Tuesday 9th September 2014

SEAT Leon Cupra 280: PH Fleet

The Cupra's still very good as standard, so how will it fare with some tweaks?

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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.

 

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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

Previous reports:
A 280hp Leon arrives, all discussion is on the damn paint
Against racer and hot hatch nemesis the Leon does just fine

 

[rob.e]

Those bbs look great but check the weight. CHR? Look for something forged would be my advice. I had neuspeed RSe07's on the vRS, only 9kg each. Made a big difference.

[ManOpener]

rob.e said:

Those bbs look great but check the weight. CHR? Look for something forged would be my advice. I had neuspeed RSe07's on the vRS, only 9kg each. Made a big difference.

Love the RSe07's, great looking wheels. A set of these in 18x8.0 and a gunmetal finish would look great on the 280, plus be a damn sight cheaper than a set of BBSes despite being lighter and probably stronger actually.

Quite like the look of the ABT DR18s too.

[renaultgeek]

those standard wheels are rotten. Do SEAT mind you voiding the warranty?

[AJB88]

I'm getting on very well with mine.

Just driven from MK to Spa for the Leon Eurocup and it drove superbly with no issues.

[3304hl]

Yellow?!

Is not the entire point of a Q-ship to remain invisible?

[Neil_M]

Serious power figures being quoted for this and the Mk7 GTi.

Go for it, your observations on the car afterwards would be interesting!

[dorsetknob]

My 5 door 280 arrived in mid July and I'm really enjoying it as I get to discover what it can do. I prefer Q car looks over something more extrovert, the slightly lary wheels and brakes are really the only clues it may not be a bog standard Leon. The majority of people I've talked to have no idea what it is and it hasn't yet attracted too much attention out on the road,
The other good points for me are the (slightly addictive) rabid acceleration through the gears, the cornering mentioned in this article and the adaptive dampers. This is my main family car and in Comfort setting it's surprisingly compliant and smooth, but if you want play or the mood takes you the Sport and Cupra settings are there too. Standard equipment is generous and I like the alcantara seats.
Worst bits for me are the wheel design - very easy to damage the rims and potentially expensive to fix due the finish, the sat nav also leaves a bit to be desired.
After about 2000 miles the economy is improving, already getting close to 40mpg on longer journeys and that may improve.
Plenty of previous comments show the Cupra is not everybody's cup of tea, I very nearly went for a Golf GTI which is a great car but I secured a better personal lease deal on this and have no regrets. As it's a lease car it won't be getting modified but I'll be interested to see how the PH car develops.

[SonicHedgeHog]

More colours like this yellow please Seat. White, black, silver and orangey red are boring. Bright reds, blues and even a Brirish racing green would be great.

[AJB88]

Neil_M said:

Serious power figures being quoted for this and the Mk7 GTi.

Go for it, your observations on the car afterwards would be interesting!

It's addictive.

[VolvoT5]

Wow those hideous 400" alloys must completely ruin the ride.