Introduction to the 2026 Cupra Leon
The Cupra Leon remains one of the few performance cars of its type available and is sold in both hatchback and Sportstourer (estate) formats with a selection of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivetrains - with the latter going under the terminology of 'eHybrid'.
Following on from a significant facelift for the car in 2024, Cupra launches a couple of its most-powerful front-wheel-drive cars ever in 2026. One of these is the extreme VZ TCR, which takes its inspiration from Cupra's racing vehicles with a focused interior and exterior accoutrements which improve the aerodynamics - just 499 examples will be built.
However, the TCR's enhanced 2.0-litre engine will first be seen in a slightly-less-limited model called the VZ, of which 1,500 units will be made worldwide. It sits above the existing range of Cupra Leons, which have between 150- and 300hp in hatchback form.
Pros & cons of the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
Pros:
• Very quick
• Smart styling
• Handles well
Cons:
• Engine could be more melodic
• TCR overshadows it
• Limited choice of colours
Exterior & design of the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
• Copper details identify VZ
• Only sold as a hatch
• Runs on 19-inch wheels
Cupra facelifted the Leon in 2024, giving it a smoothed-off nose plus triple-triangle light details fore and aft, in an effort to make the car look more like its contemporary electric vehicles (EVs) - such as the Born and Tavascan.
Copper-coloured trim on the exhausts and the 19-inch 'Hailstorm' alloys denote the rapid model, as does a very discreet 'VZ' badge on the back.
It remains a good-looking car, as long as you like the EV-derived styling at the front end, and the final note here is that the VZ will only be sold as a hatchback - the Sportstourer already has a four-wheel-drive flagship that can handle more power than this, with 333hp on tap.
Dimensions of the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
Length: 4,398mm
Width: 1,799mm (mirrors folded)
Height: 1,444mm
Wheelbase: 2,689mm
Paint colours for the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
The choices for the Leon VZ are all pretty subdued, beginning with the solitary standard colour of Fiord Blue. After that, Midnight Black, Magnetic Tech or Glacial White will all set you back €1,253, while Taiga Grey, Graphene Grey and Dark Void are €1,814 apiece.
Interior, practicality, tech & comfort of the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
• Well-built interior
• Digital screens work OK
• Carbon bucket seats in VZ
Although it's one of Cupra's older cabins in the portfolio, the Leon's interior remains of high quality - especially this VZ model, with its carbon-backed 'Cup' bucket seats up front.
Both practicality and the integration of technology are done to a high standard in the Cupra Leon, so although this is a car centred on high performance, it's more or less as practical as any other model in the lineup.
Getting comfortable in the driver's seat
All models of Cupra Leon have a good range of adjustment in their front seats and steering columns, with high-spec cars like the VZ featuring powered controls for the bucket seats up front.
Visibility out of the Leon in all directions is excellent, so the only gripe is that the seats are mounted just a little too loftily relative to the rest of the car - if they were a few millimetres lower, you'd feel more hunkered-down and ensconced in the Cupra Leon's driving position.
Infotainment and technology
The main displays in the Cupra Leon VZ are a 10.25-inch instrument cluster and the central 12.9-inch infotainment screen. The latter was improved during the 2024 facelift to be more user-friendly and intuitive than it was before, and it is largely of a fine standard.
However, there's a lack of physical switchgear on the console, so most of the ancillaries must be controlled via tapping the infotainment display - although there are some proper buttons on the steering wheel, through which various features can be tailored in the digital instruments instead.
Audiophiles will appreciate the uprated Sennheiser sound system that's offered in the Leon family.
Practicality around the cabin
The Leon began life as a family hatchback, and that pragmatic start in the world is evident in the DNA of the current model, even if it is now sold as a pacey Cupra.
There's a decent glovebox, capacious door pockets and a lidded cubby in the central armrest, all of which allow for the stowage of assorted bits and pieces, while a couple of cupholders are arranged longitudinally up front in the transmission tunnel.
Aside from all that, there's an area for wireless smartphone charging, as well as a couple of USB-C sockets for topping up the batteries of other electronic devices.
Rear-seat passenger space
The Cupra Leon provides an adequate amount of rear leg- and headroom for even taller passengers, although seating three adults across the rear bench might be a bit of a squeeze.
