New Cupra Leon review

The Cupra Leon we're reviewing here is a fast car with a twist – and not just because it's available as a hatchback or an estate.

You see, as well as being available with a turbo-boosted petrol engine that thumps out masses of power, the Cupra Leon also comes in two super-quick plug-in hybrid versions that emit nothing from their exhaust pipes when running on battery power alone.

Better still, a 2024 facelift has taken the Cupra Leon from a very close counterpart of the Seat Leon to a standalone Cupra car model. Indeed, while it still shares the Seat's underpinnings, it has very different styling and more powerful engine options.

As a hot hatch that's also available as a hot estate, the Cupra Leon's main rival is the Ford Focus ST (which is available as a hatchback or estate car). More powerful versions in hatchback form will be up against the BMW M135 and VW Golf GTI. 

So is the Cupra Leon up there with the best hot hatches and should you buy one? Read on to find out...

The driving experience in the Cupra Leon varies quite a lot depending on the version, but we'll start with the entry-level 1.5 TSI 150.

If you treat it as a mildly sporty family car its performance is fine, but the 148bhp power output isn’t exactly scintillating in the world of hot hatches. If you're not bothered about racy looks, consider the near-identical Seat Leon FR with the same engine, which costs less.

The Cupra Leon is best sampled with an engine you can’t get in the Seat model – especially the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine in the 300 hatchback. It produces 296bhp and can sprint from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds, which is not quite as quick as a Ford Focus ST but is still pretty brisk.

You don’t need to work the engine hard to unlock its potential and it’s ready to leapfrog slow traffic at a moment's notice, with only a tiny hesitation from the automatic gearbox.

There’s no mistaking that this is a quick car, but there is one issue: all the power is fed straight to the front wheels. In wet conditions, that can really limit how quickly you can accelerate and makes it less usable than the Focus ST. 

The 300 isn’t even the fastest version of the Seat Leon. Oh no, you can have the estate car version with a 328bhp 2.0 petrol engine, which is also available for the Cupra Formentor SUV. Like the Formentor, the 333 has 4Drive (four-wheel drive) as standard, and its extra traction helps make it easily one of the quickest-accelerating load-luggers for the money.

The 1.5 TSI e-Hybrid engines, available with 201bhp and 268bhp with the estate, or 268bhp with the hatchback, are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

They’re a very different proposition and can officially take you around 60 miles using battery power alone. Having an electric motor to add low-end thrust to the petrol engine is good news for flexibility, although the PHEVs are still nowhere near as punchy as the 300 and 333.

Indeed, while the 268bhp PHEV can cover 0-62mph in 7.1 seconds, it’s still miles off the pace of the best hot hatches at this price and you only have access to all the performance available if there’s enough charge in the battery.

The PHEV battery  adds weight, and that rather dampens any thrills in the bends. Plus, once the battery is out of charge, you’re left with just the petrol engine lugging all that mass around.

The issue of weight also taints the driving experience offered by the 333 estate car. It weighs more than the 300 hatchback and never feels as eager to make quick changes of direction. The margins here are smaller though, and the extra traction the estate has courtesy of 4Drive does help it feel more composed and planted on greasy roads.

Ultimately, the 333 estate gets our vote as the best to drive relative to its closest peer, the estate version of the Focus ST. The four-wheel-drive system helps neutralise the power delivery, so there's less torque steer (when the steering wheel pulls left then right in your hands as you accelerate hard).

All the Leon Cupras we’ve driven have had adaptive suspension, which comes as standard on all but the entry-level trim. It offers three main settings (Comfort, Sport and Cupra) plus a number of settings beyond and between those three, so you can really fine-tune things.

The trouble is that, while you can make these Leons very compliant over softer folds in the road, anything sharp creates more of a thwack than it would in a VW Golf GTI with a similar adaptive suspension set-up. Entry level V1 trim comes with a simpler suspension set-up we’ve yet to try.

Road and wind noise aren’t frightful for a fast car with big tyres, and the PHEVs' petrol engines stay silent when running in electric mode – although that's not necessarily what hot hatch buyers want.

We’re not sure about the noise the petrol engine makes when it's running either. It’s a bit bland in the standard driving mode, but instantly erupts into imitating something more like a bigger V8 engine if you select Cupra mode. That sounds exciting and adds something to the experience, but it’s very obviously fake.  

The e-Hybrid versions' brakes aren’t hugely confidence inspiring because the regenerative braking system means the brake pedal’s feel changes depending on whether it's recouping energy. They’re good for an ordinary PHEV but not by the standards of hot hatches.

Happily, the brakes fitted to the 333 estate are much more confidence-inspiring, and with optional larger alloy wheels and Brembo or Akebono brakes, you’ll get an appreciable improvement in bite in the pedal’s initial travel.

