Cupra Leon 2020

[monkeyhanger]

I don't remember anyone dreading the MK7 coming because it was looking a bit ugly on paper. It was very well received - maybe because everyone was glad that the reign of the fugly MK5 facelift that was the MK6 was at an end?

[Exonian]

I don't remember anyone dreading the MK7 coming because it was looking a bit ugly on paper. It was very well received - maybe because everyone was glad that the reign of the fugly MK5 facelift that was the MK6 was at an end?

I actually really liked the mk6 design, it wasn’t that ugly! The mk6R was a really good looking car.

But no, the mk7 wasn’t badly received even in prototype form. Plenty of light criticism of details but generally well received and the GTI/D models instantly popular with the GTD  selling in big numbers from the off.

The mk7 was never as roundly disliked like the mk8 has been.


Back on topic though, it’s interesting that they’ve taken a change of direction with the previously hardcore hot hatch VAG ‘brand’ now marketing 1.4 hybrids which must’ve been a marketing dilemma whether that model should have been more suited to SEAT FR badging.
Fake pipes on a Cupra?!  Sorry but no.

Watching a Spanish language YouTube vid of the freshly unveiled Cupra Leon earlier today, it’s curious to see the exhaust pipes are lifted straight from the Golf 7.5R estate on the Leon estate proving that this generation is just a heavy facelift with added tech, and lower quality materials being across all the VW group marques (I’ve seen reports on the A3 saying much of it is a step down from current generation).
There are some spectacularly ugly Cupra Leon wheel designs too going from the launch vid.

So what do we have? An uglier new Leon, a very ugly new Golf, no improvements in power output other than GTE and GTD equivalents, cheaper switchgear and plastics, spyware akin to Facebook, google and Amazon built in to the ‘assistive’ gadgets...

I hate being negative but am struggling to find positives.

Oh, I quite like the grey paint. There, that’ll do.

[SRGTD]

I don't remember anyone dreading the MK7 coming because it was looking a bit ugly on paper. It was very well received - maybe because everyone was glad that the reign of the fugly MK5 facelift that was the MK6 was at an end?

I actually really liked the mk6 design, it wasn’t that ugly! The mk6R was a really good looking car.

But no, the mk7 wasn’t badly received even in prototype form. Plenty of light criticism of details but generally well received and the GTI/D models instantly popular with the GTD  selling in big numbers from the off.

The mk7 was never as roundly disliked like the mk8 has been. 

So what do we have? An uglier new Leon, a very ugly new Golf, no improvements in power output other than GTE and GTD equivalents, cheaper switchgear and plastics, spyware akin to Facebook, google and Amazon built in to the ‘assistive’ gadgets...

I hate being negative but am struggling to find positives.

Oh, I quite like the grey paint. There, that’ll do.

I had both a mk5 and mk6 Golf and I also preferred the mk6 design. Side and front profile of the mk5 was OK but and I always thought the mk5 rear looked odd; too ‘round’ and blobby, and the lower section of the rear bumper looked cheap and nasty - a large deep matt black plastic section that looks as if it’d been added at the last minute as an afterthought. IMO Interior plastics on the mk5 weren’t great either. Just my opinion though .

Back on topic; neither the new Leon nor the Cupra Leon have won universal praise over on seatcupra.net forum. Most of the comments are quite negative, and very few forum members like the touchscreen overloaded interior.

In terms of styling; IMO, both the mk7/mk7.5 Golf and the outgoing mk3 Leon are good looking cars; I liked both of them from the outset. Sadly, I can’t say the same of the mk8 Golf and mk4 Leon, although I agree Mr Ex, the new Leon isn’t as ugly as the new Golf

[monkeyhanger]

For me, the MK5 GT Sport and GTI looked a lot more aggressive than the MK6 (the MK6 GTI/GTD had better looking front seats than the MK5 or MK7). The Scirocco seemed a far more attractive option.

My Polo GTI+ has cheaper door cards (no rubberised top of the card to match the rubbery dash top, the grab handles are very plain) than the Golf MK7, I took that to be because the Golf has got to stand a little higher as a "premium" product. The new A1 doesn't have any better door cards than the Polo.

I suspect than the Golf's new interior will be a little less plush than the current MK7.5's. It seems to be the way VW are going when you have the T-Roc in the same price range as the MK7.5 with some seriously cheap materials being used in the cabin.

People do see the Golf as a premium mid sized hatch. If VW start making the tactile, easily noticeable stuff feel cheap, that image will be shattered.

How much more can it cost to make MK7.5 standard door cards vs Ford Focus standard door cards? £20 to add £100 to the RRP? My perception is that giving a plush interior is probably the cheapest way to project a premium image.

I haven't pored through the MK8 specs and equipment for a direct comparison, but the MK8 equivalent of the 7.5 Match 150TDI is about 11% more expensive. I think we'll be lucky to see a standard spec MK8 R creep under the premium car VED threshold.

[st33ly]

I agree with the above. I sat in a T-ROC R in the show room last month. I actually cannot stand this Super mini SUV type vehicle however It was sitting in the showroom in Lapiz blue with Matt dark grey Pretoria’s and I thought that looks brilliant. Sporty, fast ish family car. Then I sat in it and thought I was stepping back in time. Cheap plastics everywhere. It reminded me of my second car. A 1998 1.2 Renault Clio biarittz. And the thing that really annoyed me was the door pockets not being lined. To me it reeks of cost cutting yet we are charged no less. If that is anything to go by for the upcoming mk8 I would seriously consider looking else where. VW please start listening to your customers as you set the hatchback bench mark and others have seriously caught up.

[Guzzle]

When I sat in the Mk8 in Germany I don't recall the interior plastics being any worse than those in my Mk7.5 GTD, except for a very long hollow section running along the dash from left to right. They're certainly miles better than the interior plastics in any T-Roc I've sat in. They're also loads better than those in the Ford Focus. Worry ye not.

Mk7.5 2.0 TDi R-Line Edition DSG list price = £28,965
Mk8 2.0 TDi R-Line DSG list price = £29,840

Mk8 is £875 more expensive than Mk7.5, or about 3%. £525 of that difference is the Active Info Display that is now standard in all Mk8's.

[Crockers]

Ah but do any of the 2020 VAG cars have hydraulic struts? 😎

[fredgroves]

Ah but do any of the 2020 VAG cars have hydraulic struts? 😎

Yes the Audis :-P

[SRGTD]

Ah but do any of the 2020 VAG cars have hydraulic struts? 😎

Yes the Audis :-P

The new Skoda Octavia has not one, but two hydraulic bonnet struts.

[Jim_mk7.5]

Here’s the GTi...