Cupra Leon Estate Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you’re looking for a compact estate car that has a sporty edge, but is easy and comfortable to live with day-to-day, all while delivering impressive practicality, then the Cupra Leon Estate is a really good choice. 

That depends on what you want. The lower-end V models deliver the same style and attitude as racier versions, but are more affordable to buy and insure, while the PHEV versions have the potential to be exceptionally cheap to run. For a proper hot-hatch experience, though, you’ll want the top-of-the-range 2.0-litre turbo version with its 333PS.

If you’re looking for a sporty compact estate car, then there really aren't very many left these days, and those there are come mainly from elsewhere in the sprawling Volkswagen group. The VW Golf R Estate is essentially the same car underneath, and while the Skoda Octavia vRS Estate uses the same platform, it doesn’t boast as much power. There’s a sporty version of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer in the form of the GTE, but this plug-in-hybrid model is down on power as well.

The Cupra Leon is a bit of a mixed bag in this area. In some places, it’s really impressive, with dense, squidgy materials used on top of the dashboard and door trims, giving a mainly posh-feeling environment. In other places, however, the materials are much more dowdy: the plastics used in the centre console are a case in point. 

It’s not enough to ruin the car’s overall plushness, but it does detract from it a bit. You’ll also notice that the colour schemes are very dark and sombre, with only a few trademark copper-coloured highlights. Some will like the understated feel, while some others will crave a bit more hot-hatch-style chintz.

Early Cupra Leons had a 10.0-inch infotainment screen in the centre of the dashboard, but as part of the facelift in 2024, this was upgraded to a 12.9-inch unit. The functionality provided as standard includes sat-nav, Bluetooth, DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wireless after the facelift).

The screen is standard Volkswagen-Group fare, which means that while it’s bright and responsive, it can be fiddly and confusing to use, which distracts you from the road ahead.

The standard stereo system has seven speakers, but the VZ3 trim comes with a 10-speaker Sennheiser stereo upgrade as standard, while it’s available as an option on most other versions.

All Cupra Leons come with digital dials and four USB charging points, two in the front and two in the back. In pre-facelift cars, wireless phone charging was only standard on top-spec VZ3 cars, but during the facelift, this feature was made standard across the range.

The fact that you’re reading a review of the Cupra Leon Estate, rather than the hatchback, would suggest that you have at least a passing interest in boot space, so let’s start there. If you go for the plug-in hybrid version, you might be a fraction disappointed, because you only get 470 litres of space, which isn’t great. 

Go for one of the more regular combustion-engined versions, though, and your reaction is likely to be the exact opposite, because you get an absolutely whopping load area of 620 litres to play with, and that’s a lot. What’s more, the space is usefully square-sided and access is brilliant. If you have a lot of flatpack furniture that you need to transport as quickly as you can, or you have a dog that you want to make violently sick, then this is the car for you.

For the maximum amount of space to be available, you have to have the adjustable boot floor set in its lower position, and in that format, there's a significant step at the entrance of the boot. That can be levelled off by raising the floor to its higher position, at the cost of a bit of space (although you can still stash items in the large space underneath). The rear seats fold down in a 60/40 split, and raising the boot floor also levels off the step up to the folded backrest, making your extended load floor level. Those backrests do lie at a slight angle, though, so there is a gentle slope to contend with.

Space in the passenger compartment is fine, with generous room up front and enough legroom and headroom in the back for tall adults to sit comfortably, although some rivals do give a bit more room to stretch out. 

The lineup of engines available in the Leon Estate is slightly different to that of the hatchback version. Early on, you could only have it with one of two powertrains. 

The first was a plug-in hybrid that combined a 1.4-litre petrol engine with an electric motor and a 12.8kWh battery, giving 245PS, a 0-62mph time of 7.0 seconds, and an electric-only range of up to 34 miles.

It’s a brisk performer, happily scurrying up to motorway speeds under electric-only propulsion with a seamless, unbroken progression of forward motion. If you’re expecting hot-hatch pace from this version, though, you might be disappointed because it simply doesn’t deliver it. The powertrain can sometimes get caught napping when you ask for full acceleration, too, because there’s a pause before the motor and engine figure out between them how to best respond.

The other engine was the range-topping 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. While rated at 300PS in the Cupra Leon hatchback, this powerplant was uprated to 310PS for the Estate, and fitted with four-wheel drive. And this truly does deliver proper hot hatch pace, with a 0-62mph figure of just 4.9 seconds. It feels good for every millisecond of that, too, with searing acceleration away from the mark, and mighty in-gear muscle. Select the car’s Cupra mode, and your barnstorming pace will be accompanied by a bare-chested bellow from the exhaust, while the shifts from the seven-speed automatic gearbox punch through with more speed and ferocity. Full throttle in this thing is quite an experience.

Later on, the engine range was broadened to offer more modest and affordable choices. We haven’t yet tried the car with its entry-level 150PS 1.5-litre petrol engine – offered with or without 48-volt mild hybrid assistance – but we’ve experienced this powertrain in enough alternative VW-Group products to hypothesise that while this engine will do an entirely adequate job in terms of pace and flexibility, it certainly won’t have the hot-hatch performance that its bold looks suggest. A 0-62mph time of around nine seconds would support this theory.

Then there are a pair of plug-in hybrids that pair the 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor and a bigger (than before) battery of 25.8kWh, giving either 204PS or 272PS. We haven't tried either yet, and we haven't even seen figures for the less powerful version, but the more powerful iteration delivers a 0-62mph time of 7.2 seconds and an electric-only range of up to 77 miles.

