Car review: The Cupra Leon Sportstourer is a well-rounded performance vehicle

The Cupra Leon Hatchback we tested a few weeks back offers up a great amount of power and usability for its price. Plus, it has a distinctive badge to boot. But if you're looking for something that can offer just a little more still, Cupra can still oblige.

Enter the Cupra Leon Sportstourer.

A little more special

With estates still less popular than their hatch/sedan counterparts here in Singapore, those that opt for this Sportstourer are sure to standout at the parking lot.

A mere 5mm height and 259mm length difference may separate the two cars, but that elongated rear and the addition of roof rails is enough to visually lower the car.

And finished in this Metallic Midnight Black, the Sportstourer has, to my eyes, just the right amount visual aggression befitting of an exotic estate, while still being restrained enough so you can attend more sombre events without looking out of place.

A little faster

But its more than just a different body with the Sportstourer. Opting for the estate is the only way you can net the top-of-the-line drive train offered for the Cupra Leon.

It's a 306bhp output in the estate, a 10bhp bump over the hatchback, and comes with all-wheel drive instead, enough to net you a 4.9 second century sprint time, as opposed to the 5.7 seconds necessary to complete the same in the hatch.

And the drive train pairs well with the practical suite you'd expect from an estate. If it is hard charging performance you're after, the engine is strong low down in the rev range, frantic up top, and still delivers all the exhaust burble as well as the pops and bangs of the hatchback.

The 4Drive all-wheel drive system works well, keeping the Sportstourer feeling planted, even when you're tossing it through a set of corners.

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Meanwhile, if you want to simply take your Sportstourer on a more causal drive, it will also happily oblige. Simply set it into its 'Comfort' mode and all that drama becomes decently muted.

The seven-speed dual-clutch willingly obliges by keeping the rpms to a minimum, and the ride from the Adaptive Chassis Control system is more than pliant enough for comfortable everyday use once set into the softer end of the 15 settings available.

Driven as so, you can expect fuel consumption to average 8.4km/L, not far off the 9.4km/L I managed in the Cupra Leon Hatchback.

A little more practical

Of course, you also get more carrying capacity with the Sportstourer. Boot space, at 620-litres, is now not only 240 litres above that of the Cupra Leon Hatchback. The space is both wide and deep, so you should not have any trouble fitting bulky items here.

And if it is passengers you're looking to carry, there's no need to fret either. The rear bench is still spacious enough to house two comfortably, wherein they also will get the option to adjust their air-conditioning as they desire, charge their phones both via USB, and get entertained by a 340W Beats premium sound system.

Speaking of which, the sound system not only offers four different sound profiles, but you get the ability to save individual equaliser settings for each as well, so you can get your favourite tracks exactly as you like it.

Just a little more pricey

At $220,999 (as of July 3, 2021), the Sportstourer can be yours at a $15,000 premium on top of the Cupra Leon Hatchback. For a car with the performance and with as wide a breadth of ability as this, that should be an easy price to swallow.

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This article was first published in sgCarMart.