Fastest SEAT ever scorches in

Spanish firm's most powerful car arrives in the UK

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Mark Rainford

26th March 2010

Say hello to the King of Leons! SEAT’s fastest and most powerful production car ever, the Leon Cupra R, will be unleashed on UK roads on April 1. This rather mean looking creature will storm from 0-62mph in just 6.2 seconds thanks to a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine boasting 261bhp.

Even more impressive is the monumental torque figure of 350Nm at just 2,500rpm which blitzes the majority of the Cupra R’s hot-hatch rivals including the Renaultsport Megane 250.

Power is channelled to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox – though SEAT is considering the DSG unit seen on other VW Group products but is wary of the Cupra R becoming too similar to the Scirocco R.

The two cars are remarkably similar in performance as they share the same engine. However, the Leon has a couple of real-world advantages as it features five doors for added practicality, and is lighter than the Scirocco, helping both performance and economy - the R boasts CO2 figures of 190 g/km and returns 34.9mpg.

Exterior styling tweaks come in the form of twin centrally mounted exhausts emerging from a gloss black diffuser and are joined by an extended high level rear spoiler and subtle ‘R’ badging.

A range of striking new paint colours, including metallic ‘Tribu’ yellow seen here, compliment the 19-inch, twin 5-spoke Potenza alloys, whilst inside quilted leather bucket-style sports seats and gloss black seat backs with ‘R’ logos provide a suitably sporty feel.

The Cupra R will cost £25,205 when it goes on sale next month, undercutting the Scirocco R by a little over £3,000.

For an alternative review of the latest Seat Leon visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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6 Comments

Seat misses the chance again.....no K1 body kit as standard, looks just like the lesser cupra & FR models....throw on the body kit,xenons and nicer 19" graphite alloys then I will be very interested

By marko530d on 26 March, 2010, 4:21pm

Boy racer kit

Marco, not everyone is a boy racer and we don't all need the bodykit to make us happy. In fact the K1 looks pants compared to this. Personally I think this looks awesome as it is and the Leon has never needed the K1 kit to look great.

Give me £25K and I will be interested, but sadly I will probably have to stick with what I have - an FR TDi 170. Never mind, I will get over it.

By Debbie312 on 30 March, 2010, 10:21pm

Marko530d, I have never seen any car that looks "Better" with a body kit installed. Most of them look rediculous. This car is attractive as it stands. Don't mess with it.

By bigbazza on 1 April, 2010, 12:41pm

Body kit?? Marco your off your head!

Oh dear! Who in their right mind would criticise the design of a SEAT Leon?

Marco, most of SEAT Leon drivers have taste and some class hence we buy a classy car, then there are drivers like you who drive cars that look like they have been magnetised and driven through Halfords = no class!

By Luvs_my_Cupra on 1 April, 2010, 10:22pm

i'm with you Marco

I agree, if your spending 25k plus on a car it should look a "little" bit different to the run of the mill mainstream models. What is the point of having a halo car otherwise, i had a 2.0 Tdi sport with the wolf kit still miss that care

By fastpep1 on 2 April, 2010, 12:29pm

Awesome Alloys

those wheels are amazing, and the Leon is an impressive looking machine, but I still wouldnt buy one. Too expensive for what is basically a budget car manufacturer.

By liveforever on 7 April, 2010, 3:59am

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