The crackerjack of a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine still sits at the top of the range, but it’s since been upgraded to 333PS. The 0-62mph dash comes and goes in an even quicker 4.8 seconds, and while you won’t really detect the extra pace it has compared to before, it’s still eye-wideningly quick and certainly no less dramatic

Even with the most powerful version of the Cupra, you might be surprised by how civilised it is day-to-day when you’re just bimbling about. Sure, the wide tyres do kick up a bit of road noise, but it’s not too overbearing, and wind noise is well isolated. The engine stays quiet, smooth and distant when you treat it gently, although if you switch over to Cupra mode and get medieval on the throttle pedal, it changes character completely, with a snarling bellow to accompany your acceleration.

Predictably, the plug-in model we’ve tried (the early one with the 1.4 engine) is exceptionally quiet when running in electric-only mode, and with the petrol engine running, it only becomes vocal if you really thrash it: it’s fine most of the time. We haven’t tried the later PHEV offerings with the 1.5 engine, though, so we don't know if these are any better on that score.

The Cupra Leon was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2020 and was awarded the full five-star rating, but the tests get more difficult to ace year-on-year, so there’s no telling what it would earn if tested again today.

The amount of safety kit your Leon has will depend on when it was built. Early on, the standard kit included six airbags, automatic emergency braking, lane assist, and tiredness recognition. Further driving aids could be added courtesy of three option packs providing various levels of assistance. The most comprehensive one came as standard on the 300PS version, and provided dynamic road sign display, high-beam assist, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and lane change assist.

The safety roster was enhanced later on during the 2024 facelift. All versions now get high beam assist, dynamic road sign display and adaptive cruise control, while VZ3 trim gets an additional driver’s knee airbag, plus lane change assist and blind spot monitoring. 

Take a look at the latest instalment of the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index – put together by our excellent sister website – and you’ll likely feel pretty good about the potential reliability of your Cupra Leon. The brand placed a very creditable 13th out of 33 carmakers ranked in the reliability standings, so that’s well ahead of the industry average.

Perhaps even better is that Cupra is the only Volkswagen Group brand that doesn’t come with a bog-standard three-year warranty. Instead, you get five years and 90,000-mile coverage.

Early on in the life of the Cupra Leon Estate, it could only be had with the 245PS plug-in hybrid powertrain and the punchy 310PS 2.0-litre turbo. Both are very powerful, then, and so have relatively high insurance groupings as a result: it’s 31 on the former and 33 or 34 on the latter, depending on trim level.

Later on, it was made available with more modest engine and trim choices, and so insurance classifications fell accordingly. They start at group 20 for the 150PS 1.5-litre petrol version in V1 trim, and rise to group 34 for the range-topping 2.0-litre turbo petrol, which now has 333PS.

Since April 2025, the type of fuel your car uses makes no difference to the amount you pay for car tax. You now pay a flat rate of tax on all fuel types, and that flat rate currently stands at £195.

The amount you pay will, however, be affected by how much your car cost when it was brand new. That’s because cars that cost more than £40,000 (including optional extras) are liable for the government’s luxury car surcharge on VED tax, which basically adds another £425 per year to your annual tax bill for a temporary five-year period between years two and six of the car’s life. And you can’t get around it by buying used because that liability is passed onto the car’s subsequent owner. The question is, does this affect the Leon Estate?

Well, it could. It’s fair to say that the world has changed a lot since the car first went on sale in 2021, and the cost of everything has gone up significantly. Once upon a time, it was only the most expensive range-topping version of the car that busted the threshold. These days, however, pretty much half the range does: anything with a VZ prefix rather than a V. If buying used, then we’d always recommend Googling the reg of any potential purchase to figure out if buying it will lumber you with the increased tax rate.

Early on, the Cupra Leon was available in three trim levels: VZ1, VZ2 and VZ3. Entry-level VZ1 models get 18-inch wheels, LED exterior lights with dynamic indicators and a slightly more aggressive body kit than a regular SEAT Leon. On the inside, you get a 10.0-inch centre infotainment screen and digital dashboard, ambient lighting, sports seats, sports steering wheel, metal pedals, front- and rear parking sensors,  and a reversing camera. 

Larger 19-inch wheels are the extent of the Cupra Leon VZ2 models' exterior upgrades, while mechanical changes include the excellent adjustable dampers.

Cupra Leon VZ3 models also have 19-inch alloy wheels but with serrated plastic trims that, we're ashamed to say, we quite like. Inside, you get leather seats that are heated and electrically adjustable, plus a hands-free powered tailgate and wireless phone charging. 

Post-2024 facelift cars offer more choice and more kit throughout the range. There are the sensible and more affordable V1, V2 and V3 models, which are offered exclusively with the more modest powertrains. Then there are the more performance-focused VZ1, VZ2 and VZ3 trims, which come exclusively with the more potent powertrain options.

Cupra Leon V1s get 18-inch wheels, LED headlights and taillights, rain-sensing wipers, front- and rear parking sensors and the full infotainment package with a 12.9-inch screen and a wireless phone charger. The V2 trim adds 19-inch wheels, adaptive suspension, and the electric boot lid. Inside, there are heated front seats and electric adjustment for the driver, as well as a rear-view camera and keyless engine and start. The V3 gives you black and copper 19-inch wheels, leather upholstery and electric adjustment for both front seats.

In addition to what you get in the V1, the VZ1 adds 19-inch wheels, adaptive suspension, heated front seats and matrix LED headlights, as well as Dinamica (synthetic suede) upholstery and a rear-view camera. VZ2 adds leather upholstery, powered front seats, and different 19-inch wheels, while VZ3 has upgraded brakes, black and copper wheels, a beefier bodykit with a roof spoiler and side skirts, bucket seats and an upgraded Sennheiser sound system.