Cupra Leon 2023 review: VZe

There's lots to unpack here.

SEAT started in 1950 as a venture between Fiat, the Spanish government and some private banks, until VW took over in 1986 and turned it into a youth-baiting value brand. Think pre-current Kia positioning.

Meanwhile, Cupra ­– a portmanteau of Cup Racing – had began as SEAT's competition arm earlier that decade. And there's been a Leon (referencing both ‘lion' and a city in Spain) based on every Golf since the latter's Mk4 iteration, making this generation numero cuatro.

Halve that figure and you end up with the number of small-car PHEVs left in Australia – Cupra's and another big-cat evoking Euro, the Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV, costing a few grand more than the VZe from $64,990, before on-road costs.

These high prices are clearly hurdles for Australian small-car buyers. Even Mercedes-Benz recently axed the slow-selling A250e due to a lack of buyer interest. Kia dropped the Niro PHEV. And Hyundai canned the Ioniq PHEV.

The wheels are equally pretty.

So, why are these types of cars so expensive, then?

The Leon and 308 feature a turbo-petrol engine, backed up by a small motor and a battery pack that's large enough to provide a claimed 67km of electric-only range in the Cupra's case. On paper at least.

That's more than the cheaper non-plug-in hybrid alternatives like the wildly-popular Toyota Corolla and superb Honda Civic e:HEV can manage.

So, besides exclusivity and two powertrains, what does the Leon VZe give you for your circa-$65K drive-away ask?

On the safety front, you'll find the now-usual driver-assist items like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-support systems and adaptive cruise control, as well as 10 airbags including a nifty front-centre item. More on this in the safety section below.

Buyers also score LED headlights, auto high beams, and fog lights with cornering function.

Buyers also score LED headlights, auto high beams, fog lights with cornering function, adaptive dampers, tyre-pressure monitors, a reverse camera, electronic instrumentation, three-zone climate control, variable-ratio steering, keyless entry/start, satellite navigation, wireless phone charging as well as wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

There's also rear privacy glass, four USB-C ports, sports front seats, a heated steering wheel, paddle shifters, ambient lighting, powered/heated exterior mirrors as well as 19-inch alloy wheels and a tyre repair kit. No spare wheel is offered.

The pricier 308 PHEV has most of these plus Matrix LED lighting, Nappa leather upholstery, panoramic opening sunroof, heated/massaging front seats, 360-degree surround-view vision and a digital radio, but has smaller (18-inch) alloys and no adaptive dampers.

Like its name and multimedia screen, this enigmatic hatchback needs some decoding to make sense to Australians.

Our test car was fitted with the 'Leather Package' that adds $2050 to the price, ushering in leather upholstery, heated front seats with driver's side power and memory, premium audio and dash-top stitching, while the sunroof costs $1800 more.

These take the VZe north of $65,000 drive-away. That's pure-EV territory. Little wonder buyers baulk at PHEV small cars in Australia.

Once standard setters, VW interiors have copped flak lately, losing the lead they once enjoyed in terms of perceived quality and functionality. A big backward step.

Within this context, the Leon's cabin is as aesthetically appealing as the exterior's, with lots of interesting angles and textures set within a broadly familiar VW-corporate multi-level dashboard design and presentation.

Most of the basics are largely fine, too. From the superbly enveloping front bucket seats and commanding driving position, to excellent ventilation and plenty of storage, there's much to commend.

The same goes for the moody, techy ambience, though it's closer to ‘chilled Audi' than ‘zesty Latin' in flavour.

Directly ahead of the driver is a 10.25-inch instrument cluster, offering several combinations of vehicle speed/operation and multimedia views.

The rear bench accommodates three people, though the middle passenger sits higher and has limited legroom due to the rear of the centre console intruding into their space.

Some of it looks good, some suffers from info-overload, but at least it's all configurable. Pick your favourite. And build quality seems up to scratch, too.

Like the Golf, there's also above-average space for longer legs and outstretched arms, while – after having to duck down a bit to get in – head and shoulder room are sufficient.

Selecting gears is a matter of manipulating a charmless stubby toggle. It works well enough, but remember when VW Group owners could interact with a Tiptronic-style lever and feel more immersed in the driving process? Memories.

That's replaced by paddle shifters, a divisive substitute that's of debatable merit in an electrified vehicle such as this, since they would serve better as regenerative braking controls.

But that's only the beginning of the confusion that ensues in the Cupra.

Reach for the 12-inch touchscreen to scroll through your many and varied media options, try and figure out the trip computer or search for an odometer reading, and any goodwill earned will be severely curtailed by just how needlessly complicated these and other once-simple tasks have become.

Plus, frustratingly, our particular car's multimedia system would just switch off mid-operation. This is not good.

We're certain time and familiarity will help make sense of working out where everything is and how to access vehicle functions located within layers of that touchscreen's myriad menus, but it is distracting and complicated.

