SEAT Leon Cupra

I wasn’t particularly keen to drive anything the day after the 13-hour trek back home from eCoty in central France, but an empty fridge meant I had little choice but to grab the keys to the SEAT and head for the nearest supermarket.

I wasn’t sure how the Cupra would feel after five days spent driving the very best cars of the last 12 months, but the answer came just ten minutes later when I found myself unable to resist turning off my intended route and onto a favourite local B-road.

Over the hour that followed, I had one of my best drives in the Leon yet. When it comes to cars that give you the confidence to really take on a challenging road, the Cupra must be up there with the best of them. Sure, it lacks that mid-corner playfulness some crave, but it counters with big grip and unshakeable composure, while the supportive, low-set driver’s seat puts you right there at the heart of the action. Then there’s the effortless acceleration, the steering uncorrupted by torque-steer, the powerful brakes… It may fall just short of being an eCoty contender, but I’m convinced the Cupra is one of our fleet’s best-kept secrets.

Shame, then, that KR07 also blotted its copybook slightly this month when, during the far more mundane journey over to Pembrey, South Wales, for the Dunlop Sport Maxx race you can read about next month, the engine warning light blinked into life. As nothing felt amiss, and I knew it wasn’t something silly like a low oil level, I decided to press on, putting the engine under as little stress as possible just in case it was contemplating switching to limp-home mode.

Thankfully that didn’t happen. I made it to Pembrey all right, and all the way back too. But the light stayed on, so I made an appointment with SEAT Northampton to get the problem investigated. Then, the day before the car was due to go in, the light went out. So I cancelled the booking. And a couple of hundred miles later the light came back. Then it went away again. Weird.

Perhaps it was just a blip. A bad tank of fuel, maybe. As there’s still no sign of anything obviously wrong, I think I’ll hold out till the first service (due shortly, at 10,000 miles) before getting the problem looked at. Until then I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the light stays out. I don’t want it making me feel guilty when I take the long route to Tesco.

Car Reviews: Long Term Tests

The Cupra's at home on B-roads, and only a temperamental warning light blotted its copybook

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