2005 Seat Leon Cupra R
Most in North America have never heard of Seat, outside of the normal connotation of a shelf for one's derriere, but Europeans know Seat as a long-established Spanish automaker, a relatively recent subsidiary of Volkswagen-Audi. The combination of Iberian soul with German engineering has resulted in a delectable line of cars crescendoeing in the truly desirable Seat Leon Cupra R--basically a Volkswagen GTI remixed to a slight but distinct Spanish backbeat.
The Leon is based on the VW Golf, with some of the technical flair of the GTI and its pumped-up, all-wheel-drive siblings--the Audi S3 and the Volkswagen R32. But unlike the slick, sophisticated Germans, the Seat isn't afraid to polarize. The styling is aggressive and attractive in an unconventional way; it's one of those designs that isn't elegant but continues to draw the eye, if for no other reason than to help the viewer decide if it's attractive or offensive.
Oh, and it's a four-door hatchback--a fact that lights me up like a Christmas tree. Four-door hatchbacks have a visual character totally unlike a station wagon, and there is a criminal paucity of hot four-door hatchbacks in the United States.
With a 225-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder and a nicely balanced chassis, the Cupra isn't a fire-breathing pseudo-supercar like a Mitsubishi Evo or Subaru WRX STi. At just under 7 seconds to 60 and with a 150-mph top speed, the Cupra R is fast but just can't keep up with a well-driven Evo. Instead, it's a hot hatch in the classic mold--fast, practical, and a sweet handler. It might not be the fastest car at track days, but it's fast enough to be fun.
Mix the Seat nameplate with with the German mechanicals and you end up with a main dish of German bratwurst with spicy Spanish tapas on the side. Ole! The newer-generation Leon Cupra is even quicker, but the first-generation's chunky lines hit just the right balance.
I doubt the Cupra R could have been a top seller in the U.S.--even if Americans eventually wrapped their minds around the Seat name--but I sure wish it had been part of the performance car mix here.
--Chris H.
Mochi Mochi on July 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM
Nice work Chris. This is a surprise and a tasty morsel. Spain is largely overlooked as a force in automotive design. This is lovely. Hatches are great, 4Dr hatches are really interesting. Looks really nice in yellow too. My criticism would be poor rear vision. That was the case in the Porsche 917, but as they say, it really didn't matter.
Brian on July 26, 2008 at 01:49 AM
Cool! Never heard of it until now. Looks like its available in a wide variety of options, and is mainly derived from the VW parts bin. It's a good bin. I'd go for the 4-door, 4-wheel drive turbo version.
Cookie the on July 26, 2008 at 05:12 AM
I have a 4-door GTI, so I think I have a good idea how a Cupra R drives. It drives just fine, and the rear vision is better than you'd think.
I actually like the hood and grille on the Cupra better than the pseudo-Audi look on the GTI.
David Drucker on July 26, 2008 at 05:48 AM
Yeah, it's kind of cute, but as a station wagon fan I can't work up a tingle about any four-door hatchback. That configuration burdens you with the station wagon's worst attributes -- noise and (relative) structural weakness due to the missing rear bulkhead -- without the payback of lots of cargo space. Yeah, I know: fold down the rear seats and the cargo space is real good. But if I wanted a two-passenger wagon I'd find a Volvo P1800.
David Colborne on July 26, 2008 at 01:10 PM
Interesting little car. Looks a lot better up front than on the rear - the taillights look like they were lifted off a Kia or something. Past that, though, I'd drive it.
sillypickle on July 28, 2008 at 03:34 PM
Neat little car, in the way that almost all little cars that you only see in Europe are. Every trip to Europe I take makes me wish I lived there, for nothing more than the vehicular delights that await around every corner, in every (tiny!) back alley, on two or four wheels. Bring on expensive gas, I say! Maybe then we'll see more creative small cars from more manufacturers here in the States.
on August 05, 2008 at 02:07 PM
The León (SEAT names their cars after cities from Spain, hence the acute accent denoting the stress on the vowel) is the car of choice for the racers over here, so if you drive one you are instantly perceived as such, not a good thing. Nevertheless, the León is extremely popular in Spain, mainly the TDI Diesel powered models… which sucks cause they rattle and sound disgusting, like any TDI anyway no matter what marketing droids want you to believe.
Just to clarify, the León is what over here we call a 5 door hatchback, the four door was the SEAT Toledo which was a León with an a$$ so to speak. The current Toledo is a DISGRACE and a total failure; it shows all that is wrong with SEAT, a maker 'labeled' by the VW guys like their sporty brand… whith a range full of minivans LOL, they wanted to 'sell' it like an Alfa with the silly 'autopasión' branding motto but you can't fool all the people all the time.
You better pray to Alfa landing in the USA, imagine the upcoming MiTo GTA with 230HP… now that's a neat little car. Nice blog btw.
Ruaim on August 25, 2008 at 03:40 AM
Why showcase the old model when there has been a new Leon on the market for 3 years?
Chris Hafner on August 25, 2008 at 09:57 AM
Ruaim: "Why showcase the old model when there has been a new Leon on the market for 3 years?"
Because this isn't a new-car blog - this is actually one of the newer cars featured here. No, this is a blog about cars that we find interesting. I like the older Leon, and I don't like the newer Leon, so I featured the older one.
Andres Alvarez on December 07, 2008 at 04:32 AM
You can buy one in Mexico the Seat Leon Cupra R is fast, and is very popular with young people, I think it would be good idea to buy one in Tijuana or Mexicali and bring it here with a permit, just finding a mechanic that knows how to fix Audis and Volkswagen because most of the engine parts are either Audi or Volkswagen.