What a refreshing change this is! While we've seemingly driven every which way of hot/quirky MQB-based hot hatch and estate we've a bunch more to come from the
Golf R Estate
launch, including the Golf Attack! (OK, Alltrack really but the 'Attack!' name has stuck in the PH office) and GTD Estate. This is none of those. This is obviously the closely related
SEAT Leon ST Cupra
A new press car at RRP? Whatever next?!
Why am I showing you this? Well, I picked it up yesterday from the UK launch and it's my ride for the next seven days. And if our soon to depart
hatch equivalent
has under-delivered on visual stimulation while over-delivering on performance this one is improved by a) the quirk factor of being an estate and b) bright red paint. The latter is definitely a step in the right direction. [I just liked the blue and there wasn't yellow! - MB].
Upon picking up the spec sheet waiting on the passenger seat I was startled to see the options added to this particular car. Which is to say there aren't any. This is pretty much unheard of in press car la-la land, where every 'before options' price conceals an extras spending spree that can easily inflate the on the road price by a third. Obviously manufacturers want to showcase their wares in press cars and allow us to test out all the gadgets and gizmos one could add, were one inclined. More cynically one might argue the cars we in the media get to drive are so unrepresentative of what people actually buy that reviews have to be treated with a pinch of salt. Driving a £30K car might be 'whatever'; a £30K car flattering to deceive with another £10K of goodies could mean the addition of another star on the review. But it's still a £40K car.
Well the Leon Cupra be noticed now?
And it's not like we're still in the days when BMW used to leave wind-up windows and an empty space in the centre console if you didn't spec your Blaupunkt radio-cassette. Cars are better equipped than ever but it's still rare to find one without a single box ticked, this SEAT an interesting combination of what counts as a poverty spec interior in this day and age. And a gutsy 280hp engine, that
VAQ 'diff'
, multi-mode dampers and some pretty serious engineering clout. I like that. Totally utilitarian as an estate should be. But packing some serious heat under its work clothes.
There are further virtues to this bare-bones spec, especially compared with that Golf R we drove the other day. In its most basic form the DSG-only Golf costs £33,585; in this spec the SEAT is just over five grand cheaper. Five grand! Sure, it's 20hp, 22lb ft, a second to 62mph and two driven wheels down on the VW. But it's also 134kg lighter, doesn't really lose much in traction thanks to that VAQ system up front and is arguably more sprightly to drive as a result of the weight loss. Nor does it have stupid quad exhausts. Given the responses to the Golf thread I should probably check with SEAT if it can tow... [Update from SEAT: sadly you can't fit a tow bar to the Cupra version of the ST, though you can to the regular ones - DT]
Is a car without a single added extra a viable option in this day and age? I'll give it a week and let you know.