Seat Ateca 1.4 EcoTSI 150 Xcellence DSG 2017 first drive

The Seat Ateca, the car that finally delivered Seat to the alter at the sharpest end of the European mainstream, has been on sale in the UK for less than eight months. So common a sight is it on our roads, this was a fact I had to triple-check.

The Ateca is such a common sight on our roads for good reason: it’s the best small SUV you can buy in its popular and fast-growing class. The Ateca is so far the only car to out-Nissan Qashqai the, er, Nissan Qashqai.

Now the Ateca range is busily being filled out in the truest Volkswagen Group MQB style. Of note here is the seven-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic gearbox now available hooked up to the 148bhp 1.4 EcoTSI engine (EcoTSI being Seat’s shorthand for the now familiar cylinder deactivation in the four-cylinder engine), and the range-topping Xcellence trim (with an added £680 option box ticked for 19in alloy wheels). 

The 1.4 EcoTSI petrol engine marks the real sweet spot of the Ateca range, but it’s not quite as sweet here hooked up to an automatic as on earlier tests with the standard six-speed manual. You have to work a bit harder to access its wide spread of torque and exploit the engine’s willingness to rev, which is at odds with the fact step-off is so blunt and gives the car a mighty shove forward when pulling out of a junction. The gearbox’s more relaxed nature also stops you fully enjoying the chassis, which is the class’s most involving.

Still, forgetting the gearbox, this Seat Ateca did manage to display the car’s impressive handling traits we’ve quickly got used to. This is an SUV that you can really enjoy driving; it turns in nicely and has a grippy front end, all of which bodes well for the upcoming Ateca FR and Ateca Cupra versions.