[baireshraj]

Guten Tag Fellow BHPians,

Even though I have been a member of team BHP since quite some years, this is going to be my first thread. I will try to live up to the standards of the other fantastic threads out there.

Introduction

I have been working in the automotive industry since 2011 and know a thing or two about cars. My last job was all about developing petrol engines for one well-known German premium brand. As a calibration engineer I did get chance to drive and develop all kinds of automobiles under the VWAG umbrella. As my daily job was to drive around in well-equipped and powerful cars, it never occurred to me to buy one for myself, until now. I recently moved to another job, more of a managerial one and the craving for driving around started again. When I was itching to get one for myself, came corona and along with it the lockdown. My previous employer strictly prohibits me from writing on public forums and I did not want to do so under a pseudo name. With this change in job and newfound time, it was a no brainer to pen down this experience.

With WFH, I did not really need a car. If I did want to go out for a spin, I would rent some fancy car over the weekend and have fun on the German autobahn. However, sometimes you don’t need a reason to get something for yourself, do you?
Note: The new German government has proposed to limit the speed on Autobahn to 130 kmph. So anyone who wants to have the experience of driving on unrestricted public highways, plan your trips.

A fellow Indian colleague of mine here in Germany and I decided one fine day to take the plunge (back in early 2020). We were then contemplating whether to buy an EV or a traditional IC engine and should we buy or lease. We had tons of questions and decided to sort them all out.

After enough research, I decided not to buy an EV just yet for the following reasons:

1. I do not have my own garage here in Germany and live on a high rise. Oops - There goes my option to charge at home
2. The range of EV in winter was a big question as temperatures hover below 0 degree in my city
3. I do not want to rely only on public charges and chargers at my work place. Most of the chargers are always in use. You should see the sales number of EV and PHEV in Germany. It is skyrocketing but the charging infra is yet to catch up.

I also decided against diesel for obvious reasons. Many German city councils also have a “Dieselfahrverbot”, loosely translating to No entry to Diesel vehicles inside city limits.

Having considered everything, it was a no brainer to get myself a Petrol PHEV for now and decided to lease one for 2 years. This will give me an EV experience albeit as a Hybrid, prepping me for my next buy – which will be an EV for sure. As a true petrol head, it is difficult to choose EV over an ICE, but EVs are tons of fun. You need to drive one to believe me – the quick acceleration and vibration less experience is a bliss, especially in city. After driving around in EVs, even the fastest of DCTs will feel like an eternity. I also strongly believe the second generation EVs coming out post 2024 will have many issues ironed out – For example the infotainment system, quality of interiors of current ID models from VW

I then started looking out for PHEV leasing offers. It was during this time VW launched their Golf GTE. It has around 245 PS when the battery is fully charged and comes with a 1.4 engine producing 150 PS that is mated to a 6 Speed DSG with an supplementary electric motor producing 110 PS. However, this configuration like most others is shared across the VWAG brands (Skoda, Seat, Audi). This configuration is available in two power outputs, either as 245 or 200 PS. I was sold on the configuration even though it had a few cons. More on these later

Insight in to the German Automotive Industry

All car manufacturers had to decrease their CAFE (Corporate average fuel efficiency) and their pool CO2 emissions in 2020 and beyond or else they would have had to pay huge fines to EU government (running into billions of Euros). Everyone in EU like the rest of world bitten by the SUV bug where buying big SUVs with powerful petrol engines. Small technical insight: Diesels emit lower CO2 and higher NOx, petrol other way around. Since diesel has fallen out of favour, manufacturers were finding it more than difficult to meet the CO2 pool emission target with higher petrol engine sales share. To offset this problem, all manufacturers were forced to launch lightweight hatchbacks with hybrid setups. Even though the hybrids are not eco-friendly, the official tests done on the NEDC/WLTP test cycles say so. A golf GTE is certified to emit only 38 g of CO2/km but the Golf GTI with the same 245 PS power emits 157 g/km. Manufacturers were pushing and marketing these hybrid cars heavily and were giving them away for huge discounts just to avoid paying fines. The German government on its part was giving € 4,500 back to customers opting for a hybrid car and wavering Tax for the first 5 years. Icing on the cake. Best time to be in the market to get a hybrid car.

