Seat Leon Cup Racer - Auto express

SEAT has always emphasised the sportiness of the brand by creating racey track versions of the Leon. And this is the latest, the new Leon Cup Racer. Based on the forthcoming cupra Leon road car, this car's body is 40cm wider, which means all this radical aero and the extra width allows this car to comply with the forthcoming World Touring car regulations. But that isn't what this car's about, this car's powered by a 2.0-litre TFSi engine with 330ps and it's designed for customer motor sport. But, it looks pretty radical. But if you think that's bold, you should see what it looks like inside. So once you've squeezed yourself in here there's not much you'd recognise from the standard Leon and obviously you've got the full seam wielded safety cage, a racing seat and a very sort of low slung seating position, level with the pillar here for safety. There's two versions of this car, the car that's going to be used in challenge races will have a paddle shift gearbox with DSG whereas this car is a prototype for the endurance version which is this six-speeds sequential touring car-style gearbox. Here on the wheel there's a load of controls which will allow you to adjust the differential, things like the radio and the pit lane speed limiter. And one other new feature for this car which is fantastic is this new TFTracing screen which includes a telemetry system which is matched to a camera system for driver analysis. very planted and hardly any body roll. It's not power steering but there's plenty of feel through the steering. Onto the back straight, fifth gear, sixth gear, absolutely flat out. That's about 190KMPH. Hard onto the brakes, down through the gears, fifth, fourth, third. is just amazing. It does feel every bit like a junior touring car. The Leon Cup Racer is spectacular to look at and great to drive. If SEAT do decide to come back to the World Touring Car championship at any time in the future they've got a readymade contender. All they need to do is change the engine. But for now, you're likely to see this car racing in challenges across Europe and taking part in endurance races.