SEAT markets itself as the attainable side of sporty within the VW group family. All their cars may share underpinnings with VW models, but the specific tuning that’s been applied to them and the image that’s been created over time is slowly giving the brand its own character.
The latest Leon Cupra is a perfect example of that strategy: a car that shares its underpinnings with the Golf GTI, but is faster, harder and more rakish-looking, all while being more keenly priced for what it offers (zero to sixty in 5.7 seconds with the DSG gearbox specified).
XCar had a go in one on the road and found it to be much better than the old Leon-based Cupra model. That car was hampered by an electronically-simulated limited slip diff on the front, whereas this new one comes with a mechanical one for much improved results.
The car only wakes up in Cupra mode (selectable via a center stack-mounted button), otherwise being docile and easy to drive. Its exhaust is quietened down in all but the most extreme driving mode, when it emits a noise that the reviewer compared to the one made by the new turbocharged Formula 1 cars.
By Andrei Nedelea
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