Cupra is planning on bringing the Cupra Leon Sportstourer to Australia! It's effectively a replacement for the Golf R wagon - 0-100 in 4.6 seconds! Paul Maric tests it out to see if it should come to Australia.
More Cupra content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/cupra
More Cupra Leon content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/cupra/leon
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 00:58
Interior: 03:07
Infotainment: 04:10
Practicality: 05:19
Charging: 07:42
On the road: 08:06
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#cupra #leon #review
More Cupra content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/cupra
More Cupra Leon content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/cupra/leon
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 00:58
Interior: 03:07
Infotainment: 04:10
Practicality: 05:19
Charging: 07:42
On the road: 08:06
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
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#cupra #leon #review
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day I'm Paul. So, Cupra. They haven't been on sale in Australia for very long, but they
00:05 do want to bring the wagon back, and they're considering bringing this to Australia. It's
00:09 called the Cupra Leon Sportura, and this is available in a hot version. It basically replaces
00:16 the Golf R in Australia. So, today we're checking out the plug-in hybrid, which is this one
00:20 here, plus also the faster one as well to see if they're any good, and hopefully they
00:24 will bring them to Australia. It doesn't really have that many competitors in Australia when
00:27 you think about it. A wagon that can be plug-in hybrid or all-wheel drive sort of fastness,
00:33 I think it is pretty unique in that sense. So, we don't know pricing, we don't really
00:37 know much today. It'll just be a brief overview and a bit of a drive, and then I'll be keen
00:40 on your feedback on whether they should actually bring this to Australia. If you do want to
00:43 skip ahead to other parts of this video, please use the time codes that are on the screen,
00:47 or if you are on YouTube, scroll down and use the chapters below. And if you haven't
00:50 done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon so you can find out
00:54 every single time we drive a matte-coloured car.
00:57 So, let's start off with the design. I love the look of this, especially with the matte
01:02 paint. They do love a matte paint and it works really well, especially with those copper
01:06 highlights. I think that all looks pretty nice. So, depending on the spec you go for,
01:10 you have full LED headlights, matrix LED lights are optional as well, with LED fog lights
01:16 down the bottom there as well. Big intake here for cooling, because like I mentioned,
01:21 this is plug-in hybrid and also available in effectively a Golf R replacement. So, turbo
01:27 4, all-wheel drive, 0-100 in under 5 seconds like it is. Pretty quick stuff, so it needs
01:33 a fair bit of cooling. And I've also noticed as well in the latest Taviscan, they have
01:39 the emblem up the top here on the bonnet, but it's backlit with LEDs, which I think
01:42 is cool. So, they are really focusing on their lighting game.
01:45 We'll jump over here to the wheels. So, I like, again, the copper highlights here. They've
01:49 kind of owned the copper theme and it works really well. So, 235s on the front with 19s.
01:54 Have a look at these brakes as well, available with a big old set of Brembos. They're 370mm
01:59 cross-drilled rotors, so it gives you a bit of an idea of the intent behind the car. It
02:03 is meant to be go-fast and they're fitting it with the kit that makes it go fast as well,
02:08 which is pretty cool. Down here you've got some aero down the side there. This has a
02:12 carbon package on it, so carbon back seats and also carbon mirrors there as well, but
02:17 obviously that may not come to Australia. Being a wagon, look at this, you have so much
02:22 storage space, which is good news. Come around to the back with me.
02:26 Now, around the back here, full LED taillight, so that stretches all the way along here.
02:31 The Cupra badge here, which you push to open. Individual Cupra lettering there as well,
02:36 and then twin pipes down the bottom here. It is actually interesting, there is a version
02:40 of the Formentor, the SUV that we tested recently, that I was pretty damn impressed with. They
02:44 sell a version here that's left-hand drive only, that has the engine out of the RS3.
02:48 It sounds unreal. So, I think it just shows you that Cupra is the child in the Volkswagen
02:53 Group family that has access to all of this technology and really wants to take advantage
02:57 of using as much of it as they possibly can. So, let me know what you reckon about the
03:01 design in the comments section below. Do you think you need a wagon, or are you just going
03:05 to go an SUV? I'm keen to see what you think.
