Hot Spanish hatch
David Linklater gets a first taste of Seat’s Leon Cupra.
Seat’s Cupra is a hoot and a fun, fun drive.
There’s now a little taste of Spain in the New Zealand new-car market. Seat is yet another division of the Volkswagen Group.
Long-established in Europe (and part of VW since 1986), it’s been launched in New Zealand in a two-model range: the Leon hatchback and the Ateca mediumSUV.
To buy one you’ll have to either live in Auckland or be a massive Seat fan.
The sole dealership is currently under construction in the city suburb of Newmarket, although the brand would prefer you not to call it that: it’s a ‘‘store’’, with Seat ‘‘experience’’ experts on hand who won’t actually be selling the cars. But there will be people who can do that, too...
Outside the Auckland store, there will be Seat service points in Wellington and Christchurch.
There’s no plan for VW Group dealers outside Auckland to handle sales enquiries at this stage; potential customers will be directed to Seat head office in Auckland.
Could a VW or Skoda dealer service your Seat? Yes, but only the basics.
After all, it’s all VW Group stuff underneath.
But any faults would still have to be diagnosed through the Seat service points at one of those three centres.
Leon has arrived in hot-hatch Cupra (that’s for ‘‘cup racer’’) form to begin with, at $56,900 for the 2.0-litre, 221kW model with sixspeed dual-clutch transmission (DSG) or $54,500 for the six-speed manual – the latter on specialorder-only as it’s finishing production soon.
In either form, it’s basically Golf R power at a Golf GTi price – although unlike the R, the Cupra is front-drive only.
In March 2018 we’ll also see a much more mainstream Leon FR, with a 110kW 1.4-litre engine, seven-speed DSG and a pricetag of $35,990.
The Ateca SUV we’ve covered before. But to recap, it comes in 110kW 1.4 FWD (Style or Xcellence)) and 140kW 4WD 2.0 turbo-petrol (FR) guises, or as a 140kW turbo-diesel (Xcellence).
The diesel is here now, the petrols will follow before the end of the year.
But the lineup is set to expand. In November we’ll see the Ibiza supermini, an all-new model based on the next-generation VW Polo platform.
It’ll be powered by a 1.0-litre 85kW engine and seven-speed DSG transmission, priced at $25,900 for the single Style specification level.
In March next year we’ll see Seat’s baby-SUV, the Arona, with same 1.0-litre powertrain but in both Style and FR trim levels. Pricing is yet to be announced.
Further along, in April 2019, there will be a seven-seat SUV – essentially Seat’s version of the Skoda Kodiaq.
There are no firm details for now and not even a name. In fact, the factory is currently running a global online competition to choose the badge for the new vehicle.
More than 120,000 people so far have cast their votes between four choices: Alboran, Aranda, Avila and Tarraco.
We don’t fancy the chances of the non-A option but feel free to have your say.
For now, we’ve had an introductory drive of the Leon in all three forms: the Cupra in both DSG and sure-to-be-rare manual guises, as well as a long-lead example of the FR that’s not due here until next year.
The Cupra is a hoot.
It pushes a lot of power through the front wheels, but stayed impressively composed on damp roads during our preview drive.
With the DSG it snaps and crackles during gearshifts and the chassis lives up to Seat’s sporting ethos: Cupra comes as standard with Dynamic Chassis Control, which allows you to choose between Comfort, Sport and hardcore ‘‘Cupra’’ settings.
It’s definitely the enthusiasts’ choice against a Golf GTi: much more powerful, more aggressive on the road and arguably cooler. You could also make a case for it being more engaging than the Golf R, despite being $16k cheaper; it’s not the premium product the Golf is and you don’t have the traction of 4WD, but the Cupra gives you a pure hot-hatch experience.
The Cupra manual ‘box can’t match the DSG for sheer speed or day-to-day driveability, but the select few who choose it are in for a treat. It’s a great gearbox and adds an extra element of enthusiast appeal.
The Cupra comes as standard with 19-inch alloys, LED headlights, keyless entry/start, Alcantara upholstery and heated front seats.
The Leon FR is a surprise-anddelight machine in a different way. It’s not as posh-feeling as a Golf (which costs $4k more with the same 110kW engine), but we’d say it has the measure of its German cousin in terms of ride and handling.
It seems more responsive and better-controlled on winding Kiwi roads (it sits on the factory’s sports suspension as standard for NZ). Still looks great, too.
Also standard on the Leon FR are 17-inch alloys, rearview camera, a drive-select system (but with Dynamic instead of Cupra for the sportiest setting), autonomous braking and an eight-inch touchscreen with phone projection.
There’s a Kiwi Seat finance programme aimed at alleviating potential concern and buying into a new brand.
It’s called Seat Options and is the equivalent of the Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) scheme that dominates car-buying in Great Britain.
Options is a standard 36-month credit agreement with pre-agreed mileage and a guaranteed future value, which aims to remove any concern over residual value.
At the end of the Options contract, owners can either trade in on a new car, return it or refinance/pay off what is still owing and keep it.
Seat is also offering fixed-price service and maintenance contracts.
One thing Seat is free from in NZ is the used-import influence.
There are fewer than 150 of the brand’s cars currently on the road here, the majority more than a decade old – a legacy of a batch of 120 new Cordobas brought in and sold between 2000 and 2001.
Grey imports may indeed come once the brand is more familiar to Kiwis, but they won’t be from Japan.
While Seat is sold in over 70 countries, there are precious few RHD ones: just the United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore.