RE: Life in the hot SEAT: PH Blog
Tuesday 23rd August 2016
Apologies to anyone bearing a grudge against us talking about the faster vehicles built by that entity referred to by The Internet as VAG Group. Despite the fact no organisation of that name actually exists. I'd share an exasperated explanation of this once sent (very) off the record by a representative of one of the brands therein but modesty prevents me; I'll leave how that went to your imagination.
Quick and confidence inspiring in a delugeAnyway. MQB is a real thing and the platform underpinning a significant proportion of the hot hatches on sale right now, stretching from the £24,460 Skoda Octavia vRS hatch to the (now discontinued) £40K Audi RS3. Last Friday we very much enjoyed some track time in (for now) the hottest, most exciting version yet spat out by the parts bin randomiser and the one (currently) fastest around the 'ring - the Golf GTI Clubsport S. More - a lot more - on this shortly, with apologies to the VAG haters.
Looks pretty sharp tooIt's funny - since the Cupra 280 came out I've spent plenty of time in various iterations, including the Ultimate Sub8 No Really This Is The One Honest Guv 'ring record spec car. I've always liked them but never really been bowled over. Maybe because in hatch form there are more exciting cars I'd have first - Megane or Civic perhaps - or the pull of heritage/brand snobbery would see me in a Golf GTI Performance if it had to be an MQB car.
And it does plenty more besides!Back on the road it feels hatchback compact in the cut and thrust of town driving and supermarket car parks but the boot is big enough for baby and bike clobber. My regular long distance commute combines long and boring sections of motorways interspersed with A-roads demanding on-demand overtaking firepower. The Cupra flitted between refined and spirited in an instant while maintaining a mid-30s overall average mpg. Best SEAT outside the house? As a ticks-all-the-boxes hot estate it'd do me fine, ta. And if anyone's speccing a manual ST Black with the Brembo-braked Performance Pack, give me a shout in a couple of years time.
Life in the hot SEAT: PH Blog
Against much more glamorous relatives SEAT's hot estate could be the surprise star
Quick and confidence inspiring in a deluge
Also in attendance was a SEAT Leon ST Cupra 290 we booked in to compare with James's Skoda Octavia vRS230. And for all the excitement around that fancy limited production Golf, this was possibly the car that impressed everyone the most.
I've just handed it back and can understand why they enjoyed it so much. In my hands and in the space of three consecutive days it went from being among the fastest, most confidence inspiring cars around a sodden Donington National to weekend tip run errands and then a 230-mile motorway schlep. In all three activities it impressed above and beyond expectation. Off the back of this I'd quite happily walk into a SEAT dealership right now and buy one. More realistically if and when I come to replace the Forester one of these would be top of the list and most definitely marked out as one to return to down the line.
Looks pretty sharp too
Low expectation and over delivery is always a pleasing thing to encounter though and, surrounded by the supposed best of its breed, at Donington the Leon was never less than impressive. OK, it's not exactly playful. But in wet conditions its neutrality into corners and VAQ locking 'diff' enhanced traction out of them made it a hugely effective tool. And it's fast. Really, really fast. Even the fussy wheels looked good with a layer of brake dust on them.
The cabin's nothing to write home about but it all works effectively. In this and the rougher edges of the power delivery and ride there's a pleasing rawness about the SEAT those managing the brand hierarchy in Wolfsburg would never permit in a related product with a VW or Audi badge on the nose.
And it does plenty more besides!
Dan
Photos: Sim Mainey
Thanks: Bookatrack
Discussion
Ryvita said:
I believe Dale Lomas (he of Bridge To Gantry) bought one of these with his own money. Can be few higher recommendations surely?
He has and he's written about it on PH too!Dan
Article said:
that entity referred to by The Internet as VAG Group. Despite the fact no organisation of that name actually exists.
Sure, but VW themselves used to use VAG to refer to the whole group (according to wikipedia at least), and many companies become known as some form of acronym when their full name is a bit of a mouthful... in this case VAG is a bit easier than Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft as a way to refer to the group.Dan Trent said:
MustardCutter said:
Sharper to drive than the VRS?
Yup!Dan
Did the test car have the brembos fitted? From the official configurator it seems you can't add the sub8 pack that includes the brembos to the estate, only the hatch. Is that right?
hufggfg said:
Article said:
that entity referred to by The Internet as VAG Group. Despite the fact no organisation of that name actually exists.
Sure, but VW themselves used to use VAG to refer to the whole group (according to wikipedia at least), and many companies become known as some form of acronym when their full name is a bit of a mouthful... in this case VAG is a bit easier than Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft as a way to refer to the group.Still, that MQB platform made by the same VW parent company is a pretty good one!
