As hot hatches go, the Seat Leon Cupra was always held within high regard among car enthusiasts. Good news for those who were fans back in the day then as Seat have revealed that the Seat Leon Cupra is back! A previous insight from Seat revealed that there would be a number of different versions of the Seat leon Cupra available upon release and now there is more information as well as pictures to help us make our minds up.
The new Seat Leon Cupra will have two options available, the three door SC and then the five door which will both have two different power output choices. The base model will offer 265hp whilst the more powerful of the two outputs will offer 280hp. All models of the Leon Cupra will include the DCC dampers as standard while the Performance Pack gets itself as a package of features to differentiate Cupra 280 models from the standard version. These include grey finished 19-inch wheels, black mirror caps, an ‘Aerodynamic Pack’ , branded brake calipers and gloss black trim elements in the cabin. Hints have also been made that the new Seat Leon Cupra is set to challenge the likes of the Renault Clio and the Honda Civic Type-R in terms of ‘ring’ lap times, with Renault the current hot hatch table toppers and Honda ready to go all out to overthrow the current leaders.
The Seat Leon Cupra also looks to be very competitive with regards to price. The base model three door SC starts at £25,690 and the 280hp version of this will come in at £26,940. With the five door version only in Cupra 280 form it will cost you £27,240 and along with all other 280hp versions will have the DSG option available which will add £1,285 to the total price. All of the Leon Cupras will get three-way adjustable dampers, as previously mentioned, this is as well as LED healdlights, DAB radio, the Seat media system and a ‘progressive steering system’. Compare all of this to the Volkswagen equivalent and you get some interesting figures. The Three door Golf GTI is £435 up from the base model Cupra SC and is also 40hp behind. Torque will be the same for both vehicles at 258lb ft which would suggest that dependent on market needs the horsepower figures are somewhat flexible. In order for the Golf to match the Leon Cupra’s standard DCC it will cost you an extra £815 and then adding the diff will cost a further £995, so for all the £27,935 you have already spent on the Golf you will be close but still half a second slower than the Leon Cupra to the 62mph mark.
With the Seat Leon Cupra being impressively quicker and cheaper than the Golf, you really feel that this has put the Seat name back on the lips of enthusiasts who are looking for the more sportier of the Volkswagen brand. Take into account that and the very competitive pricing you can even see the Leon Cupra taking on the likes of the recently updated Renault Megane 265 which starts at £25,990, plus you’d need to add the £1,350 Cup chassis and diff pack to the Megane to put it on equal terms with the base Cupra SC and the Seat would still be £1,650 cheaper with the diff, the adaptive dampers and all the rest of the standard kit. Even the Cupra SC 280 enjoys a £400 price advantage over the Megane, plus the option of DSG if that’s your cup of tea. However impressive the Megane 265 has been to date, with prices looking the way they do we can really see the new Seat Leon Cupra being a huge success. First orders of the Seat will be the end of March this year so not long to wait until we find out if they have what it takes!
Keith Michaels Insurance PLC are Seat car insurance specialists as well Performance car insurance specialists and over the years we have developed schemes that will allow for us to offer some of the most competitive rates on the market. Alongside this we have a dedicated team with years of experience between them that are more than happy to help you with your insurance needs. For your quote, call us today.