Search began…

Some of the offers where unbelievable. A Mk 8 Golf GTE was available for 109 Euros per month for leasing duration of 2 years with an allowed 10,000 km per year. Like me, everyone wanted to get one and unfortunately, I could not secure a car. Some dealers apologised and told me they could not handle huge number of enquiries coming in. Moreover, I was not a great fan on how the Mk 8 Golf looks and more so hated its infotainment system.

Not a fan of Mk8. I prefer the previous generation


I kept looking and that is when I came across Cupra and their recently launched Leon. I did read about the Cupra brand in the news but thought to myself, this might be another trick from VWAG to introduce another brand to ship out more cars. Man I was so wrong.

SEAT & CUPRA - Brand Background:

For the uninitiated Seat started as a state owned spanish company and was bought over by VWAG in the mid-80s (like many other European brands). They were making some not so good-looking cars in the past to now some of the best-looking budget cars within the VW umbrella alongside Skoda – my personal opinion.

Example 1 of not so good looking Seat: 2nd gen Leon


Example 2 of not so good looking Seat: 3rd gen Toledo


Seat also has a CUPRA division (loosely standing for CUP RAcing), similar on the lines of AMG/M etc. In the past, all top end line cars of the Seat were sold as Cupra edition. Now all of a sudden Cupra is its own brand. Their first standalone car was Forementor – all others cars were badge engineering with Seat. This car was a huge success – both customers and the critics loved it alike and gave huge thumps up.

I really like the Matt finish on Cupra cars along with the copper brand color. Below is the Formentor


Formentor and the funky looking logo did the trick, and within no time Cupra as a standalone brand was selling more than Alfa Romeo - VW always had grudge against Alfa as they tried and failed to acquire it. VW took a dig in their annual conference by benchmarking Cupra against Alfa. VW has further announced that Cupra brand will be EV only brand going forward.

Fun fact: Every Seat car is named after a place in Spain

Buying process:

I decided on the Curpa Leon hybrid as I wasn’t fan of SUVs.


I just love the way the new generation Leon looks and on top comes with the same 245 PS as Golf GTE. The vehicle configurator website was not even up and running in Germany, but I was sold on the car already. I came across some wonderful offers and pounced on some once they were published in some leading leasing websites in Germany. Some offers were a steal and only 50 cars were part of the 1st lot.

Details on the offer:
Leasing amount base model: 149 € per month (~12,665 INR)
Additional chosen accessories: Adaptive Cruise Control + Type 2 AC Charging cable (Base model only comes with AC house adapter)
Final monthly leasing amount: 156 € per month (~13,260 INR). It was an unbelievable deal.
Mailed the dealer and called him couple of times to get in line and luckily got one allocated.

Since the website configurator was not available, I could not play around a lot and chose only some additional features as the car was already packed with features. I booked the car on the 30th of October 2020 and the wait began – a long wait indeed. The dealer told me it would take at least 8 months to deliver since the car was just officially launched in Germany and initial production started in Spain.

In the meantime, I would just watch the YouTube reviews and blogs and wait for the call from dealer. I was okay to wait even longer since there was no urgent need and the deal was worth the wait.

Awaited moment
Fast forward to June 2021, I got the much-awaited call from the dealer that the car was shipped and I can take delivery in the last week. In the meantime, I had to go through the famous German bureaucracy to get the car registered. That warrants its own thread. Let us save it for another day. Registration, insurance and all done, it was time to get my hands on it.