Dan Trent said:
Ryvita said:
I believe Dale Lomas (he of Bridge To Gantry) bought one of these with his own money. Can be few higher recommendations surely?
He has and he's written about it on PH too!Dan
I own a mildly fettled Megane R26 myself but have pretty much lost all interest in these cars newer faster but more boring versions of the same concept, instead I am thinking about and researching DC2 Integras and 987.2 Caymans.
NJH said:
Its notable that his article on PH was much about how he modified the thing, and this is the problem with all of these uber hatches. Monstrous performance is typically married to a complete lack of drama or 'event' hence the huge aftermarket for tuning products on pretty much all modern turbo hatches.
I own a mildly fettled Megane R26 myself but have pretty much lost all interest in these cars newer faster but more boring versions of the same concept, instead I am thinking about and researching DC2 Integras and 987.2 Caymans.
Very true but given the service that Dale's car will see i'd imagine any road car he buys see's the tyres changed and the brake pads at the very least. 18" wheels were a sensible down/up grade as given the choice a dare say many would stick with 18". Adding a £300 plug n play tuning box isn't really going all out in the tuning stakes and the fact the chassis and the diff still perform brilliantly (see Dales laps on B2G Youtube channel) speaks volumes about how well SEAT have done with this car.I own a mildly fettled Megane R26 myself but have pretty much lost all interest in these cars newer faster but more boring versions of the same concept, instead I am thinking about and researching DC2 Integras and 987.2 Caymans.
Not disagreeing nunpuncher but I think you are missing my point. The car already has fantastic performance so why risk the warranty by chipping it at all? Same with the exhaust, perfectly functional and new OEM exhaust on the car but he binned it off for a Milltek system. Again why do so many people do these things if the car was so good? I contend that they do it because the cars are fast but boring so there is always the burning feeling that you need to get more out of it. Unfortunately this desire is never really fulfilled as one gets used to the boost hence why all the car specific forums for turbo hatches are full of build/owners threads where guys gradually go more and more crazy with the cars till eventually the engine and or gearbox explodes and/or they run out of money. OTOH I believe that you never get bored of the wonderful sound of 6 or more cylinder engines, or screaming NA engines, a chassis that moves underneath you and real feelsome controls. I know I am not alone in this assessment hence the cynicism often expressed on this forum towards this genre of cars.
I've recently posted a thread about this very car and how I was trying to get any answer out of my local SEAT dealer to test one. Sadly due to very poor customer service, no replies to calls or messages, I've lost my patients with them and now looking elsewhere at the likes of Golf R's and Ford ST's. It's a real shame given the many good write ups and video reviews, including that fantastic BTG one at the Ring.
NJH said:
Not disagreeing nunpuncher but I think you are missing my point. The car already has fantastic performance so why risk the warranty by chipping it at all? Same with the exhaust, perfectly functional and new OEM exhaust on the car but he binned it off for a Milltek system. Again why do so many people do these things if the car was so good? I contend that they do it because the cars are fast but boring so there is always the burning feeling that you need to get more out of it. Unfortunately this desire is never really fulfilled as one gets used to the boost hence why all the car specific forums for turbo hatches are full of build/owners threads where guys gradually go more and more crazy with the cars till eventually the engine and or gearbox explodes and/or they run out of money. OTOH I believe that you never get bored of the wonderful sound of 6 or more cylinder engines, or screaming NA engines, a chassis that moves underneath you and real feelsome controls. I know I am not alone in this assessment hence the cynicism often expressed on this forum towards this genre of cars.
Ah, I did completely miss your point. I just think that regardless of performance some people just like to modify their cars. Doesn't matter what they buy they will feel the need to tweak it and as such these folk get drawn to the marques which the tuning people cater for most.Your interest in the DC2 might bring this fact to light. My friend bought a ukdm dc2 on launch and subsequently modified the s
t out of it. Fast Japanese stuff usually attracts modders although the NA stuff less so.In contrast it's pretty rare people do anything to Porsches. This could be because it's hard to improve most of them or simply because the price and maintenance means people just buy a faster car when people get bored.
I don't agree about NA engines of 6 or more cylinders never getting boring. I've got bored of a few. However, a car is the sum of all it's parts and I can see how some would value that aspect.
Some people but not many do extensively modify Porsches, especially in the US. Here in Europe there are of course some famous Porsche tuners such as Manthey, RuF and RS Tuning in Germany. Huge money though which of course will always limit the number of people willing to go that route. One of the guys in our club region had a GT2 tuned over there it was utterly mental like a superbike.
brogenville said:
Dan Trent said:
MustardCutter said:
Sharper to drive than the VRS?
Yup!Dan
When I looked at their website this did not seem to be the case.
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