Someone probably once said; “Choice.
It’s a wonderful thing”.
Well if you’re looking for a new car, you should be very happy indeed, because there’s
never been so much variety.
If, for example, you want a very, very fast SEAT, with a huge boot and bright orange highlights,
you just need to ask for this SEAT Leon Cupra ST 280 with the Orange Line pack.
And if are in the market for a rapid small estate, there’s also the Focus ST, Octavia
vRS and even the Golf R load lugger to choose from.
First things first, you simply need to know that the engine in this car is brilliant.
It’s a 2.0-litre petrol turbo with 276bhp, which is very similar to the engine found
in the Golf R.
The main difference, is that here it feeds just the front wheels rather than all four.
So, while the 0-62mph sprint of 6.1 seconds makes the Cupra look quite a bit slower than
the Golf, it doesn’t feel it once the front wheels have found grip and you’re on the
move.
Choose the Cupra engine setting and it also emits a purposeful engine note to get the
juices flowing.
Maximum torque comes in at just 1,700 revs, with peak power at 5,600rpm, so it’s flexible
and always feels eager to pile on speed, even in higher gears.
But, there’s another side to this engine.
Choose the ‘comfort’ setting and it’s quiet, the gearchange is light and the suspension
is remarkably comfortable, even with 19-inch wheels fitted.
You certainly won’t get annoyed with this car during your commute.
Despite this, the handling is pin sharp.
In fact Comfort mode is our favourite, as the Cupra is beautifully composed and shrugs
off bumps, while the steering is also free from torque steer.
The only issue?
We’ve been driving on damp roads and if you accelerate hard the traction control light
will flash in first, second and third gears.
OK so you have to be a bit of a hooligan, but in the same conditions the Golf R Estate
would simply grip and go.
In previous Leon’s I always felt like the interior was where the money had been saved,
but this version is a great place to sit.
The large gauges found in the Cupra look fantastic, particularly at night, and the sat-nav is
placed in just the right spot.
All the other controls are easy to find too, with even things like the heated seat switches
in clear view, not buried out of sight down here somewhere.
This test car is fitted with the Cupra Leather Pack costing £1,055, and including these
seats, which are also heated and electrically adjustable.
They look good, but personally I’d probably stick with the standard black cloth sports
seats, which feel a bit grippier.
I definitely would go for the high grade of Navigation though, because you get this 6.5-inch
touch-screen, DAB radio, 3D mapping, a 10GB hard drive and uprated SEAT sound speakers
for a reasonable £680.
Of course, the Cupra ST boasts a huge boot, with 587 litres behind the rear seats, exactly
the same amount you get in the non-Cupra versions.
It can’t quite match the space in the Octavia vRS, but we doubt you’ll run out of room
very often, and the trade-off for the loss in room is a more stylish sloping hatchback.
The Cupra ST costs from £29,205, so it sits between the cheaper and slower Focus ST and
Octavia vRS and the pricer but four-wheel drive Golf R. Fitted with the leather seats,
an infotainment system and £505 Orange Line pack, this manual test car comes in at £31,520.
Official economy is a respectable 42.2mpg, but you’ll need to be very restrained, we’ve
been seeing mid-30s with a slightly leaden right foot.
While I still can’t predict who will tell me they love this orange trim and who’ll
say they hate it, the rest of the Cupra ST is much easier to judge.
For a hot estate it’s remarkably civilised and reasonably cheap to run in day-to-day
driving, but this is a car with a dark side.
Press the right buttons and take a brave pill and it’s a seriously fast car which would
not only keep up with, but probably embarrass some serious sports cars at your local track
day.
And, in my books, that’s not bad for a SEAT family car.
But do you think the Leon ST Cupra is the right mix of family guy and mad man?
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