Cupra Leon Estate

GOODBYE £40,535 OTR/£42,305 as tested/£644pcm WHY IT’S HERE

To expose ‘sports crossovers’ as the silly idea they are. DRIVER

Paul Horrell

OK, LET’S GO BACK AND TRY, AFTER HALF A YEAR’S USE, TO SEE IF

I can answer the question posed at the beginning did it expose ‘sports crossovers’ as a silly idea? Yes Absolutely

Look at the ‘sports crossovers’ at this size and power BMW X €i? Ah It’s ‚€k if you add the options to match the Cupra’s spec† and there’s no delete option for the standard‡fit crashy ride The Mercedes‡AMG GLA€† same issues VW T‡Roc R? Cramped Tiguan R? Lardy

The Leon is an actual car You sit nice and low† and that means the ride† though firm† is basically vertical Crossovers† because they’re extra stiff in roll and because you sit high† have a ride that bothers in all three dimensions bounce† rock† pitch Anyway† once you get it above urban speed† the Cupra’s springs and dampers are well calibrated† serving up a nicely chamfered gait

So it’s a fine long‡distance car The motorway drive assist has been trustworthy too Usual caveat “ assistance not autonomy Four‡wheel drive was handy on slippery B‡roads and roundabouts† which brought out a more playful side to the Cupra’s handling and steering

When a car has dozens of modes and configurations† do you bother switching between them† after the novelty has worn off? In this case mostly no ‘Comfort’ is fine “ actually pretty sporty ‘Sport’ adds noise and a jumpy transmission set‡up ‘Cupra’† boorishly more of each† and rock hard damping But on recreational‡type roads I did use use my configured ‘Individual’ mode† with a bit more damping control than sport† but standard engine parameters† and manual gear shifting

No car is perfect This one drinks a bit too much fuel Its infotainment screen is laggy† unpredictable and prone to blackouts and self‡resets But the Leon’s many virtues got under my skin I’ve had a happy six months with it And was glad at every turn that it wasn’t a crossover