Old Leon Cupra R and Golf 6 R Put to the Test by Tiff Needell

This show came out on August 5th, 2010, so almost exactly seven years ago. The hot hatch market was still exciting as ever: the Lancer was still around, the Renault followed the R26.R with a brand new RS 250 model we all know and love, etc.

But it's worth pointing out that Volkswagen Group performance models weren't as sharp as they are now. The Leon Cupra had built a reputation for dull steering and dark interior finish. As for the Golf, the GTI was the one to have because the R's all-wheel drive had only limited advantages.

Of course, the Golf 6 R has withstood the test of time much better than the Leon Cupra. You see a lot of well taken care of examples that are lavished with expensive wheels and vinyl wraps. Also, you can find mint condition models for around €25,000, which is an insane amount of money for a car this old.

In the words of Sir Tiff, neither of them is a fantastic track car. Despite the AWD, the Golf understeers into corners. Of course, that only tells you what kind of track cars they are, and not every hot hatchback buyer is concerned with such a thing. However, at least the Golf R has the bragging rights, finishing the race 8/10 of a seconds ahead.

The fact that the Leon Cupra R is described as having almost the same power, being lighter and GBP 5,000 cheaper reminds us of a more modern race between these two. Back in 2014, Steve Sutcliffe took to the Cadwell Park circuit in the MQB versions. This time around, the Cupra 280 proved to be an almost perfect match for the Volkswagen.