Cupra’s New Race Cars Unleashed As 335 HP Leon Competicion And 671 HP e-Racer

Along with the 2020 Cupra Leon road-going hot hatch, the wraps have come off its touring car racing variants too, of which there are two flavors.

There’s a brawny one called Cupra Leon Competicion packing a good old 340 PS (335 HP) 2.0-liter turbo-four gasoline unit and a 680 PS (671 HP) all-electric version called e-Racer.

The latter is described as the world’s first all-electric touring car racer and it packs a four-motor powertrain linked to a liquid-cooled 65 kWh battery pack. With a total system torque of 960 Nm (708 lb-ft), it rushes from zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.2 seconds and hits a top speed of 270 km/h (168 mph).

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2020 Cupra e-Racer

Developed to enter the Pure ETCR championship from 2021, the Cupra e-Racer features a body shaped by aerodynamics including innovative bumper and bonnet air flow circulation, wheel arches developed to better extract the air and improve downforce, and a flat floor underneath.

Since it’s a race car, it features a lower and wider stance, though it eliminates the unnecessary traditional grille, transforming it into an air curtain bonnet.

335 HP Cupra Leon Competicion Sticks With Gasoline Power

The Cupra Leon Competicion TCR racer, on the other hand, is more closely related to the production car. It has roughly half the power of the e-Racer, as the 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder turbo petrol unit delivers 340 PS (335 PS) and 410 Nm (302 lb-ft) of torque. Mated to a Hewland six-speed sequential transmission, the engine enables the Leon Competicion to sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.5 seconds and top out at 260 km/h (162 mph).

The race car’s chassis is tuned for racing and is highly adjustable. It incorporates front MacPherson struts with adjustable height, camber, toe, caster, Ackermann and track, as well as a rear Multilink setup allowing for changes to the height, camber, toe and track. The front and rear roll bars can be set and changed as well.

Looks-wise, it features a somewhat similar aero kit to the Cupra e-Racer though with a traditional radiator grille, different bumpers and a higher-set rear wing. Cupra has already opened online pre-order bookings for the Leon Competicion at the end of 2019, with all pre-booked race cars to be delivered exclusively at Cupra’s headquarters from April.