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 or an Audi A3 lately. The layout and controls are recognisable across the Volkswagen Group.

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 – same dashboard, same touchscreen, same misguided touch-sensitive climate controls. On the steering wheel you’ll note new buttons: an engine starter and a Cupra logo which 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.

Annoyingly on the PHEV version you have to visit a touchscreen sub-menu to toggle when you want the battery charge to be saved up, but the minimalist cabin causes problems across the board. Want to adjust the heated seats? Touchscreen sub-menu. Climate controls? Touchscreen sub-menu. Pretty much everything is controlled in there, unless you want to shout “Hola hola” at the voice assistant, like you’re in a lost episode of Fawlty Towers.

What's it like to sit in?

The Cupra seats are fantastic: handsome, supportive and comfy, although they’re not mounted very low – it barely feels lower than the Formentor crossover, in here. 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, and the boot’s even a decent size in the PHEV despite underfloor stowage being sacrificed for the battery pack.