Making life more bearable in the back, though, are features such as individual air vents, more USB charging sockets, some sizeable door pockets and a fold-down central armrest incorporating two cupholders.
Boot space in the Cupra Leon VZ
The Leon VZ has a useful 380-litre boot with all seats in use, rising to 1,210 litres with the rear 60:40 split-folding bench tucked away. For those who need as much cargo capacity as possible (but who don't want the Sportstourer estate, the obvious choice in such circumstances), it's worth avoiding the eHybrid PHEV variants of the Leon, as the placement of the battery pack in those cars reduces the boot capacity to 270 litres.
Safety in the Cupra Leon VZ
The updated Cupra Leon was assessed by Euro NCAP in 2025 and picked up a full five-star accolade, recording high scores in each of the sub-sections of adult occupant, child occupant, vulnerable road users and safety assist. Read the full report here.
Performance of the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
• Petrol engine taken to 325hp
• Electronic differential sharpens handling
• Lots of options in the range
The Cupra Leon family uses an array of powerful engines, which are either petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrids known as 'eHybrids'. There's also a simple range hierarchy, where cars with up to 204hp are sold in V1 and V2 specification, while anything more powerful than that is available as a VZ only.
Used across the hatch and Sportstourer line-up at the lower end are a 1.5-litre four-cylinder TSI petrol with 150hp, and the choice of either a six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG automatic transmission, and then a corresponding 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesel with the same power output and the DSG gearbox only.
Accompanying these is the 204hp eHybrid PHEV, which also exclusively has a DSG automatic - but it's a six-speed unit, rather than a seven. All these cars here are front-wheel drive.
Moving up to the higher-performance levels, there's a 272hp variant of the eHybrid powertrain, as well as a 300hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder TSI petrol engine with a seven-speed DSG for the hatch.
The 325hp special-edition Leon sits above the 300hp car.
The Sportstourer estate gains its own flagship model, and the Cupra Leon powered by the 333hp 2.0-litre TSI engine is the only offered with 4Drive traction.
Driving the Leon VZ on Spanish roads - Matt Robinson
With modest gains of 25hp and 20Nm over the existing 300 TSI Leon, it's hard to discern how much faster it feels from a purely subjective point-of-view - despite the stats showing this car is three-tenths of a second quicker for 0-100km/h than a 300hp model, with a 5.4-second sprint.
It also has the 250km/h top-speed limiter usually found on Cupras removed, allowing it to head on to 270km/h where legal and permitted.
So perhaps the better anecdotal evidence we can offer is that we drove the Leon VZ on a challenging mountain road outside Barcelona, which was closed off by the Spanish police with the express purpose of letting the media test the Cupra to the limit.
Mixed into the grouped runs of cars going up the hill were also some of the new Cupra Formentor VZ5 crossovers, which have the turbocharged 390hp five-cylinder engine from the Audi RS 3 fitted - making them the most powerful production cars yet to emerge from Spain.
The Leon VZ easily kept up with the hard-driven VZ5s, proving that 300-horsepower-plus in a roughly 1.5-tonne car is more than enough to keep most people happy.
Acceleration in the VZ is remarkably strong from idle through to the redline, with no discernible turbo lag to report. About our biggest complaint with the way the Cupra gathers speed is that there is occasional hesitance in shifts from the DSG transmission when you're trying to make it change gear at very high revs using the steering-wheel paddles.
But while the speed of the Leon VZ is very impressive, the noise of it is... less so. The turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine in this car has been used extensively across the Volkswagen Group for performance machines over the decades and it's never been the most tuneful of things, but we've heard more alluring fast road cars than this over the years.
Still, it handles well - all Cupra Leons always have. The electronic front differential, known as VAQ, works effectively at getting the nose of the car to bite into corners, while the steering and brakes are both of a good enough standard that you can build a real rapport with the Leon VZ.
However, like trying to tell if the pace of the 325hp car is quicker than the 300hp just from the seat of your pants, it's hard to truly feel as if the VZ is much sharper on a twisting road.
Ultimately, though, for road driving, the Leon VZ is broadly excellent. It works well, too, as a day-to-day car, with a reasonable level of civility from it.
