Category: Seat

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Wörthersee 2013: Seat Leon Cup Racer

Seat Leaon Cup Racer

How goddamn cool is this! It’s the Seat Leon Cup Racer, packed with 243kW of race-prepped goodness ready for customer racers to hit the circuit.

In addition to the very tasty looking and no doubt functional aero package the front track has been increased by a healthy 400mm to aid handling. Because racecar, the interior has been stripped out to save weight with a specially created TFT digital display to feed information to the driver.

Beneath the bonnet is a familiar Volkswagen Group 2.0 litre turbocharged four cylinder engine, strengthened to withstand the rigours of competition and tuned to produce 243kW/350Nm. It’s coupled to a 6-speed DSG transmission driving the front wheels using an electronically controlled diff.

And here’s the catch, if you want one it’ll set you back €70,000 plus taxes. If you want the endurance-spec, which comes with a sequential transmission and mechanical diff, you’ll need €95,000 plus taxes.

Also joining the Leon Cup Racer on display at Wörthersee is its baby brother the Ibiza SC Trophy. That’s powered by a 147kW 1.4 litre turbo four, with a 7-speed DSG and mechanical diff. It can be all yours for €31,500 plus taxes.

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2013 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 2

2013 Geneva Motor Show

You can have your fancy pants limited-edition Lambo, or your stonking new LaFerrari, even the McLaren P1; we’re not really interested. The car of Geneva, for us, is the Porsche 911 GT3. That’s the one we’d like to take home and get intimate with. And so begins the second and final part of our Geneva Motor Show image gallery. There’s over 120 new  images to see and enjoy.

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Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz MINI Motor Shows Nissan Peugeot Porsche Renault Seat Skoda Suzuki Vauxhall Volkswagen Volvo

2012 Paris Motor Show in pictures – part 2

2012 Paris Motor Show

Here’s part 2 of our 2012 Paris Motor Show in pictures gallery, which brings you manufacturers from M–Z. Join us as we admire the McLaren P1, the Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupé, the Peugeot Onyx and the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo.

We’re wavering a little with our admiration of the Mercedes-Benz A Class, but nothing can hide our amusement at the Nissan Terra or Vauxhall Adam, which must be a huge practical joke. We’re also lamenting the fact Seat has lost its styling edge with the new Leon and that Skoda has taken a step back with the incredibly bland looking Rapid.

And, of course, the Volkswagen Golf GTI is the model we’ll probably take home in the future.

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Seat

2013 Seat Toledo revealed

2013 Seat Toledo

After a few leaks in recent weeks Seat has released official photos and information for its all-new Toledo. The mid-size sedan features a notchback style rear hatch and relies heavily on its Volkswagen Group roots.

Dr Matthias Rabe, Vice President of Research and Development for Seat reckons, “The new Toledo is a true SEAT—perfect for the demands of everyday life, with the highest quality and reliability.

“The latest drive and chassis technologies of Volkswagen Group deliver excellent driving fun, as well as outstanding efficiency and safety. And when it comes to consumption and emissions figures in particular, the Toledo is among the best-in-class.”

We reckon the Toledo will be a good, honest option that costs a little bit less than a Volkswagen. Although, it does seem a shame that some the flair Seat is known for is missing from this new model.

European deliveries start in November this year and with no official presence for Seat in Australia, we bring you word from Seat UK.

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Motor Shows Seat

Auto China 2012: Seat Ibiza Cupra Concept

Seat Ibiza Cupra Concept

If you reckon the Polo GTI needs a little more spice Seat is here to help. They’ve just taken the covers off their Ibiza Cupra Concept in Beijing and it looks pretty much ready to roll off the production line to us.

We have already discovered the Pogo is a damn good package. The Polo is even made in Spain, too. So with Seat’s increased local flavour added to the Ibiza, Volkswagen’s little hot hatch in drag has been granted a new lease of life.