Here it is in all glory


Likes:

• Beautiful looks
• Very spacious. Among the longest hatchbacks currently on sale.
• Enough range (50-60 km in summer) and strong power (115 bhp) on EV only mode
• Beats audio system – One of the best speakers I experienced so far, on par with Bang & Olufsen speakers on premium cars
• Predefined driving modes and possibility to setup according to individual needs (suspension, steering, engine settings can be customized – Lot of possibilities and setups to play around)
• Fake V6 engine noise in Cupra driving mode (I am aware it is a controversial one, but it adds to the fun element)

Dislikes:

• Badge engineered product with Seat. Very similar to the top spec Seat Leon
• No android Auto/Car play. According to dealer, the car comes with this feature as standard but guess what - it was not the case. Now the dealer cannot update this feature post-delivery. It is a nightmare driving around in 2022 without this feature
• Laggy infotainment system (but much better than current VW software)
• Old generation AC only charging system for the 12.8 kW battery (Takes almost 4 hours to fully charge using a AC charger)
• HV battery eats into the boot. Oh yeah and no spare tire

Exterior

:

Rear three quarter view is the best place to admire the car. I love how the strong shoulder line connects to the rear and front



Rear has a running brake light across the length. One main reason for white as a color of choice is to highlight this


Notice the Quad exhaust. Ahem ahem, they are actually fake and the diffuser are just for looks


... real twin exhaust tips are tucked below


Sequential indicators in action


The front has a soft nevertheless also a menacing look. Matured Seat grille from previous generation


Two strong creases on the bonnet brings your attention to the logo. Notice the ADAS sensors neatly positioned below the number plate


Out in the internet, this CUPRA logo has lovers and haters. Many call it childish but I personally like it. And yeah you can notice the touch of the copper colour everywhere.


Notice the carbon figure(ish) background in the rear logo


Simple but elegant design with fine detailing on the edges of the headlight


In action - led changes color


Notice the triangular theme on everything from the logo to front headlights and below the rear brake lamps


Contrast rear view mirrors with indicators adds to the sporty feel


It is definitely not a small car at 4400 mm. Even though based on the latest MQB platform, wheelbase is 68 mm more than VW Golf Mk8


R19 alloy wheels quite a looker. But ride is compromised on some bad roads and Yes before you ask, we do have bad roads in Germany. The alloys can easily scrape when parking next to a pavement. You have to be on high alert.


Buying another set of winter tires, which is required by law here in Germany, can set you back a bit. I did get Hankook for winter and the stock summer are from Bridgestone.


Nothing special about the brakes, they do the business. But the regenerative braking is no joke and adds to the range especially in city. Unfortunately the regenerative level cannot be adjusted.


Fuel tank on the rear right and the charging port located at front left. Many times after charging, I forget to close this one, busy removing the cable. Manufacturers should indicate on the dash board if the charging port in open.


Some shots in the night

Car greets you eveytime when you unlock with this dance. I love it. It makes you look the car everytime you lock and unlock


High quality puddle lamps adds to luxury


In action during the dark

[baireshraj]

Interior rear

Rear door open wide for easy ingress


Soft touches on the door handles and high quality switch gear. But there on some hard plastic bits in there


Enough legroom and headroom at the rear. Reclination too much to my liking


Center armrest is appreciated but I do not understand why manufacturers give open cup holders. 99% of the time we just want to rest our hands.


High on praticality - ski hatch and 60:40 split



Notice the tether point behind front seats and the huge tunnel.


Bucket seats are sporty for the driver and co driver on the front, but in the face for the rear passengers. 4 can seat in comfort, with the middle tunnel 5 could be a stretch


Atleast the rear passengers get their own climate zone plus USB C charging slots


Bright lights but are switched on by touching the light directly. Gimmicky but works fine. Roof lining doesnt feel cheap


Seat belts can be tucked away easily. Very useful feature when we have to fold the rear seats. Indian manufacturers should offer this one.


Battery and the charging cable eats into the boot space - only 270 L. Atleast I do not have to carry the cable always with me.


Comes only with puncture kit

[baireshraj]

Interior Front

Typical new generation VW type interiors with no physical buttons for climate control. Nope, I am not a fan of physical button devoid interior. Otherwise nice place to be in - Flat bottom steering wheel and interior led light adds to sportiness


View from co-driver seat. Centre console slightly tilted towards the driver.