03:08 So we are inside the Sportura. Let's start off with just what this looks like, and I
03:14 think the thing that Cupra does really well is just giving a bit of style and substance
03:18 to Volkswagen products. And look, to be honest, sometimes Volkswagen products can be a little
03:22 bit boring, and I think this really just pushes it up a bit and just makes it a whole lot
03:26 more interesting. So, this is what the key looks like. You can see it's got that carbon
03:30 fibre material, or the carbon fibre pattern on the back there with the Cupra logo. Then
03:34 on the front you have lock, boot and unlock, and it's like a rubber finish on that. It's
03:39 proximity touch key, so you can leave that in your pocket there. And once you're inside
03:42 you have the push button start on the steering wheel, so slightly different location. And
03:45 then outside of that, the actual cabin itself is presented nicely with the stitching along
03:50 the dashboard there, and this sort of textured material along there with a big infotainment
03:55 system in the centre section as well. So, in terms of your touch points and build quality
04:00 and all that sort of stuff, we will wait until this potentially arrives in Australia and
04:05 do a proper check of it all then, but just based on what we've seen here it actually
04:08 all looks pretty good. Infotainment system is a 12-inch display, so it's mounted up high,
04:14 it kind of is like a tablet attached to the dashboard there. And then you have this swipe
04:18 bar beneath, and look, I'm not a huge fan of this swipe bar because it is just a little
04:23 bit clumsy to use. Stuff like putting your temperature up and down, you've got to be
04:27 quite precise with your inputs, same with the volume. There is no just easy way to do
04:31 volume up and down over here, you have to use the steering wheel for that. Outside of
04:35 that though, it is actually pretty easy to use and quite straightforward. We did a tour
04:39 yesterday of the Cooper headquarters where they showed us the Taviscan's new infotainment
04:44 system which is a 15-inch infotainment system, and that is significantly better than this
04:47 in terms of the way that it works and the layout and that kind of stuff. So, I think
04:51 over time they will just start rolling out updates to these systems to refine them and
04:55 to put in the learnings that they have from the bigger infotainment systems that they're
04:59 working on.
05:00 Ahead of the driver you also have a digital display, and it's actually quite a good system
05:04 because kind of like the Audi system as well, you can change between the different layouts
05:08 that you see on the screen, and then you can configure a lot of that to show what you want
05:12 it to show, and as you switch between the drive modes as well it all lights up and does
05:15 fun stuff. So, they've done a really good job with that.
05:18 Now let's talk about comfort. So, you've got dual zone automatic climate control, I mentioned
05:21 before it's controlled up here, and then you have a separate screen for all of the climate
05:26 control settings. You've also got heated seats and a heated steering wheel as well. In terms
05:30 of the seats, this is something else that Cooper does really well. They just go to town
05:34 with designing these incredible looking seats. So, you have the Cooper logo up the top there,
05:38 they hug you in nicely, they have a lot of definition to them, and yeah, they just look
05:42 like they're out of a spaceship and I think really suit the characteristic of this car.
05:46 So, that is a pretty impressive setup. Steering wheel is manually adjustable and offers both
05:52 tilt and reach adjustment as well, and on the reach test all of this stuff is easy to
05:58 reach while you're driving.
06:00 Now second row, what's it like? It is worth pointing out these seats, these are like a
06:04 top spec seat, which means they have the sort of carbon back on them and it means you don't
06:09 get any sort of mat pockets, but you actually have a reasonable amount of knee room there,
06:14 toe room's great, head room's really good too. Just shows you, you don't need to go
06:17 for a massive SUV to get that space. This is a fairly sort of small station wagon, but
06:23 you still have plenty of room here for adults, which is really good to see.
06:26 Under creature comforts you've got a third zone of climate control, you have two USB
06:30 C ports, you have air vents here as well. You've also got two USB C ports up the front
06:34 and a 12 volt outlet along with a wireless phone charging too. There's a centre armrest
06:38 here with a couple of cup holders and then a ski port entry to the boot as well. It's
06:44 actually a pretty sort of nice place. It is interesting here, they're allowed to have
06:48 seats in the front row and you can see there's actually a top tether down there as well,
06:52 which you don't really get in Australia. So yeah, pretty good here in terms of space.