The styling retains Seat’s more extroverted cues but possesses more maturity and refinement than we’ve seen before. After all the hyperbole and angst that Chris Bangle endured during his time at BMW, the flame-inspired body panels of the Seat prove (to us anyway) that Bangle was bang on the money.

James Muir, President of SEAT, explains the Ibiza is key to their entry into the Chinese market: “Emotional design and refined dynamics guarantee driving fun on every single kilometre. We are presenting the Ibiza Cupra Concept at the Beijing Motor Show because this compact athlete will be an important element in the development of our brand in this key market.”

Hey James, what about Australia?

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Audi Seat Skoda Volkswagen

Volkswagen introduces versatile MQB platform

Volkswagen MQB platform

Over the next few years, and especially in the short–medium term, you’re going to be reading a lot about Volkswagen’s MQB platform, otherwise known as the Modular Transverse Matrix. MQB will be used in the small-medium segments across the Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen brands.

In the context of VW it will be used to for forthcoming Polo, Beetle, Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Tiguan, Touran, Sharan, Passat and Volkswagen CC models. The Golf VII will be the first model from Wolfsburg to use MQB architecture.

Volkswagen is getting very excited about this new platform which affords it a multitude of engine and wheelbase configurations. In conjunction with MQB comes a modular engine system which brings with it a uniform mounting process, regardless of engine type or capacity. It’s the flexibility in wheelbase dimension that helps make this possible (see diagram above).

Vehicles built using the MQB will also bring with the some pretty tricky technologies. Things like nav and entertainment systems with touchscreens featuring proximity sensors and a look and feel as though they have come direct from Cupertino. There’ll also be a multicollision braking system designed to reduce the impact of secondary impacts.

Also of note is the fact that MQB models will be at least 40kg lighter than their predecessors. In the case of the Golf GTI it could be up to 100kg lighter. We’ll have more news on the Golf GTI shortly.

If you’re a bit of an engineering nerd we reckon you’ll be getting right into the adaptability of the MQB and expect you’ll want more than the handful of paragraphs from Volkswagen below. So we’ve got this more detailed PDF (210kb) for you which should satisfy you for a while.

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Volkswagen “seriously interested” in Alfa Romeo

Volkswagen-Alfa Romeo-Fiat

Volkswagen’s quest to grab the world’s biggest car maker title from Toyota has taken a new twist with news it wants to buy Alfa Romeo. It’s all a bit like shcoolyard secrets at the moment, though, with executives from Volkswagen and Fiat only willing to provide quotes on condition of anonymity.

Automotive News Europe says not one, but two Volkswagen employees have said they are “seriously interested” in purchasing Alfa Romeo. In reply the secret Fiat exec told ANE, “We have no intention at all of selling the brand to VW.”

Rumours of VW’s interest in the iconic Italian manufacturer emerged late last year. Indeed, in April Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn admitted he admired Alfa, but there were currently no plans to add another brand to the Volkswagen Group.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne reckons they can push Alfa Romeo into the premium segment and achieve 500,000 sales per year by 2014. Just 102,000 sales were registered in 2009. It’s certainly an ambitious target.

Credit Suisse motoring expert Arndt Ellinghorst thinks it may be too ambitious and says the might of the Volkswagen Group would be necessary, “Maybe Alfa could get to a half million unit sales a year, but only after the brand is sold to Volkswagen.”

Whatever the outcome of this latest motoring marriage something needs to be done to support Alfa Romeo. It is understood the maker has been costing Fiat €200–400 million per year in losses over the last decade.

Follow the source link below and to learn how some analysts think Volkswagen should add Alfa Romeo to its portfolio at the expense of the Seat brand.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

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Seat

El nuevo Seat Leon Cupra R

Seat Leon Cupra R

We first heard of the spiciest Seat Leon, the Cupra R, before last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s pretty much a Spanish Golf with a bunch of chillies stuffed down its trousers. Those chillies are rated at 195kW and ensure the driver will have to keep their wits about them; all that power is put to the road through the front wheels.

