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First drive review: Seat and Cupra Leon

Sunday, 8 August 2021

The all-new Leon hatch and wagon have arrived in New Zealand in both standard Seat and hot Cupra forms.
The Seat Leon is only available here in Sportstourer wagon guise. The Cupra Leon, however, is a different story.
The Seat Leon is only available here in Sportstourer wagon guise. The Cupra Leon, however, is a different story.
Seat split the Cupra performance label off as a separate brand a few years back.
Seat split the Cupra performance label off as a separate brand a few years back.

It’s time to go over the whole confusing Seat/Cupra thing again with the release of the latest cars that look rather similar and wear the same model name, but have different badges on their noses – namely the Seat Leon and the rather awesome Cupra Leon.

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

The Cupra’s get some pretty slick copper exterior highlights, including those wheels.
The Cupra’s get some pretty slick copper exterior highlights, including those wheels.

So let’s just run through this again, because it is rather confusing – Seat is a Spanish brand under the massive Volkswagen Group umbrella and, as such, builds its cars from the same box of bits, including the ubiquitous VW Group MQB platform and range of engines.

**READ MORE:

The Cupra Leon VZ hatch is the only member of the local line up to push all its power through the front wheels only. And it is hilarious fun as a result of that.
The Cupra Leon VZ hatch is the only member of the local line up to push all its power through the front wheels only. And it is hilarious fun as a result of that.

* First Drive Review: Cupra Formentor

* First drive review: Seat Ateca and Cupra Ateca

The Cupra Leon VZ Sportstourer is a fast and seriously composed wagon.
The Cupra Leon VZ Sportstourer is a fast and seriously composed wagon.

* New Zealand to get entire Cupra range next year

* Cupra reveals high-performance Leon siblings

The 2.0-litre turbo engine makes slightly less power in the FWD hatch, but the 400Nm of torque remains the same.
The 2.0-litre turbo engine makes slightly less power in the FWD hatch, but the 400Nm of torque remains the same.

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Seat used to badge its performance models as ‘Cupras’ (much in the way VW uses the ‘R’ branding or Audi uses ‘RS’), until it split Cupra off as a separate performance brand and renamed its hot models as such – ie, the Seat Leon Cupra became the Cupra Leon.

The fancy rear diffuser means you can’t put a towbar on the Cupra hatch. You can on the hot wagon though.
The fancy rear diffuser means you can’t put a towbar on the Cupra hatch. You can on the hot wagon though.

Got that? Good, but we’ll just ignore that fact that Cupra has just done a non-performance version of the Formentor SUV (that there is also no Seat version of) for now because that just confuses things even more. No, for now we need to concentrate on the fact that Seat and Cupra have just unleased a very handsome new version of the Leon hatch and wagon – or Sportstourer, as they call the load-lugging version.

Yes, the Leon has landed in New Zealand and will initially be available in three forms – one Seat and two Cupras.

The Cupra Leon hatch is definitely the most fun of the launch line up, with its fantastic FWD antics.
The Cupra Leon hatch is definitely the most fun of the launch line up, with its fantastic FWD antics.

The Seat Leon FR Sportstourer kicks off the range and is the sole representative to wear the Seat badge. It comes in at $44,900 and is powered by a 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo engine with a 48-volt mild-hybrid assist hooked uo to a seven-speed DSG.

The FR is healthily stocked with equipment, including 17-inch alloys, LED headlights with auto high beam, a hands-free electric tailgate, triple-zone climate control, keyless entry and ignition, a 10.25-inch digital display, a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen, adaptive cruise control, a rear view camera and a central airbag between the front seats, as well as the usual array of safety tech and driver assists.

The Leon Sportstourer is roughly the same size as the Skoda Octavia.
The Leon Sportstourer is roughly the same size as the Skoda Octavia.

The Cupra range consists of a hatch and wagon, with the VZ hatch kicking off the hot variants at $59,900 and the VZ Sportstourer coming in at $65,990.

The hatch is powered by a 221kW/400Nm version of the VW Group’s 2.0-litre petrol turbo four-cylinder engine hooked up to a seven-speed DSG, while the Sportstourer wagon gets a slightly more powerful 228kW version with the same torque and transmission.

A bigger difference between the two, however, is that the hatch channels its power through the front wheels only, while the wagon is AWD.

The Cupras get all the standard equipment included in the Seat, but also add 19-inch alloy wheels, sportier bumpers front and rear, wireless Apple CarPlay, a wireless phone charger, a 9-speaker Beats audio system, Dynamic Chassis Control and Cupra suspension and sports seats, while the Sportstourer also gets gloss black roof rails and a steering wheel with two satellite buttons for start/stop and drive mode selection.

Where did you drive it?

The launch headed south out of Auckland down through the roads around the Hunua Ranges, with a car swap in Kaiaua and another in Clevedon. So plenty of very familiar, very twisty roads that we always enjoy unleashing a car along.

We started at the top of the range with the Cupra VZ Sportstourer, which was every bit the fast AWD Euro-wagon you would expect it to be.

The Cupra Sportstourer is a superbly composed thing through corners, with a fantastically satisfying punch out of them and a total lack of drama, apart from the forceful acceleration. The ride was firm, but never intrusive or brittle, although the fake sporty sound was a little grating during open road driving.

Moving into the Cupra hatch at the car swap was an enlightening experience, because while we expected them to be fairly similar, despite the hatch being FWD, they were actually surprisingly different. And in a very good way.

Although the hatch was down a few kilowatts on the wagon, it felt far more feral and eager, largely due to the fact that, while the wagon was defined by its composed lack of drama through corners, the hatch upends that entirely and effortlessly lit up the unloaded wheel through a corner, turning proceedings into a hilariously fun old-school hot hatch experience.

While the roads were damp, the eagerness with which the hatch lights up the inside front wheel was still impressive, but even more impressive was the fact that it was all quite obviously contrived and part of the plan – despite the fantastically fun wheel spinning drama, there was literally no torque steer and no interruption in relentless forward momentum present while it was happening.

This really illustrates just how good modern stability and traction electronics can actually be when it comes to having fun. And the hatch most certainly is fun.

Last up was the entry Seat version of the Sportstourer, which was a pleasant surprise, by being both extremely well composed and comfortable, as well as decently eager in its responses, thanks to the 48-voly mild-hybrid system giving the petrol engine a welcome boost down low. This is the same engine that impressed me in the Audi A3 on its recent launch, and it works equally well here.

What’s the pick of the range?

Despite the fact there is a hot wagon in the range (and wagons are always cooler, remember), the Cupra VZ hatch was far and away my pick of the bunch.

The outrageously fun traditional FWD hot hatch attitude combined with the deeply impressive composure made it easily the standout for sheer fun, while it also combined the effortless usability of everything else on the VW Group MQB platform.

That wagon does look mighty cool though, and the Seat version offers up a tantalisingly good value for money proposition along with those good looks.

Why would I buy it?

Because you understand perfectly well what a Cupra is and consider the Leon to be everything a Volkswagen Golf GTI isn’t anymore (ie; cool and fun), or you really want a hot wagon and aren’t quite convinced by the Skoda Octavia RS.

Or you are convinced by the Octavia RS, but really want AWD and even more power…

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

Because like so many other people these days you just have to have an SUV… but fortunately Seat and Cupra can help you out there as well, with the Ateca and Formentor both handily fitting into largely the same general size bracket as the Leon wagon. That’s the beauty of platform sharing, really.