Volkswagen Golf vs Cupra Leon

What's the difference?

Eight generations over more than half a century qualifies the Volkswagen Golf as an automotive icon, standing on the shoulders of its original beetle-shaped ancestor.

It remains one of the world’s favourite cars and this 110TSI Life version is the entry-point to the local model line-up, the latest ‘8.5’ version of which arrived here just over 12 months ago.

It sits in a hotly contested small-car category, appealing to those with a preference for a conventional hatch and pure internal-combustion power.

In an automotive world now dominated by increasingly electrified SUVs, we spent a week behind the wheel to see how it shapes up as an urban specialist with occasional open road ability.   

Cupra is not trying to fit in.

In a car market that is getting more and more crowded the Volkswagen Group-owned Spanish performance brand is looking to stand out. Which is why its refreshed Leon hatchback range has added the most unlikely of new models - a small wagon.

The conventional hatchback is struggling to survive against the onslaught of SUVs, and almost every brand has abandoned the wagon in all its sizes, but not Cupra. It has added the Leon Sportstourer to its facelifted Leon hatchback range, giving buyers looking for something different a new alternative.

This new compact wagon is powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain and joins the Leon hatch in a three-pronged line-up initially, with the Leon S mild-hybrid and VZx hot hatch. A red hot VZx version of the Sportstourer and plug-in hybrid hatch are locked in to join the local Cupra range in 2026, but for now we’ll focus on this trio.