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• Being fast, practical and affordable, the SEAT Leon ST Cupra certainly meets the criteria required to be considered as an everyday family car. The 587-litre boot will swallow everything a growing family can throw at it.
• As its a Leon you also get all of the creature comforts and excellent build quality you’d find in the rest of the range. Robust and hard wearing plastics as well as plush leather and Alcantara trim the cabin.
• Performance is a highlight. The 276bhp engine has a wide spread of torque helping to pull you out of slower corners even if you find yourself one gear too high.
• Adjustable dampers come as standard offering Normal, Sport and Full-fat Cupra modes. Cupra stiffens the car up, sharpens throttle response and gives greater agility to the car.
• On the flip side, set the car to normal and the ST Cupra is just as happy plodding along an A-road as any other model on the Leon range.
• The steering is light but precise and even on 18-inch alloy wheels the Leon rides with ease and compliancy
• You can also make your ST Cupra the ultimate family car by speccing SEAT’s Sub8 Performance Pack (£2,055) which adds larger brakes, bigger 19-inch alloy wheels and sporty exterior trim.
• Considering the sports car performance and a 0-62mph time of 6.1 seconds, it’s also rather frugal retuning 42.4mpg while emitting 157g/km of CO2.
• Those figures attract a BIK rating of 24% with the 20 and 40% taxpayer paying £1,357 and £2,714 per annum respectively.
• Rivals such as the Skoda Octavia VRs estate and new Ford Focus Estate may be cheaper but they have less power, less standard equipment and don’t come with the front differential which makes the SEAT a class leader when it comes to driving dynamics.