Over the past 5 years, SEAT, the Spanish manufacturer in the Volkswagen Group, has been building CUPRA as a performance sub-brand. The name is derived from CUP and Racing, which reflects the motorsport heritage as SEAT was active in motorsports in the 1990s with an Ibiza model called the Cupra.
As with the performance brands of some other companies, the CUPRA division was born out of SEAT’s unit which was involved in competition and high-performance development. When it started as a business unit, it gained a degree of autonomy in design while using Volkswagen Group hardware. Thus while SEAT products have been largely adapted from Volkswagen models, CUPRA has unique designs that are more sporty and dynamically oriented.
Like a number of manufacturers, Spanish carmaker SEAT (a member of the Volkswagen Group) also has a performance sub-brand. Known as CUPRA, its name was taken from the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the company. CUPRA was established in 2018 to focus on high-performance products which, like those of SEAT, uses much of the Volkswagen Group’s technologies and platforms.
The brand has gained a lot of credibility with its high-performance models, delivering close to 200,000 units to date, mostly in Europe. Now it is looking ahead to an electrified future and will launch 3 new electrified models by 2025. The names of the new models were revealed recently – Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel.
“Here is the entire range of CUPRA’s next generation of heroes to be launched by 2025,” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of CUPRA, at the presentation of the future models. ”In the mid-term, our aim is to deliver 500,000 cars per year and push forward with our international expansion into new markets as well as entering new segments. The CUPRA Tribe is committed to making all this happen, it’s the people that count. Because at the end, it’s the people who make the brand.”
The Terramar
This will be the first electrified SUV of the brand which is expected to move the company to the hotspot of the SUV segment, the fastest-growing segment in Europe. To be produced in Hungary at Audi’s plant, the Terramar will be available with conventional petrol powertrains as well as a new generation of plug-in hybrid powertrains that are promised to deliver around 100 kms in all-electric mode. The e-HYBRID range focuses on performance and contemporary sportiness and are part of the bigger journey as CUPRA fulfils its electrification revolution.
“Terramar, our new sporty hybrid SUV, perfectly combines bold proportions with a long striking bonnet, while the shark nose means breakthrough resistance and the determination to win,” said Jorge Diez, Design Director at CUPRA. “Thinking of how the driver will feel, we provide a unique experience with the latest technology, thanks to the driver oriented interior concept. All in all, a 4.5-metre long SUV, with CUPRA DNA ready to shake one of the most competitive segments”.
Tavascan
In 2024, CUPRA will launch the Tavascan, based on the electrified vision shown in the 2019 concept car of the same name. Some design elements were already strongly hinted at in the 2021 Tavascan Extreme E Concept. The Tavascan will have the mission of globalising the brand and take CUPRA to new markets.
UrbanRebel
In 2025, the UrbanRebel will be the final model to be launched. Its name suggests that it will take the brand beyond its traditional boundaries. It will have an emotional design and be ‘developed for a more rebellious electric world’, according to CUPRA. The front-wheel drive model will sit on Volkswagen Group’s MEB Small platform.
Measuring 4030 mm long, the vehicle has sustainability at its core, integrating advanced recycled polymers and bio-based materials to push the boundaries of what is achievable, and delivering a more environmentally-conscious vehicle. It mixes 3D printed and 3D knitted manufacturing approaches with parametric design to improve performance and value perception.
Lightweight design both in the exterior and interior help the vehicle’s 166 kW (226 ps) electric motor propel the urban electric car to 100 km/h in a claimed 6.9 seconds. The battery pack will have energy to give a range of up to 440 kms.
“The CUPRA UrbanRebel will be the biggest project for our company in the upcoming years since it is key for our transformation as a fully electric brand. We are leading the cluster development, the family of vehicles that will democratise sustainable urban mobility, for different brands within the Volkswagen Group,” said Werner Tietz, Vice-President for Research & Development at CUPRA.
During the impulse event, CUPRA’s CEO also hinted at the future versions of the current range which consists of the Leon, Formentor and Born, to be renewed by 2025.
CUPRA, the high-performance subsidiary of Spanish carmaker SEAT, has revealed the design language that will be used for its urban electric vehicle (EV). Instead of just sketches, the company has built a full-sized prototype which it calls the CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept that will be displayed at the IAA Munich International Motor Show this month.
The CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept is designed as a racing car to push the limits in a radical interpretation of an urban electric car. Having a racing car as the basis for the design is because Racing is at the core of CUPRA’s DNA.
New electric car to be launched in 2025
“The CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept is a radical interpretation of the company’s urban electric car, due to be launched in 2025. This racing concept gives an idea of the design language of the future street-car and will inspire its creation” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of CUPRA. “It builds on the design foundations of the 100% electric urban vehicle, that will be launched in 2025.”
This racing version will influence the road version of the urban electric car, but the core elements are enhanced to give the vehicle an even more rebellious character. At the front, the shark nose was created using a negative surface. The front face is also emphasized by the new triangular signature in the headlamps.
Its wraparound window graphic generates the visual effect of a helmet – as in the CUPRA Tavascan Concept – and gives continuity between the windows around the whole car to deliver the effect of a floating roof.
Moving to the side, the car shows athletic proportions, thanks to the wedge line – from the C-pillar to the front door – with diagonal sculptural surfaces., that create tensional contrast. The rear view of shows athletic shoulders, in a new interpretation of the design seen in the CUPRA Formentor.
Influence from virtual world
The rear features an iconic design, thanks to horizontal proportions. On top of that, the large spoiler – usually seen on racing cars seen in the virtual world – gives it an imposing sharp look underlined by the negative surface beneath it.
“The CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept injects a gamification look to the racing car, projecting a radical interpretation of the company’s urban electric car,” said Jorge Diez, CUPRA Design Director. “Each contoured line and sculpted surface in the design is brought to life by a livery that uses kinetic particles to add movement to the surface as light shifts across it.”
Volkwagen MEB platform for EVs
The car’s overall length is 4080 mm, with a width of 1795 mm and height of 1444 mm, which makes is slightly larger than a Volkswagen Polo but smaller than a Golf. It sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB (modular electric drive matrix) platform engineered for EVs. The output for the concept car is said to be 250 kW of continuous power and up to 320 kW at its peak. The factory claim for the 0 to 100 km/h sprint is 3.2 seconds.
Volkswagen Group MEB platform designed for electric vehicles.
The CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept is more than just a preview of a new model for CUPRA. It also involves the rest of the Volkswagen Group, which SEAT is part of. “The urban electric car is a key strategic project not only for our company, but also for the Volkswagen Group, as our aim is to produce more than 500,000 urban electric cars per year in the Martorell factory in Spain for different Group brands. The urban electric car will democratise and make accessible electromobility to the masses,” said Griffiths.
Extreme E is a new off-road series which, like Formula E, will be for all-electric vehicles. Set to start off in January 2021, the series will have 5 rounds in places which have been damaged or affected by climate change. The environments will be Arctic, Desert, Rainforest, Glacier and even Ocean.
While some companies have expressed interest in participating, CUPRA, the high-performance brand of Spanish carmaker SEAT, has confirmed its commitment to the event. CUPRA will collaborate with ABT Sportsline as the racing team’s main partner, and will contribute a team of engineers and drivers.
Electrification and sportiness
“CUPRA and the Extreme E competition hold an identical challenger attitude to prove that electrification and sportiness can be a perfect match. Such partnerships boost our path towards electrification as we will have 2 plug-in hybrid models by the beginning of 2021 and our first all-electric vehicle, the CUPRA el-Born, that will be ready by the second half of next year,.” said President of SEAT & CUPRA, Wayne Griffiths.
CUPRA’s enthusiasm should be a surprise as the brand has already been involved in electrically-powered racing cars. It developed the CUPRA e-Racer which is the world’s first all-electric racing touring car, powered by 4 electric motors that deliver a combined 680 ps/ 960 Nm.
That project helped the brand develop its knowledge base as it continues along the road towards electrification of its passenger vehicle line-up. Now it has the CUPRA Leon plug-in hybrid, which will be followed at the beginning of 2021 by the CUPRA Formentor plug-in hybrid, and then the CUPRA el-Born in the second half of next year.
Crews must have one male, one female
The Extreme E has a gender equal sporting format whereby teams must field one male and one female driver. The first of these is CUPRA e-ambassador, Rally Cross and DTM Champion, Mattias Ekstrom.
Sara Price is one of the drivers in the event, and she will be with the American Chip Ganassi Team.
“Extreme E is a mix of Raid and Rally Cross, racing through very different environments with tracks marked using GPS,” said Ekstrom. “But it holds a lot of promise for developing electric vehicles; collecting data to feedback into cars in areas such as software and regeneration.”
There are a great many areas where know-how can be transferred, that should bring huge developments to future vehicles in areas including driveability, power delivery, chassis setup and steering. Additionally, participating in Extreme E will boost the visibility of the brand.
Where and when
The championship, managed by the same organisation that does Formula E, is recognised as an FIA International Series. At the time of writing, there are 8 teams on the list of participants, with CUPRA being the first carmaker to join.
Extreme E’s will see the participants and their vehicles and equipment going around the world. To provide transport to remote locations, a floating paddock and base has been developed. This is the RMS St. Helena, which will be used to transport the championship’s freight and infrastructure, including vehicles, to the nearest port to each of the 5 locations. This will also minimise Extreme E’s emissions profile as well as facilitating scientific research through an on-board laboratory.
SEAT, like other carmakers (especially in Europe), is steadily making the transition towards electrification, an important move to meet increasingly tough legislative requirements in the years to come. The emission levels are so low that it is necessary to use hybrid powertrains if not all-electric ones to meet them.
Interestingly, however, the Spanish carmaker will launch its first all-electric model next year using its high-performance CUPRA brand rather than the SEAT brand. The reason for this is said ‘to be to change the dynamic perception of electrically-powered vehicles’.
The new electric model will be based on the el-Born Concept which was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019. Since then, the design team and the SEAT Technical Centre have been working on the production model, continuing to evolve the vehicle. Some of the changes they have made have given it a sportier character and an even more impressive visual appeal.
“CUPRA el-Born displays all the genes of the CUPRA brand and we have taken the original concept to the next level creating a new sporty and dynamic design and reengineering the technological content. CUPRA el-Born is the living proof that performance and electrification are a great match,” said CUPRA CEO Wayne Griffiths.
The SEAT el-BORN concept which was displayed in Geneva last year.
The performance and dynamics of the CUPRA el-Born have been a clear focus during the development of the car, and acceleration from 0 – 50 km/h will be within 2.9 seconds. The Dynamic Chassis Control Sport (DCC Sport), which has been exclusively developed within the VW Group MEB platform for the CUPRA el-Born, combines the low driving height of the car with a system that is adapting automatically to any conditions, offering a superior level of driving dynamics.
For now, the company will reveal that the el-Born will have features such as Head-up Display with Augmented Reality and a range of up to 500 kms on a fully charged battery pack. The 77 kWh battery pack can be fast-charged within 30 minutes which will provide at least 260 kms of range, it is claimed.
The interior is designed to encapsulate the CUPRA philosophy of quality and performance mixed with sophistication. This is highlighted in the sports bucket seats, the steering wheel with Drive Profile Selection and CUPRA mode buttons, and high-quality material choices. CUPRA puts a particular focus on the sustainability of the el-Born using recycled materials in the interior of the car.
The Volkswagen Group factory in Zwickau, Germany, will produce electric vehicles for the various brands, including SEAT and CUPRA.
The model will be manufactured at the Volkswagen Group factory (SEAT is part of the Group) in Zwickau, Germany. This factory has been renovated and configured to produce electric vehicles for the Group’s different brands from 2021. It will have a production capacity of up to 330,000 electric vehicles a year.
All types of sounds can be heard around us. Even if they are not man-made (like from cars or parties), there is still the sound of the wind or the rustle of leaves. For almost total quietness, you need to go to Chile’s Atacama Desert or Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina where the only sounds you can hear are the flapping of penguins’ wings and the ice sheets cracking.
Total quietness is hard to achieve in urban environments and it is only inside specially-designed facilities called anechoic chambers that extreme silence is possible. In the Guinness records list, an anechoic chamber owned by Microsoft in America has sound measurements down to s -20.16 decibels. The sound made by air molecules bumping off each other measures -24 decibels.
