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2014 SEAT Leon Cupra Is the Hottest of the Hot Hatches

Like every man, there comes a time in my life when I have to marry, have kids and do all that… family stuff. The nights out with the boys are replaced with trips to Ikea and weekly shopping for things I don't actually need. Clearly, I've sacrificed too much of my manhood to give up in the car department.
2014 SEAT Leon Cupra 19 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Robert Kah
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I want fun, I want something macho and powerful, but I need a big boot as well. That can only mean that it's time to buy a hot hatch. But which one? Well, the A45 AMG and M135i are a no-go, since they cost too much. I also have to avoid the Italian cars since they're not reliable. But what if I could buy something as reliable as a German car and as flamboyant as an Alfa.

This is it, the 2014 SEAT Leon Cupra, a car which genuinely gets me excited, like the thousands of hot hatch fans across Europe who are drooling over it right now. Here's why:

This is the fastest car SEAT has ever built. You can buy it as a 3-door or a 5-door, with 265 hp or 280, manual or automatic. It's superior to many cars in its class, even the Golf GTI it's based on. With a lap of just under 8 minutes, the Spanish car is the fastest production vehicle with front-wheel drive right now.

Yes, the Golf R and Audi S3 are faster, but they are also much more expensive. Even though the Leon Cupra has 45 hp more than a GTI as standard, plus it comes with a limited slip diff, it's about the same price.

However, it's by no means perfect. The interior is a bit more interesting than the GTI, but the materials used are not as good. The body styling is also kind of vague, though considering the standard Leon is so good, it's not surprising that they've changed so very little. We don't like the two oval exhaust pipes, the lack of an aggressive spoiler and diffuser or flared wheel arches. But perhaps it's for the better, in that "this is a sleeper" sort of way.

The hot hatch market is such a competitive place right now, we can't call a clear winner. But if performance is what you're after, you really could do a lot worse than the Leon Cupra.


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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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