Although if you want smoother ride comfort and reduced road roar, then you probably want to look at the 150- or 204hp variants of the same vehicle, which run on smaller alloys with narrower contact patches and plumper sidewalls for the tyres.
Irish pricing & rivals to the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
• Limited editions' availability unknown
• Regular 300hp model perfectly fine
• Very few hot hatches like this left
Although we don't know if the 325hp version of the Cupra Leon hatchback is definitely going to come here, the current 300hp TSI Leon five-door costs from €60,215 in its grandest specification - so the uprated, limited-edition variant would be even more again. And possibly beyond the €63,375 required for a Leon Sportstourer 333 TSI 4Drive, too.
In the Leon VZ's favour is the fact that there are so few competitor cars left. Three of the most obvious - the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Skoda Octavia RS and the Audi S3 - are all from the same manufacturer group as Cupra anyway, so you're essentially choosing which styling and interior looks you prefer the most.
Outside of that, the Ford Focus ST, Hyundai i30 N and Honda Civic Type R have all gone out of production, so buyers would have to turn their eyes upwards from the Cupra Leon to some of the premium, expensive all-wheel-drive hatches that would typically rival the S3 - such as the BMW M135 xDrive or Mercedes-AMG A 35 4Matic.
Servicing the Cupra Leon VZ
Cupra's service pattern for its combustion-powered vehicles runs on an annual/12,000km schedule, whichever comes sooner, and the programme alternates between minor and major assessments year-on-year.
Cupra Leon VZ warranty
All new cars sold by Cupra in Ireland are subject to a five-year, 100,000km warranty, with the distance cap only coming into effect for years three to five of the cover; there's no limit to kilometres in the initial 24 months of the warranty.
Verdict - should you buy 2026 Cupra Leon VZ?
The Cupra Leon VZ is a competent, capable and classy hot hatch, with enough driver involvement and sheer pace mixed into its DNA that it should satisfy even the most hardcore motoring enthusiasts.
But while we can tell it has made marginal dynamic gains over the 300hp TSI that was already on sale, we feel it doesn't quite do enough to justify what will almost certainly be the highest purchase price of any hatchback in the range - and with the even-more-special VZ TCR already confirmed to be in the pipeline, it kind of feels like it would be worth a dedicated hot-hatch fan waiting for that model of the Cupra instead.
FAQs about the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ
Is the Cupra Leon VZ all-wheel drive?
No, all Cupra Leon hatchbacks - including the 325hp VZ model - are front-driven. In the related Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3 families, there are four-wheel-drive hatches, in the shape of the Golf R and S3/RS 3 derivatives, but if you want all-corners traction from your Cupra Leon then you need to buy the flagship Sportstourer estate. The 333hp TSI 4Drive variant is the sole all-wheel-drive car sold in the Leon family.
Is the Cupra Leon VZ with 325hp coming to Ireland?
We're not sure at the moment, although with 1,500 examples to be built worldwide, there's probably a better chance of it appearing here than the impending VZ TCR (which shares its enhanced engine), as just 499 units of that are slated.
The non-TCR VZ is showing on the Cupra price list in the UK, which means right-hand-drive versions are being made, so we're hopeful this 325hp hatch will be made available to Irish buyers.
Has the Cupra Leon VZ been assessed for safety?
Yes, it has, picking up a full five-star award from Euro NCAP in 2025 and accumulating sub-discipline scores of 88, 86, 82 and 77 per cent in the process. The full report is available to read right here.
Want to know more about the 2026 Cupra Leon VZ?
If there's anything about the new Cupra Leon VZ we've not covered, or you'd like help in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
Cupra Leon history
The Leon, along with the Ateca, is the only Cupra product which didn't start life as a dedicated Cupra - which is to say, it was originally sold as a SEAT and was 'Cupra-fied' in 2020.
However, there have been Cupra versions of the SEAT Leon since the Spanish car first appeared in 1999. Across the first three generations of the Leon, the fastest and most powerful variant in each line-up was called the Leon Cupra - the Mk1 had between 180- and 225hp, the Mk2 240-265hp, and the Mk3 265-310hp.
Cupra - in itself a word born of the portmanteau of 'cup' and 'race' - became a standalone brand in 2018, so for the Mk4 Leon, it became the Cupra Leon, rather than the SEAT Leon Cupra.
