Seat Hitting Frankfurt with Updated Ibiza Cupra Hot Hatch

So with its compact form, it'd be all too easy to miss the new Seat Ibiza Cupra. But with all the upgrades that Volkswagen's Spanish brand has brought to bear on its little hot hatch, we wouldn't want to pass it over.

The performance version of Seat's supermini, the new Ibiza Cupra benefits from the updates recently applied to the base model. But under the hood is where the new Cupra really parts company with its predecessor. Like the new VW Polo GTI, the updated Ibiza Cupra ditches the twin-charged, 1.4-liter inline-four in favor of a more potent 1.8-liter turbo four. The new model's 189 horsepower trumps the outgoing one's 177 hp, but the difference is much bigger in the torque department, where 236 pound-feet trounce the 184 of old.

That translates to a 0-100 time quoted at 6.7 seconds (down from 7.0) and a top speed of 235 km/h. The new Ibiza Cupra also packs an adaptive suspension, XDS electronic differential, 17-inch alloys, and all the electronic bells and whistles you'd expect from the VW Group's latest hot hatch. All of which adds up to a pocket rocket for which the Ford Fiesta ST ought to be watching out. And we'll be keeping a lookout for it on the floor of the Frankfurt Messe in a couple of weeks.