RE: New Cupra Leon caught testing

[Jon_S_Rally]

SevenR said:

The older cars looked good, so people bought them. The new cars are just too plain for me.. And I think that's reflected in the sales too.
The Golf is already understated. The Seat should be much more down the Honda road I think.
If I was in the market for a hot hatch I wouldn't even consider the Seat cars.
Just my 2p worth.

Agreed. The Seat offerings were always relatively bold. The outgoing Leon, while entirely inoffensive, didn't have much about it in Cupra form. The side skirts should have been standard for a start, while a bit more aggression in the bumpers would have helped.

BraveSirRobin said:

The Mark 3 might be a bit understated (even in Cupra form) - but what's wrong with that? Not everyone wants "look at me" spoilers and bodykits. I think you would see more Cupras around if there weren't so many Golf R leasing deals.

I think what's wrong with it is that it means the Leon had no real USP. Seat is supposed to be the fun, 'youthful' brand isn't it? You buy a Golf if you want something more premium and understated, Skoda if you want something a bit more grown up. The problem with the Leon was that it was actually more under-stated than it's 'grown up' cousins.

It's not a bad looking car by any means. It didn't even need massive spoilers, just something to make it stand out. Like i said, skirts as standard and a bit more aggression. I've seen a couple of lightly modified ones, with subtle splitters and the like and they look loads better.

[nuttywobbler]

As had been said, the only reason people bought the mk3 Cupra is because they were dirt cheap - eg £250 per month with no deposit.

If they weren’t dirt cheap, no one would buy them - as they are just about the least appealing hot hatch of them all.

[djc206]

nuttywobbler said:

As had been said, the only reason people bought the mk3 Cupra is because they were dirt cheap - eg £250 per month with no deposit.

If they weren’t dirt cheap, no one would buy them - as they are just about the least appealing hot hatch of them all.

There is one bonus to that. Unlike the S3 and the Golf R they don’t go missing from driveways as often!

[aka_kerrly]

andrewparker said:

aka_kerrly said:

andrewparker said:

Further proof, were it needed, that the Cupra brand is a load of BS.

That's a ridiculously strong opinion for a car no one here has driven or seen without its camouflage!!

That’s a fair point, I am perhaps being unfair. I just hoped that Cupra might be something more exciting than tarting up Seats next models.

The way I see it, the Leon needs to look MORE like a Civic Type R with some sharper edges combined with lime green or yellow paint & white wheels like the first generation of Cupras but the general consensus even on here is that the Civic looks too over styled , now the Leon too bland & all hatchbacks are clones - no pleasing some is there?

[GTEYE]

It's the Aldi S3.

Let's be honest its only USP is to be cheaper than the S3/Golf R equivalents - and it arrives sooner than the new versions of those cars.

[greenarrow]

It does feel like Seat is the unloved child of the VAG family.

I remember the UK launch of the first Seat Leon back in 2000 - the original 1.8 Cupra got very good reviews on account of its Alfasud esque styling and sharp handling (in relation to the Golf GTI MK4) and superior performance. A very good all rounder. The Cupra R was a very smart looking car and one of the original super hatches. At the time VW had no direct answer to it.

The Mk3 Leon for my money is just over-shadowed by the Golf which does everything the Leon does and if you want a Golf you buy the original, not a spanish copy. I think only the cheap leases have saved sales from being a total disaster...

[MrStack]

CacheMonet said:

Obviously it is quite hard to see the true shape of a car in camo, but it does seem that all new hatchbacks are almost identical in footprint (1 Series, Focus, i30, A Class, Cee'd). Has there been a change to safety standards or something that dictates design that I don't know about?

Not safety standards but emission.

Cats and Particle filters have to be bigger and closer to the engine to work up to emission standards.

This means that the engine has to be pushed forward from the firewall, moving everything in the engine bay forward and killing the MPV like shapes.

[Andy665]

CacheMonet said:

Obviously it is quite hard to see the true shape of a car in camo, but it does seem that all new hatchbacks are almost identical in footprint (1 Series, Focus, i30, A Class, Cee'd). Has there been a change to safety standards or something that dictates design that I don't know about?

Put simply yes - the homologation documentation is huge and there are so many requirement that it is hard to see how designers / engineers can create something that is anything more than a clone of everything else in its market segment

[squirrelz]

Article said:

Much like Skoda’s upcoming Octavia vRS, a hybrid model will pair a turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and single electric motor powered by a 13kWh battery. This will put out around 240hp, a 40hp increase over the Skoda setup, maintaining the Leon’s sportier billing.

Except that the Octavia VRS Hybrid will be 240PS as well. The non-VRS Octavia Hybrid will be around 200PS

[ajap1979]

Jonno02 said:

S3 - Looks boring.
Golf R - Looks incredibly boring.
Cupra - Looks boring.

