‘USABILITY’ might not be the most exciting term in the motoring world but as your years advance and babies come into the equation, it’s something that’s pretty essential. Instead of perusing a spec sheet and going straight for the headline-grabbing 0-60mph time or reading about a car’s all-important damping rates, my eyes hunt for the key aspect every parent want to know: its boot capacity.
Babies, although small, come with no end of additional-but-essential items so you’ll need to find space for an overpriced pram - which generally come in two pieces - as well as a giant bag that’s brimming with nappies, toys, milk powder and bottles. Hatchbacks are generally suitable to cope with those demands, but often it’s a tight squeeze getting everything into the boot.
That’s why many families turn their attention to estate cars thanks to their extended dimensions, which obviously means there’s a much bigger boot. Estates are common on the road, but exciting estates aren’t. You’ll notice a few on your travels - usually an Audi RS6 - but if you’ve got a more sensible budget there’s simply not much about. That’s where this car, the Leon Cupra in ‘ST’ guise - Seat’s term for its estates - becomes much more appealing as it has a 587-litre boot, which is 200 litres more than the hatchback, as well as the same turbocharged 300bhp punch.
Perhaps just as important is its four-wheel-drive set-up, which means supreme traction and safety in all weather conditions, and its twin-clutch semi-automatic gearbox. As ever with Seat, its styling is extremely understated. If you’re wanting a fast car that goes under the radar, this is most definitely for you because it definitely doesn’t shout about its capabilities.
It’s a handsome car from the front and a little disappointing from the side, but its sporty intentions are a bit more obvious from the back with its twin-exit exhaust, proud ‘Cupra’ badging and the performance arm’s race flag motif. Inside, it’s typical Seat fare and shares many of its components with Volkswagen and Audi, who own Seat. That’s no bad thing and, although the design is perhaps uninspiring on the whole, it’s lifted by a pair of alcantara, Cupra-badged buckets.
Start it up - this time with a traditional key no less - and your ears will pick up a sound they’ve heard many times before as it’s powered by the 2.0-litre turbo that’s appeared in countless cars over the years. That’s no bad thing, either. In Cupra spec it’s lifted from the Golf R and S3, so it has 300bhp and a similar amount of torque. Match that with four-wheel-drive and it’s good enough for a 0-60mph time of 4.8 seconds and a 155mph top speed.
That 0-60mph time is quite hard to get your head around when you clasp eyes on the Cupra, as it just doesn’t look that fast. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing and the best part about it is that it’ll execute that time in the dry, wet and everything in between. While it has pace in abundance, it’s a very simple car to drive thanks to its brilliant gearbox which is arguably one of the best on the market. Leave it to its own devices and you’ll never not be impressed by how it works seamlessly.
There are three modes - Comfort, Sport and Cupra - and all three are suitable for the UK’s roads. Comfort, as you’d expect by its name, is the softest-riding of the three and the other two ramp up throttle response and stiffen up the suspension. However, Cupra mode is well-judged as too often manufacturers make their hardest setting far too compromised - something that’s not an issue here.
The engine’s sound won’t win any awards but it truly is a peach, chiefly down to how it goes about its business in delivering its performance. Mass-produced it might be but it’s a unit that has low-down grunt, a fantastic mid-range and, unlike most turbocharged engines, is worth ringing out as it doesn’t ever run out of puff. When you take control of the gearbox it’s fast-acting, both when going up and down its speeds, although asking for three or four downshifts at once can leave it floundering a little, but it’s a minor fault in an otherwise superb transmission.
Having driven the front-wheel-drive Cupra in hatchback form last summer, an on-its-toes sort of car and supremely involving, the four-wheel-drive Cupra ST lacks some of that car’s tenacity. Driving all four wheels, as well as having a semi-auto gearbox, means it’s much faster and ultimately more capable, but in truth that robs the driver somewhat as it almost does your job for you.
It’s two age-old debates - manual versus semi-auto and front-wheel-drive versus four-wheel-drive - and although very different, the slower car is more up my street. However, what is certain is that the Cupra ST fills a niche around the £32,000 mark and combines practicality and unflustered traction with blinding point-to-point speed.