The Cupra Leon’s driving position is excellent, with pedals that line up neatly with the steering wheel and driver’s seat, which is comfy on long journeys and supportive through corners.

The digital instruments behind the steering wheel are great and can be set up in a number of styles. However, the Leon doesn’t have proper buttons and switches on its dashboard – instead it has touch-sensitive pads, like the VW Golf GTI. You can’t find the pads by feel so you have to look away from the road, and that’s distracting at 30mph, let alone 70mph.

The Cupra Leon has reasonably slim windscreen pillars so forward visibility is fine but its chunky rear pillars can make reversing trickier than in some rivals. Front and rear parking sensors are standard though, and stepping up to V2 trim or above adds a rear-view camera. LED headlights are standard too, with an automatic main-beam features to avoid dazzling other road users.

The infotainment system includes a 12.9in touchscreen, DAB radio, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. The screen is bright and clear, and the operating system it runs is responsive, although it takes a good 20 minutes of playing with the menus to grasp their slightly odd arrangement.

You also get a natural voice control function. You wake it up by saying “Hola, Hola”, and then a phrase like “I’m cold” (to ask it to turn up the heater). It doesn’t always work perfectly though.

The Cupra Leon has a plusher-looking interior than the Ford Focus ST. You’ll find squidgy, dense-feeling plastic on the top of the dashboard and lots of Cupra flourishes dotted about inside. It doesn’t look or feel as posh inside as a BMW M135 but it’s pretty much as good as the Golf GTI.

There’s absolutely loads of head room in the front of the Cupra Leon and its seats slide back a long way too. In fact we can confidently say that no matter how tall you are (within reason) you’ll fit just fine. And you’ll find an array of storage spots for all your accessories too.

If you’re thinking the Cupra Leon is bound to be a less practical choice than a VW Golf GTI you’re in for a surprise. It’s actually longer than the Golf and has quite a lot more rear leg room as a result – as much as the Ford Focus ST in fact. That means two tall adults fit in the back with no problem, or three with a degree of shoulder-rubbing.

With the hatchback's rear seats in place, the boot takes up to six carry-on suitcases (below the parcel shelf), which is more than you’ll fit in a Focus ST hatchback or Golf GTI. The boot volume is 380 litres in most Cupra Leon hatchbacks, but the plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) get 270 litres because the hybrid kit steals some space.

There’s a ski hatch for poking long, thin loads through, and the rear seat backs split 60/40 and fold down for when you’ve got something larger to transport.

As you might expect, the Cupra Leon estate car brings even greater practicality, giving you 620 litres of boot space to play with. Again, going for a PHEV reduces boot space, as does having four-wheel drive.

There are not that many hot hatches left to choose from these days, and while an entry-level Cupra Leon 1.5 V1 isn’t the most entertaining option, it does at least look sportier than most hatchbacks while remaining affordable to buy and fuel.

The hotter 300 hatchback costs more than the Ford Focus ST and about the same as the Focus ST Edition. Similarly, the VZ1 333 estate – our favourite version – is more expensive than a Focus ST Estate, although it is a much faster car with four-wheel drive so that's hardly surprising. You can check for the best current prices using our new Cupra deals page. 

Aside from the 1.5-litre petrol, none of the regular petrol-engined models will be particularly cheap to run but they should still be competitive against models with similar performance.

If you’re a company car user, the e-Hybrid (plug-in hybrids) makes good hot hatch or estate choices when it comes to BIK tax thanks to their ability to drive on electric power alone with lower official CO2 emissions figures.

In terms of trim levels, even the base Cupra Leon V1 comes with plenty of kit, including 18in alloy wheels, three-zone climate control, rear privacy glass, a heated steering wheel and touchscreen infotainment. 

Stepping up to V2 and V3 adds 19in wheels, electrically-adjustable bucket seats, keyless start and entry, and adaptive suspension.

The VZ trims (again badged 1,2 and 3) add even more kit and are the ones you’ll need if you want the most powerful engines. They get even bucket seats and add matrix LED headlights.

As for safety, all versions offer automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keeping assistance, with adaptive cruise control and traffic-sign recognition offered as reasonably priced extras. Euro NCAP awarded the Cupra Leon a five-star rating in 2020, based on the results for the Seat Leon.

Cupra as a brand finished bottom of the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey – below all 31 other manufacturers included. The Seat Leon equivalent was one of the least dependable family cars due to a high number of non-engine electrical glitches and problems with the infotainment system.

To give you some peace of mind, a five-year/90,000 mile warranty is better than the three-year/60,000-mile warranty you’ll get with the Ford Focus ST.

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