Take one to a trackday and you won’t be embarrassed

I’d already noticed that the SEAT isn’t exactly lacking in the brake department, but when I caught its big front discs glinting at me across a dark car park recently I thought I’d better find out exactly how they measure up. Turns out they’re a whopping 345mm in diameter – up 33mm on the Leon FR’s and bigger than those on any of the Cupra’s rivals. In fact, if you ignore the supercars, even on our Fast Fleet only the M3 and S5 are better endowed. And no, I haven’t forgotten Harry’s new Maserati…

Small wonder, then, that KR07’s brakes showed no sign of wilting when I tried it at the Bedford Autodrome this month. I suppose the Leon’s ‘overboost’ braking feature – which keeps the pedal feeling consistent when things get hot – may have disguised the truth, but as there was no grumbling from down below I suspect it didn’t even come into play.

Whatever, it was good to find that the middle pedal, which can seem over-assisted on the road, felt spot-on with the heavier braking required on track, making heel-and-toeing second nature. Left-foot braking, however, was another matter, as I discovered when I installed our tame rally driver, Henry Catchpole, in the driver’s seat. Try some really fancy footwork and the Cupra gets confused, cutting the power and ruining your lap time. Which was a shame, as shaving that last five per cent off a lap was exactly why I’d asked Henry to have a go. You see, the Cupra had somehow managed to escape being timed around the West Circuit and I wanted to see how it would compare.

Keeping his feet on the ‘correct’ pedals, Henry soon had a 1:33.5 on the VBOX’s display – a fraction quicker than the mk5 Golf and Focus ST, a touch slower than the Astra VXR and Mégane Trophy. Keeping the right company in terms of pace, then, but how did it feel?

‘It’s not very adjustable,’ reckoned Henry, ‘but it is quick, even if it almost doesn’t feel it.’

And that just about sums up the Cupra on a circuit. Take one to a trackday and you won’t be embarrassed – it’s no slouch and you can work it hard without feeling like you’re balancing on a knife-edge. It’s on your side. Whether you see that as a good thing or not depends on how lairy you like your trackday action, but it didn’t stop me hopping back in the driving seat for a few more laps.