Seat Leon Cupra 280 gets go-faster performance pack

The Seat Leon Cupra 280 is now available in the UK with a performance pack to tie-in with the Spanish manufacturer's recent assault on the lap record for front-wheel-drive cars at the Nürburgring.

The 'Sub8 Performance Pack' – first seen in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed – is priced at £2025. The upgrade isn't available for retro-fitting to existing customers' cars, but can be specified at the time of order.   

The optional equipment includes uprated brakes. At 370mm, the discs are 30mm larger than the stoppers fitted to the standard Leon Cupra 280, and come with Brembo four-piston callipers.

To accommodate the larger brakes, the pack also includes a special design of 19-inch alloy wheels available in either black or orange, while the final additions are side skirts in the same colour as the car's body.

Earlier this year, the Leon Cupra 280 dipped under the eight-minute standard for a lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. At the time its 7min 58.4sec effort became the fastest time for a front-wheel-drive production car, but Renault wrested back the record with a 7min 54.3sec lap in the Mégane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R in May.

To qualify as an authentic production car, Seat must make the go-faster parts fitted to the lap record car available to the public. With that in mind Seat is also making the car available with semi-slick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres at £460 for a set.

Another new optional addition for the Leon Cupra 280 are bucket seats for the front occupants. The new seats feature a one-piece head restraint and come clad in black Alcantara with 'simil leather' bolsters and white accents.

They cost £1250, and the price includes the Winter Pack, which comprises heated front seats and a headlight washer system with heated front washer nozzles.

Seat has also revealed details of two new Cupra colour packs for the Leon. Two shades, labelled Black-Line and White-Line, will be available initially, with a further pack named Orange-Line to follow in December.

Costing £500 including VAT, the embellishments are available to order now, and include Cupra 19-inch alloy wheels, door mirrors, Cupra tailgate lettering and a front grille surround all picked out in either black or white, according to the chosen pack. Black rear side spoilers also feature, regardless of the pack colour. 

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