It's strange how certain situations can endear you to a car so much more. There have been two during the past month with the Cupra and I'm now a much bigger fan.
Sunshine and B-roads; bliss, right?
The first was due to my own buffoonery. Back home in rural Suffolk for some holiday, I went for a run in Tunstall forest. After half an hour or so of splashing through puddles and having a jolly good time, I turned back to the Leon's safe parking space. And got horribly lost. The joy much, much later on at seeing a light blue SEAT parked up, heated seats beckoning and home not far away, was huge. What a plonker. But the experiences (good and bad) with our cars are what strengthens the relationship, right?
The other was far more positive, and showed the Cupra off very well indeed. Out on some local B-roads late at night, the Leon was superb. It's perhaps not the most PHey of observations but the LED headlights are excellent on full beam, giving loads of confidence in absolute darkness. The torque out of slow corners is addictive and it can be metered out really precisely to avoid traction control intervention. It can be fast and fun without being flat out. And then put into Comfort and return nearly 40mpg on the way back to London.
Dull or divisive? There's a hot hatch for you!
But can it be faster and more fun? That's what I'm really keen to find out now. Unfortunately the 'Sub8 Performance Pack' can't be retrofitted from SEAT but we'll be sure to try that when it's available. From our first mention of aftermarket tuning though there have been plenty of offers. On the power front, Revo's software updates could take the Leon beyond 300hp, KW suspension could harness it and we've also had offers of intercoolers and differentials. To be continued!
Purely from an aesthetic point of view, I've been doing some extensive 'research' on the BBS configurator as well. Unfortunately the website only offers 20-inch rims at present which is just too big. But imagine the screengrab with wheels an inch or two smaller. Looks fantastic, doesn't it? Especially in yellow. Probably getting a little carried away already...
An inch or two smaller would be perfect
As standard, I'm still very keen on the Cupra. Everyone else is mostly enthusiastic too, with loads of comments along the lines of "blimey, that's rather quick". Q-car hot hatches may defeat the object to some but it suits me just fine. Which makes it more surprising that there doesn't seem to be that many on the road. In fact I've only seen one other press car in two months. It would be great to hear from PH owners about how you're getting on.
FACT SHEET
Car: SEAT Leon Cupra 280
Run by: Matt
On fleet since: July 2014
Mileage: 2,333
List price new: £26,945 before options (£29,650 as tested, comprising Leather Pack with Winter Pack £755, Driver Assist Pack including high beam and lane assist £295, Safety Pack £115, SEAT Sound System £250, Adaptive Cruise Control and front assist £500, space saver £95 and Dynamic custom paint £695).
Last month at a glance: Plenty of miles and quite a few smiles as the Cupra provides holiday transport