It looks like Seat have been tinkering with their sporty Leons. We’ll start with the bad news and unfortunately the Cupra has been dropped from the range. No, not the stonking 265PS Cupra R – that remains – but the not-so-stonking 240PS Cupra. It’s gone without a trace, but from there on its good news.
The FR model has been accounting for a quarter of all Leon sales, so unsurprisingly Seat have decided to try and make the most of this popular model. They’ve extended the engine range in the hope of making it more attractive to those people who want the sporty styling but don’t want the higher running costs. The new turbocharged engines aren’t very inspiring – a 125PS 1.4-litre petrol and 140PS 2.0-litre diesel – but they at least come with the usual FR trimmings, including twin chrome exhaust pipes, silver-painted door mirrors, LED rear-light clusters and FR sports seats. Prices start at £18,205 for the 125PS petrol model.
While the addition of some lesser engines might not be very exciting, the new FR+ model livens things up. It’s been given a power boost to partially fill the gap left by the Cupra and now uses a Golf GTI-rivalling 211PS 2.0-litre turbo engine. For those people obsessed with CO2 figures there’s also the choice of a 170PS diesel.
The FR+ model benefits from new 18-inch ‘Ibera’ alloy wheels, combined sat-nav and multimedia touch-screen system, DAB radio, bluetooth and bi-xenon hedlights with one of those clever adaptive systems that follow the steering wheel to light up corners. All together that extra kit would usually cost over £2,400 pounds and yet Seat are adding just £1,070 to the price, making the petrol FR+ yours for £21,600. Not bad value at all.
Meanwhile, at the top of the range the Cupra R has been given a revamp to make it more appealing. While the 265PS engine remains it does get the same extras as the FR+, namely the multimedia system, Bluetooth, fancy xenons and rear LED light clusters. The only difference is that on the Cupra R Seat have dropped the price by £10, making it yours for £25,995.
It’s no coincidence that the shakeup in the Leon range comes just ahead of September’s new ’61’ plates, and the new models are available to order now.
