Cupra Leon review

It’s all very familiar inside the Cupra Leon – not just if you’ve been in a Seat Leon, but if you happen to have stopped by the inside of a Volkswagen Golf lately. The layout and controls are all fairly familiar.

It’s still a tarted-up Seat though, right?

Most of what you’re looking at is obvious from the Seat version of the Leon – pretty much the same dashboard and layout, same digital dial display and same touchscreen. 

There’s good news for the latter though, because the Leon is now running the updated 12.9-inch VW Group screen which is much improved. It’s more responsive to your inputs, less laggy when loading, features a few permanent climate controls along the bottom and gets illuminated touch-sensitive sliders underneath. Hurrah for common sense!

Thankfully the Leon also gets proper physical buttons on the steering wheel, and you’ll note some additional Cupra buttons on there too: an engine starter and a Cupra logo that switches between the car’s various driving modes. Best not to get them confused just as you’re about to join a motorway, or plunge onto a busy roundabout.

What’s it like to sit in?

Well, we’re not here to spend your money for you, but let us just point out that the new CUP Bucket seats in the top-spec VZ3 trim are completely excellent. They’re comfortable, supportive and allow you to slide nice and low in the car. 

The cabin plastics are fine, general build quality is very good, and there are enough bronze highlights to lift the dour ambience.

In the back, the Leon puts its longer-than-a-Golf wheelbase to good use by being roomier than the VW. The boot’s a decent enough size in the pure petrol (380 litres), though the PHEV (270 litres) loses a considerable amount due to underfloor stowage being sacrificed for the battery pack.

The estate meanwhile gets 620 litres as a petrol, and 470 litres as a plug-in hybrid.