New Seat Leon Cupra an appealing version of the beast

The Seat Leon Cupra has always been a car which was warmly welcomed in our driveway, but the latest version, which will arrive here in January, looks like an especially appealing version of the beast.

Now with an output of 290 bhp, the new car will come with optional DSG transmission and boasts performance figures which show it topping the 100kph mark from a standstill in just 5.7 seconds (5.8sec with the manual gearbox) while top speed is limited to 250kph.

Maximum torque of 350 Nm is now available across an even broader rev range — from 1,700rpm to 5,800rpm — but is also fairly miserly on juice too with a figure of just 6.6 litres with DSG and 6.7 litres with the Leon SC manual gearbox. This equates to CO2 figures of just 149 and 156 grams (Leon SC).