Road test review: Seat Leon Sportstourer and Cupra Leon Sportstourer

Thursday, 20 January 2022

The all-new Leon hatch and wagon have arrived in New Zealand in both standard Seat and hot Cupra forms.

SEAT LEON FR SPORTSTOURER AND CUPRA LEON VZ SPORTSTOURER
Base price: $44,900 (Seat) and $65,900 (Cupra)
Powertrain and economy: 1.5-litre mild hybrid turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 110kW/250Nm, seven-speed automatic, FWD, combined economy 5.5L/100km, CO2 125g/km (Seat, source: RightCar) and 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 228kW/400Nm, seven-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 8.5L/100km, CO2 192g/km (Cupra, source: RightCar)

The Cupra Leon Sportstourer is the more aggressive of the two, sporting copper highlights and a lower ride height than the Seat.

Vital statistics: 4642mm long (4657mm Cupra), 1799mm wide, 1448mm high (1442mm Cupra), 2686mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 620 litres, 17-inch alloy wheels (19-inch Cupra).
Safety: Five stars (Source: ANCAP)

That silver trim around the lower bumper isn’t two exhaust outlets, it just looks like it.

We like: Wagon body shape, drive and styling of the Cupra, efficiency and value of the Seat

Both models share the same general interior, save for the steering wheel and copper-coloured trim.

We don't like: Annoying infotainment system, Seat loses some driving assists

Seat and high-performance offshoot Cupra introduced the new Leon last year. Then a lockdown happened, and we didn’t get to drive them for ages. Now, we have!

OUTSIDE

The pair look broadly the same, both featuring beady, angry headlights, a “coast to coast” full-width LED taillight and either ‘Cupra’ or ‘Leon’ spelt out across the tailgate.

**READ MORE:

The Cupra gets a turbocharged four-cylinder making 228kW/400Nm, similar to that of the Golf R.

* Road test review: Skoda Octavia Style

While still making plenty of usable power, the Seat’s 1.5-litre is brilliant on the economy run.

* First drive review: Seat and Cupra Leon

The conventional suspension of the Seat is still very well-mannered.

* First drive review: Seat Ateca and Cupra Ateca

The front end of both cars is impressive, but the outright all-wheel drive grip of the Cupra is hard to beat.

Cupra models get more aggressive front intakes, a pair of twin-outlet exhaust pipes on each corner, and nicer and larger wheels. Obviously there are branding changes as well, with Cupra logos replacing Seat badges.

By comparison, the Seat has a quieter look, with its intakes housing longer foglights, and the rear bumper is decorated in a silver trim designed to emulate an exhaust shroud. The real pipe is hidden behind the plastic. Still don’t know why carmakers do this – what’s wrong with a real exhaust pipe? Looks a lot better than some plastic trying to look like an exhaust pipe.

If you want sporty driving over low fuel consumption, the Cupra is your go.

INSIDE

Things are equally similar inside the cabin, with both models using the MQB platform’s latest interior layout. A stubby gear selector sits low in the centre console, with three buttons sitting aft controlling the automatic hill hold system, parking brake and central locking.

Above the gearshifter is either a button controlling the traction control system (Cupra, don’t bother touching it) or the start/stop button (Seat, might want to touch it sometimes).

Both models get a 10-inch digital touchscreen with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay support and both have a 10.25-inch digital instrument display behind the steering wheel.

Cupra differentiates its wagon with a special steering wheel with the start/stop button mounted on it, a drive mode selector and Cupra badging. It also has copper plastic accents while the Seat makes do with silver.

The sportier wagon has a few other small differences too, like sports pedals, standard LED interior lighting, and heated front seats/steering wheel.

UNDER THE BONNET

This is where the main differences lie. The Seat uses a 115kW/250Nm 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder endowed with a mild hybrid system, aiming to take the efficiency crown, while the Cupra goes for performance with a version of Volkswagen’s 2.0-litre turbo-four making 228kW/400Nm. Both use a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Another miss for Seat is the lack of a proper lane-keep assist. The cruise control will nudge you back into lane if you move too far over, but it won’t actively maintain the lane trajectory. The Cupra does, as part of the Travel Assist system.

Seat gets conventional steel-spring suspension while Cupra gets adaptive damping to aid cornering, which is further helped by all-wheel drive, something Seat also misses out on. Hey, gotta keep the costs down somehow.

ON THE ROAD

Let’s start with the Seat.

Going off the specsheets, you could assume it isn’t really a driver’s car, but you’d be wrong. The suspension is well-tuned, supple without being either too soft or overly harsh. Compared to something like the Skoda Octavia Style, the Seat is probably slightly on the firmer side, but that’s because Seat is the “youthful, sporty” brand of the Volkswagen Group. It lacks the outright grip of the Cupra, as it’s front-driven, but it can still hustle, thanks to the quick-shifting DCT.

More impressive is the Seat’s city manners. Again, the suspension is great, but that mild hybrid engine is just brilliant. It genuinely sips fuel, at about the rate of a regular hybrid, but with less lithium on board. Seat claims 4.9L/100km (although RightCar lists it at 5.5) and you could probably get pretty close to that if you didn’t have much interest in fast driving. I managed to keep it in the high fives and low sixes even with some backroad blasts, helped by a tall seventh gear for motorway cruising.

Meanwhile, the Cupra is designed to be a real driver’s car. It takes a 228kW/400Nm turbo engine, pairs it with a Cupra-fettled all-wheel drive system and Volkswagen’s Dynamic Chassis Control, which helps keep things flat during hard cornering, and adds specific drive modes.

It all works really rather well too, giving the Cupra some serious spice when you’re in the pointy Cupra mode. The grip is mental thanks to all four wheels providing traction, and the active suspension gubbins work brilliantly.

I’m not sold on the fake engine noise, it’s a bit much, but it’s also not the worst I’ve heard. And you can turn it off if you want.

VERDICT

We’ve already shown our love for the Seat, placing it as a runner-up in the Top Car for Families award, but that Cupra is seriously good if you’re hankering for something fast.

Both of these cars are very good, although not perfect, particularly in that overly complex infotainment unit and in the lack of proper lane-keeping in the Seat. But those are minor gripes.

If you’re after a station wagon that costs less than $80,000, your options are slim. There’s the Skoda Octavia and the larger Superb wagons, Mazda still sells the Mazda6 as a wagon, and Subaru has the Outback, which is sort of halfway between a wagon and an SUV these days. Soon it’ll have the WRX-GTB, but that’s not for a while. That’s really it, along with the Cupra and Seat twins here.

I should also add that the Seat is up for a discount under the upcoming Clean Car Rebate tweak, due to kick on April 1, to the tune of $2030. The Cupra gets a slight fee of $350.