SEAT Leon CUPRA 290 arrives with 286bhp as SEAT ups the ante with the Leon CUPRA

The SEAT Leon CUPRA 290 has arrived with an extra 10bhp over the old CUPRA 280, as well as extra equipment to help SEAT’s take on the VW Golf GTI perform.

If you’re going to buy a performance hatch from the VW group, the Leon Cupra is probably your best bet. And now it’s turned in to the SEAT Leon CUPRA 290 there are more reasons than ever to take the Spanish route.

The headline extra reasons are a boost in power to the Cupra’s output of 10bhp – hence it’s now the CUPRA 290 (286bhp in old money) rather than the CUPRA 280 – teased out of the 2.0 litre turbo the Leon shares with the Golf GTI which, when mated to the DSG ‘box, can scoot the hot hatch to 62mph in 5.7 seconds and still manage to deliver official economy of around 42mpg (no, you won’t come close in the real world).

Sensibly, SEAT has also done a bit more than up the power of the Cupra, and has fitted bigger brakes and the same electronic limited slip diff the Golf GTI has, which is clever enough to send 100 per cent of the power to just one wheel if needed to keep things on track.

It adds up to an even more appealing Leon Cupra, which also offers adaptive dampers with Comfort, Sport, and Cupra modes, 19″ alloys, Sat Nav, LED headlights, decent sports seats and even adaptive ambient lighting.

The SEAT Leon CUPRA can be had as a Sport Coupe, five-door, or Sports Tourer.