What's the news?

The annual Volkswagen love-in known as GTI Treffen is about to kick off in earnest with many of the Group's brands planning special exhibits on the banks of the Wörthersee to delight the estimated 100,000 people the show attracts. SEAT is the first to break cover with the Leon Cup Racer, a 330hp track ready version of the latest generation Leon.

Exterior

When you consider that the three-door SC Leon is held up as the sportiest Leon already it does seem somewhat strange to see that the Cup Racer is based on the five-door variant. That is until you see it; under the metallic matte grey paintwork with orange accents lies a car that is no less than 40 centimetres wider than the road car and with an altogether more aggressive design.

The front bumper of the Cup Racer has been redesigned to feed maximum airflow to both the engine and the brakes while it has also been extended to meet up with new wheelarches that house 18-inch alloys. The trailing edge of the arches themselves are open to allow the four-pot brakes to vent excess heat, which is funnelled away from the car by heavily flared side sills.

These sills, along with the front spoiler, smooth under body, rear diffuser and roof spoiler offer maximum downforce for high-speed cornering.

Interior

Being a race car, the interior of the Leon Cup Racer is unlike that of the production model. While much of the dashboard has been retained that is about all that has been carried over, and even that is down to race series regulations. The Cup Racer features a high-strength roll cage, bucket seat with integrated HANS head-protection system and a multi-function steering wheel unlike that of the road car's; there are no controls for satnav or cruise control, but instead switchgear to adjust brake balance, throttle mapping and pit-to-car radio.

Mechanicals

While the buttons on the front of the steering wheel may be alien to road car drivers the two paddles behind it are the same; they operate the six-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox. This transmission is connected to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that in race trim churns out 330hp and maximum torque of 350Nm. Sending that much power to the tarmac via the front wheels would ordinarily be an issue, but thankfully the Cup Racer features a an electronically controlled differential lock as standard. And the price for all this? A snip at €70,000 (roughly £60,000).

That is if you order the standard car - the regular Cup Racer has been designed for sprint races like the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC), but if endurance races like the VLN Endurance Cup on the Nürburgring are more your thing SEAT can offer you a car equipped with a sequential racing transmission with a shift lever on the centre console and a mechanical differential lock all for €95,000 (circa £80,000).

Anything else?

Alongside the Leon Cup Racer SEAT will also display the 200hp Ibiza SC Trophy. Designed primarily for single model races in both Spain and Italy the racy Ibiza has a turbocharged 1.4-litre engine, seven-speed DSG transmission and locking differential. The connection to it and the 180hp Ibiza SC Cupra - with its 180hp 1.4-litre engine - can easily be traced, as too can the lineage to the Ibiza FR Ten. Built to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Ibiza FR this model sports 17-inch, two-tone wheels in black and silver, as well as a roof spoiler, sills and wing-mirror housings with titanium paint finish.

Paul Healy - 6 May 2013