SEAT Leon Cupra 280: PH Fleet

Matt's Leon is racking up the miles with everyone but him at the wheel!

Poor old Leon. Fresh from being beaten (in my eyes) by its cheaper 265 counterpart, it was whisked away by t'others in the PH office before it could reclaim a place in my affections. Here you can read what Nathan and James made of the Cupra experience as I've barely driven KM14XHO since the last update. It's mostly positive...

Having rather embarrassingly kerbed a wheel recently, the Cupra will return to SEAT soon. What would be nice of course is if they replaced all four wheels, the tyres, the brakes and the seats to give us a Performance Packed Cupra 280... We'll keep pushing for that but either way we will get some exposure to that specification, be it on our car or a test Leon, very soon.

One final thing; I've seen another Cupra on the road! It was on the back of a transporter but that still counts. If you do have one or indeed opted for a rival instead of the SEAT I'd be really intrigued to hear what you think. Thoughts from the boys below!

James writes: "I love a good road trip. Perhaps it is the heady cocktail of man and machine, battling against the elements. More likely, I just enjoy driving and love a good challenge. Either way I jump at any opportunity to plan one.

Not exactly ideal when faced with autoroutes

"A few weeks ago I was invited to a meeting with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) at its office in Le Mans. On the agenda was an in depth discussion about PH's planned activities for LM24 in 2015 so my attendance was obviously a matter of national importance. A heavily pregnant wife meant I needed to be there and back in a day, but the time of the meeting meant that planes and trains were off the cards. Sadly the PH helicopter was in use too, so a road trip really was the only option...

"And so it was that I found myself leaving for France at 3:45 on a Wednesday 'morning'. After what seemed like ages the sat-nav had plotted the best route for the 361 miles from Surrey to Le Mans. It was time to start the mission; the fuel tank was full, the packet of Haribo was only half empty, it's really still night time... and I can't remember if I locked the back door. Hit it.

"Now at this point some of you may be wondering why I chose to take the SEAT on a road trip of this nature. A hot hatch capable of demolishing Germany's most famous toll road (with the right options) isn't normally first choice for a journey that would be more befitting of something clad entirely in wood and leather. Perhaps the most important point is that there were no other cars available... but let's not let that get in the way.

That's fair old slog for one day!

"However, the Cupra was great for the journey. Heated seats, LED lights, lane assist, radar cruise control - the list goes on. All these things add up to a car which is a bit of a swiss army knife, but I guess that's the point of a modern hot hatch. No one owns one as a second 'weekend car' and as such they tend to be a 'one car fits all' solution to any car enthusiast who only has space and / or funds for a single car. As such, journeys like this should be dispatched as easily as another hot lap of the Nurburgring. Even better if it's that exact tedious journey to Nurburg...

"The only fly in the ointment was that - unbeknown to me [sorry JD... - MB] - the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) sensor had previously been knocked out of alignment and was therefore not functioning. I tried everything to fix it at a motorway service station. Annoyingly, poking the sensor then turning it on and off quickly while mumbling expletives didn't do much. This was a crushing blow as the mostly traffic-free autoroutes of France are what cruise control was invented for. I occasionally tried to catch the system out by switching it on when it wasn't expecting it, just to make sure it hadn't self healed in the three-minute interval since my last attempt. This also failed.

Matt did have a great two-car fleet. Once...

Anyway, I made it to Le Mans with the minimum of fuss and without ripping the cruise control stalk out of the column. The meeting went well (more on this soon) and soon the miles were rolling by on the return leg. With a little more time to spare before my channel crossing I decided to take a more scenic route. This conveniently afforded the opportunity to experiment with the adjustable VAQ electronic differential on some beautifully surfaced but very wet slip roads. The difference in the settings is really noticeable and perhaps most surprisingly the standard setting pretty much amounts to the differential being off. Any Cupra owners who are yet to fiddle with the settings need to find themselves a long slippery third-gear gear corner and start experimenting.

"The distinct lack of anything else noteworthy probably speaks volumes about how capable the car is. As I pulled into my driveway the odometer ticked onto 694 miles for the day. I'd averaged 55mph over 12 hours and 47 minutes, a number that would be more or less unachievable on UK roads without a police escort. Surprisingly though the car only averaged 31.3 mpg, which is lower than I'd expected. Perhaps that figure would have benefitted from working cruise control..."

Nathan writes: "For our recent Sunday Service at Zenos I had the key to the Leon. Matt had minced off in a Boxster and James had an Infiniti Q50. More on that car soon.

Nathan's another fan of Blu-Tack blue

"But I was looking forward to driving the 280 to see how different it was from the 265 we had in few weeks ago. I'd love to say there was a big difference but in reality the average Joe (me) isn't going to notice 15hp [yes, one more for the 265 camp - MB].

"The Leon is not visually shouty and I love the fairly subtle colour [yes, one more for the Dynamic Grey camp - MB] meaning it blends in. With a decent ride too you can go about your business without much fuss. Are these good things though? I'm not sure. I'm not generally a fan of subtle cars so I reckon turbocharged engines should let everyone know with pops, bangs and whistles. The Leon tries its hardest though to sound naturally aspirated. I like the noise, some others don't, but for me I think it should sound more turbocharged [would you guess Nathan's own car is a Celica GT-Four?].

"The sat-nav only accepts road names with no option for postcode entry. I can't understand why this is considered a better option as it takes so much longer and isn't as accurate. No such complaints about the sound system, with faultless Bluetooth and good quality. Useful when, like James, you're setting off for a foreign land very early in the morning...

"Of course the Leon's hot hatch dark side is locked up in that Cupra mode. Then the inner hooligan emerges and I like the car most in this mode; the exhaust note, the sharper throttle response and the heavier steering blend together to make, for me, a good car a really fun one. Is it £30K worth of fun though? Discuss..."

FACT SHEET
Car: SEAT Leon Cupra 280
Run by: Matt (well, it's meant to be...)
On fleet since: July 2014
Mileage: 4,658
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: Leon (mostly) wins over two more as the other PH staff get behind the wheel

Previous reports:
A 280hp Leon arrives, all discussion is on the damn paint
Against racer and hot hatch nemesis the Leon does just fine
Quick and capable yes, but could it be more so?
Slower Cupra battles faster Cupra. Wins. Huh?

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rob.e

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