Car manufacturers also have anechoic chambers as they need the quietness to make their vehicles quieter. The SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell, Spain has such a facility, specifically designed to measure the sounds and noises made by a car with the utmost precision and without any interference.
The ‘temple of silence’
An anechoic chamber is designed with a system called ‘Box in box’ and as the name indicates, it features several layers of concrete and steel that isolate it from the exterior. The inside has cladding material that absorbs 95% of sound waves to prevent echoes and reverberations. People who have been in such chambers say they can sometimes hear the blood flowing through their veins or the air circulating in their lungs.
It is so quiet inside an anechoic chamber that you can sometimes hear blood flowing in your veins!
From the engine or the turning wheels to the door closing, the ventilation system and when a seat reclines, noises will emanate. The list of noises made by a car is endless, and they are all analysed in the chamber.
Creating harmony in noises
“On one hand, we measure the level of unpleasantness of the noises and check that they are reduced to a minimum; on the other, we make sure that the noises we do want to hear, the ones that refer to the operation of the vehicle, are perfectly defined. Finally, we work on making them harmonious,” explained Ignacio Zabala, Head of the Acoustics department at SEAT.
Engineers and technicians pay close attention to the engine and the exhaust system, as they give a car its ‘voice’. Many of the sounds made by a car convey information – like the unmistakeable clicking of the turn signal indicators, which let us know without checking that they are blinking. But not only do the engine and exhaust noises inform us of when to shift gears or the speed of acceleration, they also give an insight into the character of a model.
“We all know what the roar of a sporty engine sounds like, and that’s why we verify that it conveys what we want it to in the anechoic chamber” said Zabala.
Hertz, decibels and psychoacoustics
Inside the room, specialists perform recordings with different highly sensitive microphones. One is binaural and features a torso with ear-level microphones to obtain representative recordings of what occupants hear. They place it in different positions to verify that each sound analysed is heard as it should be from any angle.
Several analysis tools are used and the most basic include volume or spectral distribution, to other more technical parameters such as the field of psychoacoustics, or the subjective perception of sound.
“It’s no use having a car that is fully insulated from the exterior if the ventilation system sounds too loud. That’s why it’s important to reduce noise and define sounds to achieve a harmonious balance among them,” he explained further. He added that that the goal is that the vehicle occupants feel as comfortable as possible, because ‘acoustics have a direct impact on comfort and are determining factors in the perception of vehicle quality’.
Nobody can see it, but it is a factor in a car’s fuel consumption, safety and comfort. It’s called aerodynamics, or the study of how air moves around solid objects. In the automotive world, its application is very practical: reducing a car’s resistance to wind. And all this is tested in its ‘temple’, the wind tunnel. This is how it works.
A hurricane in the room
Typically, prototypes are placed in the middle of a chamber, securely kept to the floor. Huge fans generate airflow and the vehicles can face winds of up to 300 km/h while sensors study their individual surfaces.
The air travels in a circular motion, depending on the size of the rotor and blades. Needless to say, when it’s blowing at full power, no one will be allowed inside the chamber as they would literally get blown out of it.
The car’s resistance data is displayed on the computer screens. Hundreds of numbers to be interpreted and compared to even the smallest variable to improve aerodynamics. Every millimetre of each part is key, since it is not only possible to reduce consumption, but also to increase stability, comfort and safety.
Shaping to go faster
Wind tunnels, while primarily used for development of future models, are also valuable for racing cars. While the goal in aerodynamic efficiency for production models is to lower fuel consumption and improve stability, when it comes to racing cars, optimising the bodywork to achieve higher speeds is the aim.
The performance of rear wings, for example, can be optimised for the best downforce.
CUPRA Racing’s Head of Technical Development, Xavi Serra, explains: “We want the new CUPRA Leon Competicion to have less air resistance and more grip when cornering. First, they will have to compete against the wind. Here we measure the parts on a 1:1 scale with the real aerodynamic loads and we can simulate the real contact with the road. This gives us the result of how the car will perform on the track.”
