If pace and performance is top of your wish list you might want to check out SEAT’s fastest ever production car – the Leon SC Cupra 280.
Boasting the brand’s ‘Ultimate Sub8 Performance Pack’ the hot hatch became the first front-wheel-drive production car to dip under the magic eight-minute lap time at the famous Nurburgring race circuit in Germany.
Now the Spanish car maker is making the pack available for £4,200 – and its truly stand-out feature has to be the set of bright orange multi-spoke alloy wheels.
In order to achieve such amazing performance credentials SEAT had to reduce the weight of the car, so climate control is exchanged for a simpler heating system and four of the Cupra’s usual eight speakers have been ditched in the slimming-down process.
In addition, the centre console armrest and rear air vents have been removed, while the storage boxes under the front seat have also been binned.
The pack mirrors the Nurburgring record-breaker exactly but won’t be an impractical track-day fun-thing, though built to order ensuring exclusivity.
The rest of the pack is as per the standard Sub8 Performance Pack, which means lightweight multi-spoke 19-inch alloys in black or orange plus 30mm larger brakes with Brembo callipers and body-coloured side skirts.
There’s a choice of six-speed manual or twin-clutch DSG transmission, but no options.
That said, standard kit includes cruise control, rear parking sensors, touchscreen sat-nav, dynamic chassis control, Cupra Drive Profile – for adjusting the suspension, throttle sensitivity, gearbox and engine note – plus a tyre pressure monitor.
Opting for the performance pack brings the price of a Leon SC Cupra 280 to £31,410, though that’s still £5,020 less than its closest direct rival the two-seater Mégane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R.