A short history of Cupra road cars

Thursday, 11 July 2019

Come for a spin in the Leon Cupra R with Seat racing driver Jordi Gene.

The Seat factory's decision to launch a standalone performance brand, Cupra, did not come at an ideal time for Seat New Zealand.

The Volkswagen-owned Spanish brand was only relaunched in NZ last year and to many Kiwis it's still an unknown quantity. So adding an unknown sub-brand to the main unknown brand adds another layer of complexity and potential confusion.

That's the negative spin. The positive thing is that those who can find their way to the new Cupra Ateca SUV to take it for a spin will be deeply impressed.

Ateca is the first-ever Cupra-branded model made by Seat. It's very fast and a lot of fun.

This $63,900 machine is one of our favourite SUVs at any price: it boasts a 221kW turbocharged engine, four-wheel drive and thoroughly reworked exhaust, suspension and brakes compared with the Seat Ateca on which it's based.

**READ MORE:

Cupra models have always offered substance underneath the sportier style.

* Spanish SUV with a touch of the Devil

* For a more focused Cupra, say 'R'

* Seat Leon Cupra hot-hatch puts its best feet forward

Small beginnings: tiny Ibiza from 1996 was the first Cupra road car.

* Spanish seven-seat SUV is also a bit German

* Spanish brand Seat is 65 years old**

Fourth-generation Ibiza sported a Cupra version. But we're missing out with the latest model.

In fact, for driver appeal and performance, the Cupra Ateca bests many sports/performance SUVs that are tens of thousands of dollars more. You can't go faster for less money.

This should not surprise, because Seat has had plenty of practice creating hot Cupra models. It's probably the most accomplished high-performance brand Kiwis have never heard of.

A classic, surely? Cupra 4 remains the only six-cylinder model to wear the brand.

The go-fast Ateca is the first production model from the Cupra brand. But Seat has been offering Cupra models for over two decades in Europe.

Cupra and motorsport are inextricably linked. The name itself is a contraction of 'cup racer' and the Seat Sport division has now been renamed Cupra.

Say R: hottest Leon Cupra from 2009. They did love yellow back then.

SEAT IBIZA CUPRA

Latest Leon Cupra is still a Seat - but check out the new-gen bronze badges.

Seat established its rallying credentials with the Ibiza Cupra Kit car in the 1990s and translated that to hot-hatch coolness with the 1996 Ibiza GTI Cupra Sport 2.0 16v - the first Cupra road car. It was no road rocket with 110kW/180Nm, but it had the right amount of sporting flavour to get the Cupra ball rolling. And let the driver have a ball.

Leon Cupra available s ST estate in Europe. Engine note is husky.

In 1999 there was a 1.8 20v Ibiza Cupra (115kW/210Nm) and the next year an even hotter Cupra R (132kW/235Nm).

Formentor will be the first Cupra-specific model. At least to start with.

The third-generation Ibiza brought a 1.8 Cupra in 2004 (132kW/245Nm) but also - gulp - a 1.9-litre diesel version with 118kW/330Nm. Remember, this was the era of Skoda's rather excellent Fabia vRS 1.9 TDI. Sharing is caring.

For the fourth-generation Ibiza, the Cupra downsized to a 1.4 (132kW/250Nm) in 2009 but upsized back to a 1.8-litre (141kW/320Nm) in 2015.

The fifth-generation Ibiza is the model launched in NZ last year. Which brings us the question: where's our Cupra?

SEAT LEON CUPRA

You could argue the Leon has been the core of Cupra to date - the base for a hot hatch that has enthusiast credentials and fufilled VW Group's one-time brief for Seat to be the 'Spanish Alfa Romeo'.

From 1999 there were 1.8 20v Cupra (132kW/235Nm) and Cupra R (154kW/270Nm, then 165kW/280Nm) models.

But one of the most talked-about is the Leon Cupra 4 of 2000. It boasted the VW Golf VR6 engine (150kW/265Nm) and all-wheel drive - the only Cupra ever to have used a six-cylinder engine.

The second-generation Leon Cupra 2.0 of 2006 had 177kW/320Nm, but then powered up to 195kW/350Nm in the Cupra R version - the point at which the brand's performance started to get really serious. In 2008 there was also a limited-run '310' 228kW/425Nm model.

The third and current generation Leon was launched in 2012. Power and torque in the Cupra 2.0 version have progressively lifted from 195kW/350Nm to today's 221kW380Nm.

The current Leon Cupra is the last example of a 'Seat Cupra' we'll see, as Cupra moves to a standalone brand. In its latest facelift it's moved to a transitional styling position, retaining its Seat status but sporting the bronze badging of the new-gen Cupra brand.

In Europe, you can also have a Leon Cupra ST wagon, complete with all-wheel drive - so a close powertrain relation of the new Cupra Ateca.

A limited run of 799 Cupra R models was also produced in 2018, with more power (227kW/380Nm in the manual version) but more importantly a more track-focused chassis. A single example made its way to NZ and yes, we got to drive it.

CUPRA ATECA AND FORMENTOR

The Cupra Ateca we've talked about already. It's the future of the brand for a number of reasons: it carries no Seat badging, it's an SUV and it's all-wheel drive - which meant that now-classic Leon Cupra 4 from 2000 was on the right track.

There will be a new Cupra Leon coming, but for now the next known quantity is the Formentor. It's kind of a coupe-SUV and is notable for being the first standalone Cupra - unlike the Ateca, it isn't based on a standard Seat model. At least not now.

Formentor will eventually become a more mainstream Seat as well. So it can work the other way too.