235 km/h standing still
The facilities where the CUPRA engineers test their prototypes are among the most complete and innovative. They have a special feature that makes the tests seem as if they are made in near-real conditions. However, instead of the car travelling at up to 235 km/h, the same effects are achieved by making the air travel at those speeds.
“The most important thing is that we can simulate the road. The wheels turn thanks to electric motors that move belts under the car,” said Wind Tunnel engineer Stefan Auri.
After hundreds of measurements, the results are compared with the car’s previous generation. “In this sense we’re satisfied; we’ve lowered the drag and improved the downforce, so it’s more efficient than the previous model, which will give us better lap times on the track,” said Xavi, adding that the data obtained will also be used to improve the new CUPRA models.
Supercomputer crunches numbers
The wind tunnel is not the only tool for improving aerodynamics. Supercomputing also plays a key role. When a model is in the early stages of development and there is not yet a prototype to study in a wind tunnel, 40,000 laptops working in unison are put to the service of aerodynamics. This is the MareNostrum 4 supercomputer, the most powerful in Spain and the seventh in Europe. Scientists around the world use it to carry out all kinds of simulations, and in the case of a collaboration project with SEAT, its computing power is used to battle the wind.
If you follow news (and who does not?) about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has swept the planet, you will read about the urgent need by hospitals in every country for medical equipment. The number of cases has been growing very, very fast – in some countries, it doubles every 3 days. Thousands of patients now require intensive care as their condition has become worse. No country was prepared for a crisis of such a scale and so the equipment and facilities were not more than what was thought to be sufficient for the population.
Ventilators are one of the items that are crucial as the patients suffering from COVID-19 have breathing difficulties. The virus attacks their lungs and they need assisted air intake otherwise they will not have enough air for their body. Ventilators can provide such assistance and companies around the world with the capability have been racing to develop and then make ventilators.
SEAT uses its engineering expertise
SEAT, the Spanish carmaker, is one of the companies that has developed automated ventilators with its expertise. Its engineers developed a total of 13 different prototypes were tested before the final design was agreed upon. The team is now testing the ventilators in collaboration with the local healthcare authority to get approval for mass production.
Parts from SEAT cars have been adapted for use in the ventilators.
The ventilators – made up of 80 electronic and mechanical components – utilize adapted windscreen wiper motors, gearbox shafts and printed gears. Each ventilator will undergo a thorough quality control check with ultraviolet light sterilization before being shipped out.
The facility where the ventilators will be made produces the new Leon model. 150 employees from different areas will work on modified workstations. “Taking an assembly line that manufactures subframes, a car part, and adapting it to make ventilators has been a lengthy, difficult job involving many areas of the company, and we managed to do it in the record time of one week,” said Sergio Arreciado, a member of SEAT’s Process Engineering team.
Lamborghini makes masks and face shields
Meanwhile, Lamborghini has converted its super sportscar production plant to produce surgical masks and protective plexiglass shields. The masks will be donated to a hospital in Bologna, Italy for the use of healthcare personnel.
Work is carried out by personnel of the saddlery that produce the interiors and specialty customization for Lamborghini cars, producing 1,000 masks a day. The medical shields will be produced as a rate of 200 units a day, using 3D printers within the carbonfibre production plant and the R&D department.
“During this emergency, we feel the need to make a concrete contribution. The S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital is an institution with which we have had a collaborative relationship for years, through both professional consultancy in promoting programs to protect our workers’ health, and in research projects. We will win this battle together by working in union, supporting those who are at the forefront of fighting this pandemic every day,” said Stefano Domenicali, Chairman & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
SEAT, the Spanish carmaker that is part of the Volkswagen Group, has unveiled the all-new Leon which will have its public launching in Geneva in March. Over 2.2 million units have been sold since it was added to the SEAT range in 1999 and, like the latest Volkswagen Golf 8 and Skoda Octavia 4, it sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB Evo platform.
“The SEAT Leon has been improving generation after generation being able to conquer new customers. In 2019, the Leon was the best-selling car for SEAT with more than 150,900 vehicles delivered, as well as being the best-selling car in Spain during the past 5 years,” said SEAT’s Executive Vice-President for Sales & Marketing and CUPRA CEO, Wayne Griffiths. “We have now created the best Leon ever. The new Leon has been designed keeping the ‘created in Barcelona’ spirit and at the same time being the safest, most connected and with the widest range of engines the brand has ever seen. We believe we have all the ingredients to make of the new Leon a great choice not only for private customers but also for corporate fleets.”
