The Cupra line, for those unfamiliar, is to Seat what the GTI or even R line are to its sister brand Volkswagen, adorning its top performance models. It may have been short-lived, but for a time the Leon Cupra 280 held the fastest lap time for front-drivers at the Nürburgring. Seat still holds the record for the fastest wagon though with the Leon ST Cupra. And now its launching another salvo with the new Cupra 290.
The reheated hot hatch gets its amped-up handle from its metric output, boosted from 261 horsepower in the "base" Cupra and 276 in the Cupra 280 to a more prodigious 286 hp in the new Cupra 290. That puts it within spitting distance of the VW Golf R (292 hp), though still a fair bit shy of the Civic Type R (306 hp) and upcoming Ford Focus RS (345 hp).
The power still comes from a 2.0-liter turbo four that now produces 258 pound-feet of torque. Those figures are channeled to the front wheels through a six-speed manual with either one manual clutch or two automatic ones. (Buyers will also have to choose between three- and five-door hatches as well as ST wagon body-styles.) Dynamic chassis control, locking front differential, and adaptive steering help hustle it from a standstill to 100 km/h in as little as 5.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of the usual 250 km/h. The extra ten horsepower, then, may not make its presence known in ordinary driving along Europe's city streets and highways, but could help Seat catch back up to its rivals at the Nordschleife.