Neither of them will turn heads. All of them could do with a bit of sprucing up, being the sporty variants.

People buy Golfs because they look boring, but there used to be a time when people chose a Seat because it was a more interesting alternative. I park my Golf R next to a Leon Cupra most days. Neither looks any more interesting than the other and to the uninitiated they both look like run of the mill hatchbacks. That's OK for the Golf because that's what they do and always have done (you either see the appeal in that or you don't), but Seat, and in particular the Cupra brand, are supposed to have a bit more design flair to them, otherwise what is their USP?

[Jonno02]

ajap1979 said:

People buy Golfs because they look boring, but there used to be a time when people chose a Seat because it was a more interesting alternative. I park my Golf R next to a Leon Cupra most days. Neither looks any more interesting than the other and to the uninitiated they both look like run of the mill hatchbacks. That's OK for the Golf because that's what they do and always have done (you either see the appeal in that or you don't), but Seat, and in particular the Cupra brand, are supposed to have a bit more design flair to them, otherwise what is their USP?

I think that's (for this gen) a marketing fib. Seat is there to sell a car 90% identical to a golf, but at a lower price. Double pronged approach; people that buy Seat's think they're getting a good deal because it's cheaper than a golf and people that buy Golf's think the higher price is OK because it's "more premium" because it's dearer than the Seat with a few nicer plastics. The "Emoción" is absent from the Seat brand; it's a numbers game now.

[Panjy]

I’d go for the Leon over a Golf because i much prefer the styling.
That was the case with the last model and is even more so with the latest versions of both cars.
The front end in particular on the Mk8 is very unattractive.
The fact, with the previous gen at least, you got a notably faster car for Gti money made it a no brainer.

[NGK210]

I’d take a Mk4 Leon over a Mk8 Golf in a heartbeat.
The Mk7 Golf looked elegant and well-proportioned all-round. The Mk8’s rear lights look awkward, the side view seems very slabby and dour, and the ‘upside-down’ headlights look gawky.
Mk4 Leon’s rear looks fab - especially the full-width light strip - the sides are pleasingly sculpted, particularly the creases/shoulders near the rear lights. Also like the well proportioned front-end.
Compared to Golf GTIs, IME Leon Cupras have more responsive steering and suspension set-up that somehow feels more sprightly but no less supple. And the Mk4 Cupra will have 300bhp. And it’s not a Golf. And, curiously, SEAT fares better than VW in reliability surveys.
Así se dice en Inglés: it’s a no brainer!

Edited by NGK210 on Wednesday 12th February 00:09

[aelord]

It may be a superficial view, but the image and branding of SEAT is atrocious. Down there with Vauxhall.

[SmoothCriminal]

Just like the golf the current generation looks so much better than the new one. Also what on earth are they doing with the rear lights on the leon full width just looks ste.

[anonymous-user]

greenarrow said:

It does feel like Seat is the unloved child of the VAG family.

I remember the UK launch of the first Seat Leon back in 2000 - the original 1.8 Cupra got very good reviews on account of its Alfasud esque styling and sharp handling (in relation to the Golf GTI MK4) and superior performance. A very good all rounder. The Cupra R was a very smart looking car and one of the original super hatches. At the time VW had no direct answer to it.

The Mk3 Leon for my money is just over-shadowed by the Golf which does everything the Leon does and if you want a Golf you buy the original, not a spanish copy. I think only the cheap leases have saved sales from being a total disaster...

Largely agree with that, but SEAT are doing well now. They're making profit for the first time and sales figures are up. They're not always the last to get VAG tech, sometimes they get things first. They've persevered and whilst I would say that they could have done a bit more with the brand (like launch a sports car..Tango) they're getting there. Odd decision to branch off Cupra though, I dont know why they've done that.

[AJB88]

broombroomcar said:

Largely agree with that, but SEAT are doing well now. They're making profit for the first time and sales figures are up. They're not always the last to get VAG tech, sometimes they get things first. They've persevered and whilst I would say that they could have done a bit more with the brand (like launch a sports car..Tango) they're getting there. Odd decision to branch off Cupra though, I dont know why they've done that.

Cupra is focusing on electric and also going for a more "premium" approach that SEAT themselves. Eventually will start producing there own models rather than re-badged SEAT models aka Leon, Ateca etc.

[ahenners]

Estate, 4wd and 300ps plus please. Looks pretty mean from the teaser shot.

[AJB88]

ahenners said:

Estate, 4wd and 300ps plus please. Looks pretty mean from the teaser shot.

You've hit the spec on the head there, I had a sit down with Cupra CEO the other week, 2.0T 300ps. They are also going to offer a plugin hybrid 245ps.

[ZX10R NIN]

It looks good from the front.