The new Leon is available in 5-door hatchback and estate (below) bodystyles.
Evolutionary approach to design
The exterior design takes an evolutionary approach that enhances the volume and proportions of the vehicle, with the increased wheelbase which translates to 49 mm extra legroom for rear occupants, and length for both the 5-door and the Estate. The form was specifically developed to enhance overall efficiency with improved aerodynamics that have the drag coefficient (Cd) lowered by around 8% compared to the previous generation.
Typical of Spanish design philosophy, the car’s appearance has a lot of personality, with a stronger three-dimensional connection between the grille and headlights together. The headlights are set back, giving it deeper focus while making it instantly recognisable. The body surfaces have evolved, with stronger shapes creating more shift in the light and colour tone across the body, which together create a more elegant design.
The new Leon gets the latest in lighting technology, with the cold white light colour of the LEDs provide superior luminosity of up to 900 lumens, (standard LEDS provide up to 550 lumens), thanks to the packing of 22 LEDs per module. There is integration of all the dipped beam, high beam and daytime running lights. Dynamic indicators more clearly show car’s intended direction of travel when turning, apart from being eye-catching features.
Functionality, minimalism and sleekness
Inside, the evolutionary theme continues with a clear emphasis on functionality, minimalism and sleekness. The smooth-surfaced, slim yet wide dashboard gives the appearance of lightness and appears to float. The effect is created with the help of the decorative mouldings that surround the dashboard and continue through into the front doors.
The cabin has been ergonomically designed to increase comfort, with everything within decluttered, reducing the number of physical buttons to a minimum, with a focus on the main infotainment screen, which includes gesture recognition, providing all key interaction and commands from the occupants.
Interior light is an important feature of the all-new Leon. It includes a wraparound dashboard light that covers its entire width and continues through the doors. It’s not only an ambient decorative light, but it also provides a number of key functions including blind spot detection.
A fully connected car
The Leon is declared as the brand’s first fully connected car, interfacing extensively with the more digitalised world. At the heart of the interior is the SEAT Digital Cockpit which brings together a high-resolution 10.25-inch configurable driver instrument cluster and 10-inch infotainment system. Its ‘diagonal’ graphic design positioning gets inspiration from the Diagonal avenue of Barcelona, the home city of the company. It’s also the first time that the design interface has been created at the new SEAT Digital Lab.
A new voice recognition system enables a natural understanding of language to allow the user to interact with the infotainment system using natural commands, making corrections and referencing previous commands. With the Full Link system, the occupants can connect their smartphones and access their digital data no matter what device they use – either wireless Apple CarPlay (based on Bluetooth or WLAN) or Android Auto using a cabled connection.
The built-in eSIM delivers the eCall service which has been required on all new cars since April 2018. This service directly contacts emergency services should an incident occur. At the same time, the system transmits vital data to the emergency services such as the car’s location (based on GPS data), engine type, and number of passengers.
Car2X connectivity is a cloud-based technology that enables drivers to receive advanced warning on the status of upcoming traffic lights or an incident on a motorway further up the road, with traffic information appearing in real-time on the screen.
Wide range of powertrains
Besides petrol (TSI) and diesel (TDI) engines, customers can also have mild-hybrid (eTSI) and plug-in hybrid (eHybrid) powertrains. Transmissions available are both 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DSG (direct shift gearbox) transmission. The DSG automatic transmission now benefits from shift-by-wire technology. The system is designed so that the gear selector is no longer mechanically connected to the gearbox, instead using electronic signals to indicate a shift.
The petrol engines are all direct-injection, turbocharged units with outputs between 110 ps and 190 ps. These include a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder unit as well as a 1.5-litre TSI 4-cylinder unit. Both engines use a Miller-cycle combustion process and variable geometry turbocharger to ensure performance and efficiency, as does the integrated Active Cylinder Management.