06:56 Let's check out the boot.
06:57 Okay, so let's talk cargo space. We'll crack this open, look at this, you push the
07:01 Cupra logo and then it pops up like that. So you have a little less space in the plug
07:07 in hybrid version, but it still is a pretty decent amount. So it's just under 500 litres
07:12 here before you drop the second row and you also get a little bit of storage down here
07:16 for things like your cable if you need to. Storage off to the sides as well along with
07:19 the 12 volt outlet over there too. 150 litres is the extra amount you'll find in the regular
07:25 version. So it is slightly compromised here because of the 12-ish kilowatt hour battery.
07:30 But you can expand the space if you want to. You can drop the second row out of the way
07:34 by pulling these two things. That expands the space to around 1500 litres here in the
07:38 plug in hybrid version and then 150 litres extra if you go for the non plug in hybrid.
07:42 Now before we go for a spin, I want to run you through the charging options available
07:45 here for the plug in hybrid. So it is just AC charging, battery size is around 12 kilowatt
07:51 hours and it'll charge at around 3.6 kilowatts. Driving range of about 50 to 60 kilometres
07:56 on electricity alone and then a combined fuel economy of around 2 litres per 100 k's. So
08:02 it gives you an idea of what you can expect from this as a plug in hybrid.
08:06 OK, so we've just hit the road in the Leon Sportura, the plug in hybrid version. This
08:11 is like other plug in hybrid vehicles where it uses an internal combustion engine that
08:15 mates to an electric motor and then also a bigger battery than what you would find in
08:19 a small or a mild hybrid. In this case, I mentioned before, it's around a 12 kilowatt
08:24 hour battery and it is mated to an electric motor that services the front wheels. This
08:28 is only a front wheel drive. So under the bonnet is a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol
08:34 engine. It makes 110 kilowatts of power and 250 newton metres of torque on its own. And
08:39 then that's mated to an 85 kilowatt electric motor that produces 330 newton metres of torque.
08:46 So it is a fairly sort of healthy little combination there. When those two combine, it's 180 kilowatts
08:52 of power and 400 newton metres of torque. And that means when you step on the throttle,
08:57 it gives you a really nice push in the back. It kind of feels like a diesel in terms of
09:00 the way that it pulls because you're getting the internal combustion engine plus the electric
09:04 motor kicking in to really sort of yank it along nicely. So the whole package works
09:09 fairly well. You do notice though, when it is out of battery like other plug-in hybrids,
09:13 that it can be just a little bit fussy at times. So if the engine is switched off when
09:18 it's coasting and then you go for the throttle, it can be just a little bit jerky when it
09:21 decides that it wants to switch on or switch off. So that can be a little bit frustrating,
09:27 but it is something that you do get used to as an owner.
09:29 The other benefit of a plug-in hybrid as well, while you're getting around sort of 50 or
09:32 60 kilometres of range, it is that you're silently motoring along when it is in full
09:38 electric mode. You don't have any interruption from the internal combustion engine, which
09:42 you do find in stuff like a RAV4 hybrid. That will always be on and off and you'll always
09:46 be hearing it doing things because it can't run on electricity alone for long periods
09:51 of time. So that's where this system actually benefits from being able to charge it overnight
09:55 and then you've got that 60 kilometres of driving. The average Australian only ends
09:59 up doing about 30 kilometres of driving a day, so it is the perfect amount for that
10:02 type of thing. But there is always that sort of thing in the back of your mind, you're
10:06 using an engine, you're then lugging batteries around, an electric motor. So when it comes
10:12 to servicing, you've got the added complexity of all of these systems in there. But if it
10:16 does serve the purpose of saving you fuel, then that is a side benefit of it all.
10:20 Now, how does it all feel while we're sort of just driving along here? So we've spent
10:24 a couple of days now driving these and typically the Spanish roads we've been on have been
10:28 excellent. So as a result of that, everything feels really nice. This on the other hand
10:32 is now a bit of a choppier section of road and look, right is okay, but it's not amazing.
