I think it was round about March 2014 when SEAT unveiled the Leon Cupra 280 with a track event near Barcelona. Almost three years later, the venue for the Cupra 300 seems the same, not that it bothers us.
It's a very busy month for the VW Group, which is simultaneously launching the Golf, Leon and Octavia facelifts. I've tried to cover all the footage and date from the perspective buyer's point of view, but the Cupra is the closest to my heart, and I can't say that I love the facelift.
Well, the facelift itself isn't bad at all. From the front, the new headlights look like those of the Ateca, and the plastic on the grille looks less cheap. But overall, it's still the same car, unlike with the Golf and especially the Octavia.
The interior is where they've messed up in my opinion. As you can see from the extensive photo gallery below, the Cupra has lost its manual handbrake, which has been replaced by the Golf's e-brake.
That might give you two cupholders, but it also means I will never buy the Cupra 300. Another small negative is that they added carbon fiber leather to the bolsters of the seats where there used to be this very nice light gray that lifted an otherwise black cabin.
On the plus side, the infotainment screen is a peach, and ambient lighting will go down well with the fans.
Added side skirts, adaptive cruise control
Unlike before, when the Cupra had a low-output 265 model and a 280 performance one, there's only the 300 now. However, that doesn't mean all cars are the same.
Upon careful inspection of the photo gallery ( was looking for my wallpaper), some side skirts emerged. These things are very subtle, looking like a pencil cut down its length and glued to the bottom. However, it's never mentioned in the press release.
These are only added to the car when you order one of the Performance Packs, costing from €2,680 in Germany.
Speaking of spending money, SEAT is probably asking more for the Leon Cupra because adaptive cruise control seems to be standard. So every hot hatch will have that little indentation in the lower front grille. Between that and the equally standard DCC chassis, they are throwing science into the hooligan mix.
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. Full profile
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