There are 2 diesel powertrain options, both 2.0 litre TDI units, with outputs of 115 ps and 150 ps. The turbodiesel engines introduce a new Selective Catalytic Reduction system that includes dual AdBlue injectors to significantly reduce NOx emissions compared to previous generation diesel engines.
As for the Mild Hybrid (eTSI) powertrains, these employ the 1.0 TSI and 1.5 litre TSI petrol engines which are mated to a 48V starter-generator, with energy from a lithium-ion battery pack. The car can coast (no pedal input from the driver) with the engine switched off (while retaining all key electric functions, such as power steering), harvest energy under deceleration and provide electrical torque assistance during acceleration.
The eHybrid variant is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and this uses a 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine with the electric motor, a 13-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and 6-speed DSG transmission. The system output is 204 ps and recharging a totally empty battery pack to 100% is said to take less than 3.5 hours. The PHEV Leon can run on electric power only with a claimed range of 60 kms.
Highly-developed assistance systems
The latest Leon is the safest vehicle the brand has ever developed, the carmaker declares. The safety systems see more of its surroundings and react to obstacles on the road or sudden movements by other drivers, thanks to the integration of a suite of updated and completely new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The new technologies continually sense the environment to offer the optimum protection whatever the scenario.
Predictive Adaptive Cruise Control (PACC) and Emergency Assist 3.0 protect the vehicle and its occupants while driving or stationary. PACC uses feeds from GPS data delivered from the navigation system and input from the front-mounted camera and Traffic Sign Recognition, allowing it to proactively adjust the cruising speed depending on the road layout ahead (bends, roundabouts, junctions, changes in speed limits and built-up areas). This reduces the requirement for driver input and also sudden speed changes and manoeuvres.
Production of the new model has started at the SEAT factory but prices are unlikely to be announced till March. However, like Skoda, SEAT products would be slightly cheaper than equivalent Volkswagen models.
The Endurance World Touring Car Race of Malaysia is happening this weekend, and it is shaping up to be quite a spectacle for motorsport fans. Teams from all over the globe are taking part, and if you have never followed any WTCR race, then you know what to do this weekend as it is something to behold.
But in the weeks leading up to the race, we were given special access to a Malaysian team that will also be taking part in the WTCR. But besides that, has also impressed on the global motorsport arena by racing in Road to Le Mans (yes, THE Le Mans in France) in an LMP3 race car.
But the ultimate feather in the team hat is actually winning at the WTCR race at Spa in Belgium. Yes, the all Malaysian team won! So these guys mean serious business and don’t just do it because they have money to throw around. This is serious business for them.
And this time, I found myself sitting next to Douglas Khoo, owner and driver of the team, as we set out in the Seat Cupra, the same car the team will be racing this weekend.
A road going Seat Cupra (pronounced as Si-Yat) is not that impressive of a car, a fine workhorse no less, but not quite a head turner. But in pure race form, it is a mighty race car.
To comply with regulations, the engine has to be kept standard while the sequential gearbox is supplied by Sadev.
Grip is enormous and the car is kept stuck to the tarmac by the masses of aero wings all round the car.
Now I have been around Sepang on plenty of fast cars, but have never quite been flung into a corner the way Douglas did with his Cupra. The bloody thing just did not let up. Well, we did spin once, but that’s probably because I was laughing too loud and encouraging Douglas not to brake as hard into a corner. Terrible passenger, I am.
There is no doubt that Douglas Khoo is one of Malaysia’s finest driving talents. The five-year touring car veteran boasts racing experience in the TCR Asia Series, TCR International Series, TCR Thailand Series, Asian Le Mans Series, Blancpain GT Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup as well as two stints at the Sepang 12-hour Endurance Race. So it comes as no surprise that he was awarded one of the three wildcard entries into this weekend’s World Touring Car series.
Competing against 30 of the world’s best touring car drivers representing seven manufacturers: Hyundai, Seat, Lynk & Co, Audi, Volkswagen, Honda and Alfa Romeo, Viper-Niza heads into the weekend with a serious advantage – home ground advantage.
The team has terabytes of data to rely on, and the proven expertise of its drivers, so the weekend is shaping up to be extremely exciting, and we would like to wish the team the best. We leave you with a short video of our onboard experience with Douglas Khoo and his Seat Cupra.
