Everyone loves a good rivalry and the one brewing between SEAT and Renaultsport is shaping up nicely. Argue the toss about how much 'ring lap times really matter but it's great spectator sport and drives a good debate.
We'll be driving this at the 'ring on Monday...
It's fresh in my head because I drove the
Leon
Cupra
last week and go to the 'ring on Monday to drive the
Megane 275 Trophy
aiming to nab the FWD record back. I say aiming - the fact we're invited to 'witness' the dubiously named #Under8 effort and have a go ourselves suggests they've already got the time in the bag and this is just a formality. If it means having a go with the Trophy at the Nordschleife I'll play the game though.
And that's what it comes down to really, a marketing battle. One that SEAT may well be regretting initiating.
The Cupra's sub-eight time was teased long before the car was seen, the 7min 58.4sec achieved by Jordi Gene eventually given the full corporate foghorn. "First FWD production model to dip below the eight-minute barrier" screamed the press release from the Geneva unveiling, a claim hastily reworded for the advertising campaign to "fastest ever front-wheel drive lap of the Nurburgring" when it emerged the Leon that set the record actually wasn't representative of the one you can buy.
SEAT assures a production 'Performance Pack' similar to the 'ring record car will eventually be sold. But not until it's homologated bespoke 19-inch wheels to clear the uprated brakes, decided on a final spec and priced the whole thing up. It might be stripped of air-con and other creature comforts like the car Gene drove, it might not. One thing's for sure; it'll be a while, if ever, before you can buy a Leon that can actually match that sub-eight pace.
Driving the Cupra on track was revealing
Which, if you're basing your marketing campaign on lap times, is a little embarrassing.
All Renaultsport has to do, meanwhile, is take 10 seconds off the lap time set by the previous Megane 265 Trophy and both the moral high ground and bragging rights are reclaimed. And here experience shows. Given the circa 30-second gains enjoyed by cars using Michelin's previous Cup tyre at the 'ring you'd assume a chunk of that margin is safely accounted for by using the same Cup 2 tyre as the Leon. And we know what a difference the fancy Sachs dampers made to the Clio 182 Trophy - with its blingy Ohlins items and a 10hp bump for good measure the Trophy looks fighting fit, though it should be pointed out these and the tyres will be cost options.
Meanwhile driving the Leon Cupra you CAN buy at on track at Mallory Park last week was revealing. It is blisteringly fast, deceptively so in fact. But, with little to lean against at the steering wheel or brake pedal on corner entry, exploring the outer edges of the available grip is a guessing game. No wonder Gene needed Cup tyres and bigger brakes. Hook-up from the clever Haldex-based electronic 'diff' impacts on corner exit composure too; you can nail the throttle in the Leon very early but initially it feels like you're going to power understeer off the track. Hold your nerve (and the power) and it wakes up, eerily pulling the nose tight and deploying that 280hp to full effect. But it never feels entirely intuitive and the trust isn't easily won.
Meanwhile the Megane driver's faith in that more transparent mechanical diff will be worth valuable tenths in every corner; match that with the fancy damping and I think I know who my money's on.
What relevance if your daily drive is round Northampton rather than the Nurburgring? Not much. But, in my book, if you're going to brag about something you should be able to back it up. We'll see what Renaultsport has up its sleeve but if I worked in SEAT's marketing department I'd be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.
Jordi Gene's 7:58 SEAT lap
