SEAT Leon Cupra

Not just because it took my mind off my forthcoming race debut (to be shared with the equally apprehensive Mr Tomalin), but because, fun though our Zed is, the novelty of squeezing into it, Dukes of Hazzard-style, through the high-sided roll-cage soon wears off. Far easier to just fall into the Cupra’s bucket-like seats and enjoy a few creature comforts. Like sun visors. And door handles.

But even after the racer, the Leon doesn’t feel soft. As I mentioned last month, the Cupra’s suspension is rather on the firm side. When you’re driving, it just adds to the fun, but when you’re a passenger… Well, let’s just say that even Mrs Ev has declared the ride ‘uncomfortable’. Damning stuff from someone who drives an original Mini every day, but she has a point – the Cupra may appear to offer an ideal fun/practicality compromise, but if you’re eyeing one up for that very reason, you might want to consider the discomfort threshold of those who will travel with you regularly.

Another thing KR07 has in common with the race car is a full complement of creaks and rattles. Not from a roll- cage fighting chassis-flex and a loose stone rattling across a bare metal floor, but from the instrument binnacle, from somewhere undetermined in the rear and from (I think) the exhaust occasionally drumming against the car’s underbody. Is the suspension causing the Cupra to shake itself apart, I wonder?

And the irritations don’t stop there. The brakes often squawk loudly when applied while reversing, and the nearside front foglamp has suffered from a layer of condensation since the car arrived. Little things, but not what you’d want if you’d just spent £20K of your own hard-earned.

But I’m not having a complete downer on the Cupra. Far from it, in fact. I’m enjoying it an awful lot, particularly on the right road, when your attention is drawn away from the minor niggles and on to the car’s impressive ability to ‘make progress’.

The Cupra sports the most powerful version of VAG’s ubiquitous TFSI 2-litre to date, and now ours is run-in it feels good for every one of its claimed 237bhp. The engine spins freely up the rev range, placing no real demand on the driver to work the gears to stay in a ‘sweet spot’, a result, no doubt, of the 221lb ft maximum torque being available all the way from 2200 to 5500rpm.

Even more impressive is the Cupra’s ability to harness the engine’s ample outputs with very little in the way of torque steer and, thanks to the sticky P Zero rubber, little need for the traction control to get involved. It all makes for effortless rapid progress. Just what you need after a weekend in a race car.

Car Reviews: Long Term Tests

After spending the weekend in evo’s 350Z race car, it was something of a relief to get back into the SEAT's driving seat

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