10:38 It is sort of fairly firm. You've got to remember that this is sitting on fairly low profile
10:42 tyres and at the end of the day that is going to give you that very firm sort of feel behind
10:48 the wheel if you do end up in sort of city streets like this where there are a lot of
10:51 bumps and cobblestones. All of this is mated to a six-speed dual clutch transmission and
10:58 for the most part it works okay. But again, if you do catch it napping when the engine
11:02 is switched off and it's running on electricity alone and then it needs to fire back up, it
11:07 can be just a little bit stuttery and clunky sometimes and that is one of the downsides
11:12 of a dual clutch transmission. They just don't love being surprised or hills and that kind
11:18 of thing. I will reserve judgement until we actually have a proper drive back in Australia,
11:22 that is if it arrives in Australia, but to me the dual clutch transmission just feels
11:26 like other dual clutches that I've tested before.
11:29 Now let's talk about the one that you're probably all excited for and that is the Sportura with
11:33 the VZ engine and that is the Golf R engine effectively. It is an absolute missile and
11:39 we're not driving that right now but I did drive it yesterday. It hauls because it is
11:43 all-wheel drive and it uses a similar version to the Golf R's engine which is a 2.0-litre
11:48 turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. It makes around 220 kilowatts of power, 400
11:54 newton metres of torque and it's mated to a seven-speed dual clutch transmission and
11:58 of course it has the surety there of the all-wheel drive system. When you pack all of that together
12:03 it really just results in you getting pinned back in the seat and getting a big smile on
12:06 your face. It sounds good too. Cooper actually announced that they have optional Akrapovic
12:12 exhausts that you can fit to their vehicles and if it does come to Australia I'm hoping
12:16 that that is available as an option because it's such a great sounding engine when it
12:20 does have a good quality exhaust fitted to it and it's a big smile inducer.
12:24 So sorry this video is going to be a little bit funny because we don't really have a great
12:27 deal of B-roll and unfortunately I'm sitting here driving around the streets because I
12:32 had to film closer to the end of the day so it's just going to be a bit of talking from
12:36 me. We will have a proper drive of these if and when they do come to Australia.
12:40 In terms of visibility from the wagon it's actually really good. The envelope at the
12:43 back is great. I can see clearly out the side mirrors. You've got these sections here that
12:48 light up when you have cars in your blind spot, also when you're exiting the vehicle.
12:52 So there are really good examples here of using LEDs to get the driver on board with
12:58 what's happening and to make sure they're fully aware of their surroundings. So they've
13:01 integrated all of that really nicely and it is an easy car to drive as well. You've got
13:05 a good quality reverse camera. It's super simple to park. Front and rear parking sensors.
13:09 There really isn't too much of anything to fuss about.
13:13 Now let's talk about fuel economy for these two. So for the petrol non-hybrid version
13:18 it's around 8 litres per 100km whereas here for the hybrid version we're talking 1.4 litres
13:23 per 100km which is really not a whole lot of fuel so it's quite an impressive amount.
13:28 Whether you get that in practice or not depends entirely on if you're charging the vehicle
13:32 constantly and if you are charging the vehicle constantly you are going to get that net benefit
13:35 of having it use not a lot of fuel because it will run on electricity alone until it
13:40 needs to fire up the petrol engine and if you don't travel long enough for that to happen
13:44 then you're not going to end up using any fuel. Once you do reach the point where the
13:48 battery is empty it ends up kicking on the internal combustion engine and it supports
13:53 the hybrid system. There's always a little bit of battery left in there to give you that
13:56 boost as you're driving so it is actually a pretty decent set up in terms of being able
14:01 to drive it without having to think too much about whether you've charged the car or not.
14:05 So that has been your first look at the Leon Sportura potentially coming to Australia in
14:10 plug-in hybrid and also the Golf R replacement wagon trim, that's what I'm calling it anyway.
14:17 If you did enjoy this video please make sure you like it and share it with your mates.
14:21 Sorry it couldn't be more exciting, unfortunately we didn't really have the best opportunity
14:25 to film so this is what we've been able to put together but when it does come to Australia
14:29 and if it does come to Australia we're going to test it where we regularly test our cars
14:33 to see exactly how this thing performs. And if you haven't done so already please make
14:36 sure you subscribe to our channel but until next time, see ya!