The SEAT Leon Cupra has received more changes than any other hot hatch. In 2015, it joined the hot wagon market, and a year later it got the 290 update with a better exhaust system. But 2017 brings more drastic changes: the first AWD system in Cupra history.
It's only available on the ST estate version, and we already discussed how that brings the price up to €40,000. So, is it worth it, and what are the best options to buy?
To answer those questions, we watched an hour-long review from Autogefuhl... yes, the whole thing. Thomas has reviewed all the previous versions of the Cupra and got to spend time with the new 300 both on the road and at the track.
He briefly covers the SC coupe and regular 5-door. But for the most part, it's the differences between AWD and FWD on the estate that get his attention.
Some interesting insight comes from Jordi Gené, the very man who set the Nurburgring track record in a Cupra... twice. He says that he'd pick the manual FWD version every time because it's lighter and that gives him better acceleration above 100 km/h (62 mph_, where the sticky rubber and front diff do all the work.
However, he agrees that for an everyday car, DSG is more comfortable and AWD harmonic acceleration. SEAT's numbers suggest the Cupra 300 AWD is 0.7 seconds faster to 100 km/h than a regular version. That suggests the Cupra is wasting about a SEAT Mii's worth of power off the line.
SEAT calls its AWD "4Drive," and it's the same Haldex clutch-based system as in the Golf R. That means you can't provoke it into fun powerslides like you can the Ford Focus RS. Its role is to pick up some of the torque when the front wheels are being overloaded. So you can hit the gas in the middle of a corner without getting understeer. Also, since it's off for most of the time, the AWD won't increase fuel consumption that much.
For me, the most interesting bits of this review are on the consumer advice side of things. For example, the best seats to get are the base ones without the integrated headrests, which cost extra and are harder to get into. Likewise, if you order the Orange Pack, do it without the Michelin Cup Sport 2 tires because they don't work in the wet.
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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