No gear lever. It is shift-by-wire technology. Removal of the gear lever frees up space and I like it. Notice the rubberised slot shape to house your key, the key will not move out even if you punish the car. I can vouch for that


Very comfortable center armrest which opens to a huge storage area and appreciate that the center arm rest is adjustable



High quality switch gear. Glad that Cupra did not opt for the VW type cost cutting. You guys need to check the ID model switch gears


Headlamps, fog light controls along with demister are capacitive touch buttons. Again not a fan.


Steering has a chucky feeling to hold and gives you confidence. I prefer the physical buttons to capacitive buttons on the Golf.


Paddle shifts are not metal. Or am I asking a lot?


Aluminium brushed pedals and dead pedal. Looks expensive


Decent enough glove box


Vanity mirrors on both side


Very comfortable and sporty seats, I should say. Hugs without troubling you


...gives you an expensive feel when you touch the metal


Eye level wide angel view of the interior from driver seat


In the night

You can choose different light for the led running across the entire interior and also for the lights for the door handle. No it is not distracting and the brightness can be adjusted.


The led on the door changes to red when the door is open. It also blinks when we use the hazard lamps. Nice feature.

When door is closed...


.. and when the door is open

[baireshraj]

Screens

Driver digital virtual cockpit

Wonderful crisp display inspired by Audi. It gives you the possibility to choose from an array of combination


View 1: Twin pod circular setup. The info in the center of the pods can be customized - One such option if the G-Force meter


View 2: Squarish setup


View 3: Useful especially when adaptive cruise control is active. Not on the level of Tesla autopilot but shows cars in the front and in the next lane


View 4: Zoomed navigation. Not very useful from my experience


View 5: Minimalistic one


View 6: My fav Center single pod with the rev counter. Notice the copper color after 6000 rpm. I prefer this to the red on other cars



Center console

As mentioned above the confusion with the dealer resulted me in having a car in 2022 without andriod auto or apple car play. The OS is good and better than VW, nevertheless I should have been extra cautious when I booked the car.

The Temperature and volume control are capacitive and one needs to slide the hand over them to control it. Sadly they are not illuminated and very difficult to drive and control them in the the night.

You get two ways of accessing the menu. One below as you can see is a quick launch screen for most used options.


.... and two a detailed menu



Highlighting some options below:

The Adaptive Cruise Control is very useful in city. It can be activated from 30kmph and has to the ability to bring the car to complete halt, it handles very well in the traffic with help from lane assist. As part of driver assistance, it can detect traffic signs and prompt us if we overspeed.


There are four drive modes. They ares pretty much self explanatory. Not much of a debate there, Cupra is the mode to be in. The engine is more responsive, the gear box holds the gear for longer, steering is nicely weighed up and the V8 fake noise from the speaker seals the deal. 235/35 R19 tires hug the road instilling enough confidence in the curves.


The individual mode pretty much allows to play around and control each sub system. Here for example Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) can be set in 15 different levels, meaning 15 different damping. It can change from being a nimble city car to sports car level agility.

[baireshraj]

Driving Report:

Engine & gearbox:

The best time to drive the Cupra Leon is when it is fully charged. A combined output of 245 PS is a blast to drive – combined maximum output from the punchy 1.4l TSI petrol engine and the boost from the 13 kWh battery. It can do a 0-100 kmph from stop in around 6.7 seconds. However, if punished hard the battery will drain out in no time and then you are left with only the engine. The engine and its throttle response along with other systems can be set to different settings based on the mode you chose – Cupra, sport, comfort & individual. The motor revs until redline or here until the Cupra copper line on the tacho and the engine does not feel strained even when held for extended time above 5000 rpm. Wonderful engine when linked with the electric motor, but without it, kind of huffs and puffs. Nevertheless, for tamed city driving this engine is all what you need. The 6 speed DSG can be set to different setting and the CUPRA mode holds the gear for much longer and the downshift is instant on sudden full throttle. On normal modes if the shift does not excite you enough, there are always the paddle shifts to bring the car to the zone of your liking. Sharp throttle response and the quick shifts along with the fake V8 engine noise makes you feel much much faster than you are actually doing.

