Friday 15th August 2014

Leon Cupra Performance Pack: official

SEAT confirms £2K option to go battling those pesky Renaultsports

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The Leon Cupra 'ring lap saga continues! Today SEAT has announced the Performance Pack option for Cupras to take it to the specification of the 7:58 cars. Sort of.

Buckets sir? £1,250

For £2,025 SEAT will equip your Cupra 280 with 370mm front discs, Brembo four-pot calipers, the natty 19-inch wheels seen above to clear them (black is a colour option too) plus body coloured side skirts. The air-con stays in however, so it isn't quite as hardcore as expected. Cupra Rallye soon?

Furthermore, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s that must have contributed a fair bit to that lap time aren't included. In SEAT's defence, £460 isn't much for Cup 2s but it's another extra cost to consider. It's also keen to point out Renault asks £1,000 for the rubber on a Megane 275 Trophy.

And there's more! Dedicated track day-goers will want some decent seats, right? The standard items aren't all that supportive so the £1,250 Cupra bucket seats are probably a wise investment. The Recaros are standard in the 275 Trophy, normally a £1,300 option on a Megane RS.

This is 'White-Line'. Orange quite tempting...

Want the Cupra 280 to look good on track? Then there's a White-Line or Black-Line as well. Fairly self explanatory, they bring the standard wheels, door mirrors, bootlid badge and front grille surround in either colour for £500. There's an 'Orange-Line' coming soon...

So what's the total? A three-door Leon Cupra 280 manual with the Performance Pack, Cup 2s and seats is £30,680 without any other options. Nothing can be retrofitted so the Fleet Cupra will remain standard for a little while longer. The Megane 275 Trophy is £28,930 but then £29,930 immediately with the Michelin rubber. And of course there is also the option of the Speedline Turini wheels (£1K) and Ohlins dampers (£2K). There may be one or two Trophy-Rs still if you wish to go the whole hog. Cupra v Renaultsport rematch?

 

[trunks82]

Very capable but just so boring to look at!

[Antj]

all this ring talk will look quite pointless once Honda releases times and proper power stats next May..............................

[IanCress]

£2k for some bigger brakes and wheels, when the standard brakes and wheels are already pretty big? Sounds like a waste of money to me, and can't see many people choosing this option.
Now if it had included a 20bhp power hike as well...

[Ali_T]

Antj said:

all this ring talk will look quite pointless once Honda releases times and proper power stats next May..............................

Which is great if you want to use your hatchback on the track 24/7. But what if you want to drive it on the road?

[Gorbyrev]

Liking those orange wheels. How about a powder blue body colour for the full Gulf effect like that rather natty 4.1 GT3 RS from Sharkwerks?

[bozzy101]

How can a car that's so capable leave me feeling so cold??

[IanCress]

bozzy101 said:

How can a car that's so capable leave me feeling so cold??

Powerful aircon?

I'll get my coat

[bakerstreet]

trunks82 said:

Very capable but just so boring to look at!

Agreed. I just think it looks too similar to the standard car.

[bozzy101]

IanCress said:

Powerful aircon?

I'll get my coat

Lol

[ManOpener]

Doesn't say anywhere whether the performance pack is available with the 5-door, which IMO is far better looking and probably more useful than the 3?

[deadmau5]

Antj said:

all this ring talk will look quite pointless once Honda releases times and proper power stats next May..............................

9 months away........................................

Shame Renaultsport ruined the CTR party before it even began.

[Uncle John]

Jeez it's boring to look at. Looks like a bar of Dove soap.

[Catatafish]

VAgroup needs to get some people in with imagination. They only seem to trot out someone elses old ideas even down to the colour schemes.

[Guvernator]

Agreed on the looks. I know some people prefer subtle but this is just too subtle plus there is already the normal Leon or the Golf if you don't want to shout. I just think a Seat could have done with a bit more presence. I'm not talking Ford RS Focus levels here, just something to stop me falling asleep. I think the previous gen Cupra was a lot more exciting to look at.

[EricE]

Catatafish said:

VAgroup needs to get some people in with imagination. They only seem to trot out someone elses old ideas even down to the colour schemes.

To be fair they now own the company that started with this type of colour scheme way back in '73.

[AJB88]

for 2k its quite cheap, a similar brake setup will cost you £1500 on there own usually.

I had a set of 370mm 2 piece discs and Ferrari F40 calipers on my MK2 Leon Cupra R which will be going on my MK3 Cupra 280 soon.

[soad]

White with orange wheels for me! Doesn't look too bad either.

[IanCress]

AJB88 said:

for 2k its quite cheap, a similar brake setup will cost you £1500 on there own usually.

I had a set of 370mm 2 piece discs and Ferrari F40 calipers on my MK2 Leon Cupra R which will be going on my MK3 Cupra 280 soon.

Are they really required though, when the standard Cupra already comes with fairly hefty 345mm discs?

[AJB88]

Depends what you do with the car, my LCR was Stage2+ with LSD and the big brakes amongst other things and spent some time on track.

My MK3 Cupra 280 will be going the same route.

[SonicHedgeHog]

How much better would the interior look if the Recaros were available in red or blue or anything other than black. And how about some decent paint options? How can anyone make a hot hatch with this much power and a cracking chassis be so boring?