89 per cent for child occupants, 73 per cent for vulnerable road users, and 80 per cent for its active safety systems.

Standard safety equipment includes:

• Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking
• Lane keeping steering
• Adaptive cruise control with speed-limiter
• Speed limit alert
• Blind-spot detection
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Junction cross-traffic alert
• Smart high-beam

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the Cupra Born cost to run?

Despite its potent performance, the Born VZ should be spectacularly cheap to run, especially if you have a decent electricity supply tariff and charge at home on cheaper night rates.

On our test drive including lots of time in Cupra mode on twisty mountain stretches, as well as some highway and city driving, we averaged 16.0kWh/100km, against Cupra’s quoted energy efficiency of 14.1kWh/100km. That means you’re unlikely to reach the official 631km range claim, but you should be able to get close to 500km in real-world conditions, which is ace. 

The Born will get the usual Cupra Australia warranty lasting five years and with unlimited kilometres.

To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take Cupra Born VZ

The latest version of the Born VZ deserves a place on the boat to Australia.

No, it’s not as exciting as Cupra would have you believe, but it does has an impressive combo of comfort, pace and poise. It’s good looking inside and out, too.

Ultimately, it will all come down to the price Cupra Australia sticks on the Born VZ. Get that right, and it could be a winner. 

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MORE: Explore the Cupra Born showroom