The Seat Leon Cupra 280 Has Monstered The FWD 'Ring Record

When we blasted Seat's incredibly quick new hot hatch around Spain's Castellolí circuit, we were incredibly impressed. It comes as no surprise to us, then, that it's just smashed the front-wheel drive Nurburgring record by almost 10 seconds. The Renault Megane 265 was the previous record-holder with a time of 8min 7.97sec, which the Cupra 280 bettered with a 7min 58.4sec lap. Perspective? That puts it ahead of cars like the Porsche Cayman S and Aston Martin DBS.

The Cupra's 276bhp 2.0-litre TSi engine will have certainly helped, but it's the trick limited-slip differential that's key here. It's hydraulically actuated and electronically controlled, and is able to send up to 100 per cent of the power to one wheel. That kills off much of the torque steer and understeer that usually plague powerful front-wheel drive cars, making it very, very quick around corners.