Seat Leon Cupra 280
RING MASTER
by Marco Mancino
I will remove any doubt regarding this vehicle, if you still have one.
Buy it! With your eyes closed!
The Seat Leon Cupra 280-hp (also available with 265 horses) is one of the best sports car ever seen. Let me briefly reflect on how to proceed, so to give you a fairly accurate picture to convey the amount of fun that I had in my 4-days test drive. Ok, let’s go randomly.
LOOK
It has a nice shape, angular and with ribs to emphasize its sporty character. The large glass surfaces, combined with sober lines, make it the ideal partner, in town and during parking maneuvers, where other cars may suffer from annoying obstructions, barely visible from the driver seat (as for the Renault Megane RS).
ENGINE
The 2.0 TSI is a hell of a starting point, if you love tuning, but just coming out of the dealer, you can already play with its 280 horsepower and 350Nm of torque. This Leon is a proper … Lion! The 6-speed manual transmission (also available with the DSG), also makes you feel in command of the situation, and not transported by a shell of metal.
HANDLING
Traction is front, but it means two things: ease of driving and a limited weight (1395kg). The limited slip differential behaves very well, in order to avoid useless power leakage and the chassis is friend to the most sportier drivers, or for those who are not very familiar with apexes and braking points.
PERFORMANCE
The Cupra 280 is fast, has an exciting sound and burns the 0-100 in just 5.7 seconds. Top speed of 250 kph and equivalent figures of the cousin Golf R, but is AWD and costs less. Another point in favor of the Seat.
We could go on to praise the Cupra 280, through the modern interior filled with every gadget (the touch screen is perhaps the least convincing part of the package), but when you buy a hot-hatch, what counts above everything else, is the ability with which grinds kilometers, the time it takes to do it and the fun and the involvement that gives you in the meantime.
The Cupra excels a little ‘everywhere, just like at the Nürburgring, where it managed to tear the lap record from the hands of RenaultSport, becoming the fastest Green Hell’s hot-hatch, also gaining a special place in the circle of the “sporty and greedy”. If you think that speed is a pleasure reserved for a few, or for those who have a bank account with a lot of zeros, you are wrong. The Cupra was born to surprise and after spending several years in the ranks, it finally made the leap, precisely due to its hen VW, which gives every organ to this very hot Spanish and also thanks to the experience gained in motorsport.
I am sure that you understand what I mean, after all we speak the same language. Even driving from home to work should be a pleasure (during the need): you never know that because of a deviation you are having to cut on a curvy road. It would not be nice to have left your weekend car at home.
You could need just one, and costs less than any other. Here it is. Thanks Seat.
SEAT LEON CUPRA 280 (2015-)
Layout – front-engined, front wheel drive
Engine – 4 cylinder 1984cc – turbocharged
Transmission – 6-speed manual gearbox
Power – 280 hp @ 5350-6600 rpm
350 Nm @ 1750-5300 rpm
Weight – 1395 kg
Acceleration – 5,7 sec.
Top Speed – 249 kph
Price – from 32.200 €