Ride, handling & braking:

The suspension and the steering can as well be set in 16 different setting. There will definitely be a setting to your liking. I have a feeling that Seat or the VW group intentionally toned down the sportiness of the Cupra to not take the shine and spotlight out of the VW Golf GT models. You cannot have a better value for money model within the group, which can perform as good as its crown jewel – Golf GT models. Also not to forget the heat faced by the Golf Mk8 from the critics and the public alike for its looks, interior quality, and to an extent how it drives. Cupra also has a longer wheelbase than the Golf, which might affect the drive a little bit. It is not in the league of all super hatches out there, nevertheless for a daily user who is not an expert in vehicle dynamics, the chassis is capable of holding fort in the corners and many a times the tires make screeching noise when you head out the curves. That will definitely bring a smile every time and to be honest that is all what you need. Suspension with the dynamic chassis control when set in the sportiest Cupra mode is so well balanced.

However, the 235/35R19 does compromise the ride. You feel this at slow speed when you are driving in streets with tram tracks or cobble stones, which is quite common in Europe. Even turning the suspension to its most comfort setting does not help much. A compromise happy to have because the car looks gorgeous with those tires and stylish alloys. In addition these wide tires give enough confidence and grip to drive around in all seasons. The more powerful Cupra Leon’s come with brembo brake and rightly so. But my Cupra comes with standard ones and braking is more than adequate. But I was surprised how much regen can help in putting back charge into those batteries. It is not capable of single pedal driving but in different drive modes the regen level are different. Down the hill it adds a lot of range back into the battery which can be used for high speed dynamic hybrid driving mode.

NVH

For the first 5000 kms it was a absolute bliss. Even at 120kmph on the Autobahn on EV mode, you can only hear mild wind noises creeping in. After approx 10k kms on the Odo, i can hear some creaks from the dash. Overall good quality interiors but i doubt it will hold together for 100k kms. Another NVH point of interest for a PHEV is the moment when the engine kicks in. Sometime the switch is so smooth that you cannot feel you switched over from EV to IC/hybrid mode but other times at lower speeds in particular, the engine switches on and revs more than what is necessary, only to rev down back later. From the outside, people might think that i am revving the engine on neutral gear. More calibration might be required for the same. Even old Prius's that run as taxi has better calibration. Something VW group i am sure are learning.

Fuel efficiency:

Charging the car at work for free does help you save some money considering the rise in energy (both gasoline and electricity) in the recent past. But over long term when car is regularly charged, the engine returns efficiency figures of ~4.6l/100 km and the average e motor consumption is ~5.9 kWh/100km - The vehicle was driven little over 4500 km at an average speed of around 45kmph. Mind you, the new VW polo with 60 PS gives you efficiency of 5.0l/100 km. I was apprehensive about the savings a PHEV vehicle can bring, but if charged regularly, then it is easy on the pocket and to the environment - when driven sanely. But having said that if the car runs only on petrol, driven aggressively and in addition also had to charge the battery on the go, efficiency is then around 8-9/100 km (60% City and 40% highway driving)

Did it put a hole in my wallet? NO

One time costs

Special payment to Dealer: €4,500 (INR 3,85,000) - Reimbursed by government to me for buying a PHEV (federal government Subsidy)
Dealer handling charges: € 860
Registration charges: € 80
Winter tires: € 600

Total one time costs: € 1540 (INR 1,31,000)

Monthly recurring cost

Monthly lease price: € 156 (INR 13,260)

Leasing cost over 24 months: € 3744 (INR 6,92,640)

Others

Two schedule service costs expected in the 2 years of leasing (every 10,000 km or 1 year whichever is earlier)

No tax for the next five years as the car is a PHEV.

Insurance was little steep since this is the first car on my name in Germany. But i signed up to get this additional device which can be setup in the car and that small device can rate your driving behavior and give you a score. Based on the score, one can get upto 30% discount on the insurance premium the following year.