And how is it that we could not find how to switch on nighttime illumination for the climate controls? In a week we failed to find that answer. And who ever green-lit fiddly slide controls over good old buttons? It's maddeningly frustrating.

Moving to the back seat, the Leon makes up some ground.

Two larger adults should settle into the outboard positions comfortably and snugly, aided by a pair of rear-facing air vents accompanied by a climate-control panel, two USB-C ports, a folding centre armrest with cupholders, ski-port access to the boot and useful storage via door bins and map pockets. There's even enough space for a third, smaller passenger to squeeze in between.

Further back, while the boot floor is long and flat and with a large tailgate opening to aid loading stuff in and out, the actual cargo capacity is just 270 litres, or nearly one-third down on the regular petrol Leon grades' 380L offering. This is due to the battery pack and related EV gubbins.

The Leon’s cabin is as aesthetically appealing as the exterior’s, with lots of interesting angles and textures set within a broadly familiar VW-corporate multi-level dashboard design and presentation.

Speaking of which, if you need to carry charging cables there's nowhere to properly store them other than in the main boot area. And don't forget, there's no spare wheel.

At least there's a sturdy parcel shelf to keep prying eyes from seeing what you're carting around.

The VZe's interior, then, is spacious and broadly sensibly executed, but is let down – and mostly unnecessarily so – by some of the details. We strongly recommend trying before buying.

Under the Leon VZe's bonnet is a variation of the German parent brand's familiar 1395cc 1.4-litre direct-injection four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, driving the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

This Euro 6-rated unit produces 110kW of power between 5000-6000rpm and 250Nm of torque from 1550-3500rpm.

Meanwhile, the 85kW/330Nm electric motor also nestled under there is fed by a 12.8kWh Lithium-ion battery pack slung out back. The system outputs combined produce 180kW and 400Nm.

The Leon and 308 feature a turbo-petrol engine, backed up by a small motor and a battery pack that’s large enough to provide a claimed 67km of electric-only range in the Cupra's case.

Weighing in at 1634kg (tare), the VZe's power-to-weight ratio is an impressive 110kW per tonne, explaining this portly small car's feisty 6.7 second dash in the 0-100km/h sprint. However, once the battery is depleted, that drops to a much-more mundane 67.3kW/tonne.

Based on VW's 'MQB Evo' modular transverse engine architecture, the Leon features a sports-tuned MacPherson-style strut set-up up front and a multi-link rear end, while adaptive dampers and variable-ratio electric power steering are also fitted.

Cupra says the combined cycle average fuel consumption figure is a startling 1.8 litres per 100km, equating to just 40 grams per kilometre of carbon-dioxide emissions. The electricity consumption claim is 11.2kWh/100km.

Out in the real world, we averaged 5.9L/100km pump-to-pump, while the car's trip computer read 5.5L. This is a disappointment.

It must be all those extra kilos the VZe has to carry around, as most of our driving was inner-urban or casual freeway cruising. The stop/start system was working overtime once that battery depleted.

We managed fewer than 40km of pure-electric driving, against a WLTP rating of 52km.

We managed fewer than 40km of pure-electric driving, against a WLTP rating of 52km (or 67km using the more-lenient NEDC number Cupra quotes), with the trip computer telling us we were averaging 5.9kWh/100km – a figure likely achieved in hybrid mode with the petrol engine chiming in.

Charging times vary, with the 12.8kWh battery needing between six and eight hours plugged in at home, or about four hours using a 7.0kW AC charger via the Type 2 connector. No DC rapid charging ability is available.

Filling up the 40L fuel tank with the required 95 RON premium unleaded petrol and giving the VZe the benefit of the doubt by using the official fuel consumption average of 1.8L/100km to find out its PHEV range, you could theoretically achieve 2220km between refills.

Or about one-third of that by our real-world experience.

Tested in 2021, the Leon range achieved an ANCAP crash-test rating of five stars.

The VZe is fitted with 10 airbags – dual front, side chest, side head, driver knee and a front centre item; the latter is there to help reduce occupant-collision injury in lateral impacts.

On the driver assist tech side of things, the AEB includes pedestrian, cyclist and reversing detection, and there's 'Lane Assist', park assist, blind-spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert with exit warning, a driver-fatigue monitor, emergency assist and tyre pressure monitors.

Tested in 2021, the Leon range achieved an ANCAP crash-test rating of five stars.

The AEB is operational between 5.0km/h and 250km/h. Likewise, the lane-support systems kick in between 65-250km/h.

The VZe is also fitted with electronic stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes with brake assist and electronic brake-force distribution, adaptive cruise control, an alarm, auto on/off LED headlights with auto high beam, cornering driving lights, front and rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers and a rear-view camera.

Plus, the outboard rear seats include ISOFIX child restraint anchors as well as three top tethers for top straps.