SEAT Leon Cupra 2014 first details and specs

SEAT

There is a new SEAT Leon Cupra hot hatch coming in 2014 – and MSN Cars has been privileged enough to see it, ahead of the official unveiling on 8 January next year.

The bad news is that there are no official pictures at this stage, so you’ll have to make do with the power of your mind and the details we have noted down to share with you.

On Bing: see pictures of the 2014 SEAT Leon Cupra
Find out how much a used SEAT Leon Cupra costs on Auto Trader

The Leon Cupra is traditionally SEAT’s equivalent of the Golf GTI, although Volkswagen has been known to let the Spanish brand have a few more horses to play with. For 2014, however, it seems the stable door wasn’t bolted at all.

The Cupra sits above the FR in the Leon range.

The new Cupra will come in two versions – and even the ‘basic’ car will have a massive 265hp, 35hp more than the most potent Golf GTI. The more powerful variant gets 285hp, though it’s not clear at this stage whether this will be badged Cupra R.

Like all previous Leon Cupras, the new car is front-wheel drive. The only VW Group hot hatches with more power – the 300hp VW Golf R and Audi S3 – both feature four-wheel drive for added traction.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Cupra will be a handful…

All Leon Cupras will be fitted with Dynamic Chassis Control as standard. This adjustable suspension system will offer a choice of Normal, Sport and Cupra driving modes, radically altering the feel of the car.

How radically? Well we’re told that Normal is supple enough for you to drive ‘from London to Barcelona in comfort’, while Cupra delivers ‘race track handling’. And SEAT is deadly serious about the new car’s performance on track.

Underlining the importance of circuit work to the development of the car, the new Leon Cupra will be offered with an optional Performance Pack (though UK standard equipment is yet to be confirmed, so it could end up being standard).

The Performance Pack adds Brembo brakes and softer compound tyres that will deliver increased grip at the expense of wearing out a little faster. Apparently this is quite the potent combination.

According to executive vice president for research and design, Dr Matthias Rabe, SEAT is aiming to make the new Cupra “the fastest front-wheeler on the race track.”

By front-wheeler he means front-wheel drive, and by racing track he means the famous Nurburgring. The Cupra has already been put through its paces there by ex-World Touring Car Championship driver Jordi Gené (older brother to F1 driver Marc Gené), and is said to be very fast.

Faster in fact, than the Renaultsport Megane, which currently holds the official front-wheel drive lap record at 8 minutes 8 seconds. We await to see actual proof of this, but it could be bad news for Honda, which has set a new Nurburgring lap record as a development target for its forthcoming Civic Type R.

If all that sounds impressive, the new Cupra’s potency isn’t immediately obvious from the way it looks. We were shown two versions, and the first one could easily be mistaken for a regular Leon on big wheels.

Finished in a greyish white, literally only the wheels, some small chequered flag badges and a pair of fat oval tailpipes obviously gave its hot hatch status away, though the bumpers are different as well. For some it might be far too subtle, but this is a deliberate strategy by SEAT to move away from its slightly ‘boy racer’ image.

Those looking for less subtlety needn’t be too disappointed, though. The second Cupra we were shown featured a ‘colour pack’ comprising orange wheels, orange door mirrors and some orange detailing on the inside. It also had limited edition badging, a mild set of side skirts and a bigger rear spoiler.

Don’t worry – orange is unlikely to be the only colour choice. Expect at least black to feature as well.

Both examples of the new Cupra were five-door hatchback models, but a three-door ‘SC’ version is also confirmed, and is likely to look sportier still. SEAT is placing the emphasis on the five-door because this is the core of the Leon model range; the less powerful FR five-door is the very epitome of the brand, apparently.

There is some internal support for a Cupra version of the Leon ST estate as well, but this is very much unconfirmed at this stage.

The first official details and images of the new SEAT Leon Cupra will be announced on 8 January 2014, and the car will make its public debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show in March. Expect it to reach UK showrooms not long after – we’re keen hot hatch buyers in Britain and will be an important market for the car.

As for the price, that’s actually quite tricky. SEAT is a value-orientated brand as well as a sporty one, but that’s a lot more horsepower than the Golf GTI. So we’d expect similar pricing to the Volkswagen, which currently starts at £26,125. If it turns out to be cheaper, the new Leon Cupra really will be a bargain.
 

By CJ Hubbard, contributor, MSN Cars