To be honest, this deal is a steal and not a lot of money for what you get

I leased this car for 2 years and have had it for almost an year now. I absolutely love it. It also means i need to give back the car at the end of next year. Due to the ongoing Semi conductor shortages, wiring harness supply issues, Ukraine war and COVID lockdown in Shanghai the waiting period for delivery of new cars in Europe is around a year. I am already in the process of looking for my next one and I will keep you guys posted. It will for sure be an EV.

Safe driving until then

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[GForceEnjoyer]

Great attention to detail! For example this was the first time I saw Cupra's version of the virtual cockpit. Really enjoyed the review. I would also have chosen the Leon over the MK8 golf which I feel is a massive step down from the MK7. Hope you have a great ownership experience and tons of driving pleasure

[learning_cars]

The car was definitely worth the wait. That's one good looking car and at that price point I don't think I can even get a good Maruti in India. Would love to read more of your experiences if you can continue the thread for your ownership period.

I have lived a few years in the UK and always wanted to see the cars they had in India. I am sure the car enthusiasm, availability and variety is even better in Deutschland. By what I have heard, its very easy to get challans there and people are very mindful of rules and my colleagues in the UK even joked about how strict it is there. Assuming its not completely off topic, do share if you have any anecdotes.

Wishing you a great ownership and mile crunching on your Cupra.

[r.K]

Thank you for this review baireshraj. I recently relocated to Berlin and I was seeing a lot of these cupras but was not familiar with the background.

If one is out for an SUV, does it make sense to go for a used X3 or a new new Formentor or an Ateca?

[turbowhistle]

Great review OP, makes me feel like writing the review for my Mazda 3 now. I saw some Seats while shopping for Mazda and never saw the great deal you have got. Is this a commercial customer only deal ( via your employer)?

The car is good and looks much better than VW. Congrats!

Originally Posted by r.K

If one is out for an SUV, does it make sense to go for a used X3 or a new new Formentor or an Ateca?

I have driven the Ateca and it won't come close to X3 in any way. BMW might have old gen interiors but it is on another level to drive.

Also only old Diesel's are banned as far as I know, you can still get a used 20d which is Euro VI and you can take it anywhere.

[Vijay T]

Excellent review dear.
Very informative & detailed one.
Any info whether this car also available in UK on similar terms & fares better compared to Golf purely on economic terms?
My son in law considering new first vehicle in London

[baireshraj]

Originally Posted by GForceEnjoyer

Great attention to detail!

Hope you have a great ownership experience and tons of driving pleasure

Thanks a lot.!!

Originally Posted by learning_cars

By what I have heard, its very easy to get challans there and people are very mindful of rules..... Assuming its not completely off topic, do share if you have any anecdotes.

Wishing you a great ownership and mile crunching on your Cupra.

Thanks for the wishes. Germans are known for their bureaucracy and the rules. Well they take pride in that too. I know friends who got points on the license just because the tire thread depth in a rental car was slightly below the legal limits. But it is the same country where you have unrestricted speed limit on its highways.

Originally Posted by r.K

Thank you for this review baireshraj. I recently relocated to Berlin and I was seeing a lot of these cupras but was not familiar with the background.

If one is out for an SUV, does it make sense to go for a used X3 or a new new Formentor or an Ateca?

It totally depends on your requirements. As turbowhistle mentioned above, driving a BMW is another level altogether.

Originally Posted by turbowhistle

Is this a commercial customer only deal ( via your employer)?

The car is good and looks much better than VW. Congrats!

Thanks. It was a individual personal contract. Contracts through employer were even cheaper at that time.

Originally Posted by Vijay T

Any info whether this car also available in UK on similar terms & fares better compared to Golf purely on economic terms?

Yes the CUPRA is also available in the UK. I cannot answer your question whether the car is available on similar terms. It totally depends on the deals
currently available in the UK. My knowledge of UK car market is rather limited.

[kkkkkaran]

Hello fellow Cupra Owner!



Here is my baby from Melbourne, Australia! This is the Formentor in VZx/VZ3 trim (310hp). Since Cupra/Seat were very recently introduced to the country, some mouthwatering deals made this cheaper than the Golf MK8 and TRoc R, while actually being better in a lot of ways (imo)