Essentially the car uses the same drivetrain found in the Volkswagen Scirocco R and employs a trick electronic diff (XDS) to try and hose down that firecracker of an engine. Apparently the results are “effective yet unobtrusive”.

The Leon Cupra R has just been launched in the UK and their press team have been kind enough to send out a few pics and a brief introductory video. You can see all that for yourself right after the break.

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Motor Shows Seat

Frankfurt: Seat IBZ Concept

Seat IBZ Concept

Check out this little gem from the Frankfurt show. This is the Seat IBZ Concept, based on the company’s Ibiza platform. If there’s a more funky mid-size family friendly wagon on the market I am yet to see it.

The side profile shows a number of crazy and sharp angles that would normally set me off on a machete waving course of negativity. But, somehow, Seat Design Director Luc Donckerwolke has made this work. And work beautifully at that.

Okay, the car itself doesn’t appear to be anything special. There’s not even any mention of engine specs in the release below. It’s just a great reminder of why we like cars. Because, sometimes, they just look superb!

Bravo Seat, it might be “just a wagon”, but I love it! The production version of the IBZ is scheduled to go on sale in Europe around the middle of next year. Such a shame we won’t ever see this car in Australia.

More after the jump.

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Seat

Spanish fly

Seat Leon Cupra R

Since revealing the regular Leon Cupra, Seat have been doing big things to its Golf-sized hatchback. Big power. Big brakes. Big style. Big performance. That’s a lot of big for a medium sized car. Indeed, Seat proudly boasts the Leon Cupra R is their “hottest ever hatch”.

Not content with the 155kW engine from the Golf GTI, Seat have nicked the 195kW engine from the Audi S3. That means this thing really flies. Strangely, though, the 0-62mpph time of Leon Cupra R is only rated at 6.1 seconds, whereas the S3 is under six seconds. Hmm, could be some marketing genius happening there methinks. Sure, the Seat is a front-wheel drive layout only, compared to the quattro S3, but you would expect the lower weight to make up for any traction issues. Never mind.

Along with most everything else you’ll be reading about in the next few weeks, this car will be having its first public showing at Frankfurt.

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Seat

Seat Ibiza Bocanegra

Seat Ibiza Bocanegra

Dramatic swooping lines, 132kW twincharge engine and a lightning quick 7-speed DSG transmission. What’s not to like about this new Bocanegra model, released by Seat at the Barcelona International Motor Show yesterday?

Sure, it may not have the 155kW 2-litre turbo four from the Ibiza FR, but the bodykit changes make the Bocanegra stand out from the crowd.

This new model takes its name from the Bocanegra 1200 Sport, from 1975. It was a breakthrough model for Seat as it was the first car developed from the ground up at the company’s Martorell technical centre.

True to the original, the 2009 Bocanegra (which translates as black mouth), has a blackened nose giving the car an aggressive presence.

Whatever its roots, this car looks fantastic. A shame, then, that we won’t see it in Australia.

More pics and a press statement from Seat UK below.

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Seat

2009 Seat Ibiza FR

2009 Seat Ibiza FR

More Spanish flair that we will never see in Australia. This time, the new Ibiza FR. In Seat-speak the FR range sits below the Cupra name. This Ibiza FR, then, sits in the mild section of the spice rack.

I’m not sure that the twin side crease lines work as well as the flowing curves of the Leon, but there is no denying that this car makes a bold statement. Overall, it is a great looking hatch. Even if Seat interiors do lack some of the polish from their Volkswagen and Audi cousins. Just see the crudely mounted aftermarket-style sat nav screen in the images below for an example.

The Ibiza FR is powered by a 110kW 1.4 TSI, and is based on the new Volkswagen Polo, which Australian readers will see down under early next year.

More goodness after the jump.

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