The Raval’s look is in keeping with the current generation of Cupra design typified by the three triangular headlights with matrix LED technology from VW, Cupra’s ‘shark nose’ front end and razor-sharp body creases. There is some science behind the Raval’s style, however, because the flush-fitting door handles, active aero grille, aero-optimised wheels and various vents all help give the Raval the lowest drag coefficient of any Cupra to date.
At the rear there’s a full-width light with an illuminated badge (which is paired with an illuminated badge on the front on some trim levels), plus a prominent diffuser and roof spoiler to ensure the Raval lives up visually to its sporty billing.
What technology does the Cupra Raval get inside?
The interior of the Raval shares plenty of technology with its larger Cupra siblings and introduces some new features too. The 12.9-inch central touchscreen is taken from the Formentor and Born, while the 10.25-inch driver’s display is shared with plenty of models across the VW Group as well. The digital interface on the driver’s screen does, however, come with new graphics and customisation options, plus the Raval has a new Google Android-powered operating system with a simpler process for navigating the infotainment menus.
We’ve seen on other recent VW Group products that the parent company is back-tracking from touch-sensitive controls inside its cars. While the decision was clearly made too late for the Raval’s climate and audio touch-sliders under its central screen, the car does at least come with physical controls on the steering wheel.
There’s plenty of distinctive design inside the Raval with intricate detailing on the dash and Cupra’s familiar copper-coloured trim accents, but the Raval also gets something never fitted to any production car – projector lights on the doors. These work alongside the interior ambient lighting by projecting light to illuminate the area around the armrest on the door. They’re ‘dynamic’ too so they can be configured to show different patterns and colours.
As for practicality, the electric motor is located under the bonnet instead of the boot floor. This means the Raval actually has more boot space than the Born, despite being 278mm shorter. The Raval’s boot, with the boot floor removed, stands at 430-litres, 45 litres more than the Born’s, but if you specify the 12-speaker Sennheiser sound system, the subwoofer reduces boot space by around 20 litres.
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