Is The 2016 Seat Leon Cupra 290 A Honda Civic Type R Slayer ?
By Paulo Acoba
Seat has unveiled its 2016 Seat Leon Cupra 290
Although we won’t ever get this variant of Volkswagen’s MQB platform here in the United States it’s still definitely worth reporting on. According to our motoring friends over at World Car Fans on their post earlier today (Sept. 7, 2015) it looks like Seat has unveiled its next Nurburgring fighter in the form of a more powerful Seat Leon Cupra. Before the Honda Civic Type R snatched the FWD Nurburgring crown from the clutches of the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R, Seat’s Leon Cupra 280 had lapped the Green hell in a record breaking time. Then Renault stripped four seconds off that time and Honda took another four seconds off the Renault’s time. Now Seat has come back with a hotter hatch, but it is enough to dethrone the FWD king?
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Powering the Seat Leon Cupra 290 is a powered by a 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder good for 286 HP (290 ps) and 258 lb-ft with all that lovely torque available from 1,700 rpm to 5,800 rpm. Paired to a six-speed manual, the Leon Cupra 290 will sprint to 60 MPH in 5.8 seconds, but if you pair the DSG to it, you can knock a tenth of a second off that sprint time. Top speed is limited at 155 MPH. Underneath, the Seat Leon Cupra 290 gains a sportier exhaust system, a front axle differential lock, dynamic chassis control and full LED lighting (headlights, taillights, and ambient lighting.)
In comparison, the mighty Civic Type R makes 306 HP and 295 lb-ft with a similar 0-60 time but a higher top speed of 167 MPH. We imagine that above 60 MPH, the Honda Civic Type R will pull away quite handily.
If you really get a hankering for VW’s MQB platform, you can scratch your itch with a 2016 VW Golf GTI, Golf R or Audi A3 which all share the same platform.
