The 2006 British Motor Show heralded the first time that the sporty Spanish arm of the VW Group, SEAT, used a UK show for a world debut of a new car. That car was the SEAT Leon Cupra, the most powerful SEAT to date.

SEAT has upped the output of the turbocharged direct-injection engine found in the Leon FR (and shared with the VW Golf GTi) from just under 200bhp to a headline-grabbing 240bhp. SEAT claims that the Cupra will hit 62mph from rest in just 6.4 seconds, with a top speed of 153mph.

With such performance to shout about, you'd expect the new Leon Cupra to wear suitably aggressive body addenda, but SEAT has actually done a subtle job on the Leon shape. Instead of adding large spoilers, the Cupra takes styling cues from SEAT touring car racers used in the British and World Touring Car Championships, including sculpted bumpers, 18-inch alloy wheels, black door mirrors and a large oval exhaust pipe.

Inside, the story is the same, with proper bucket-style sports seats, a Cupra-branded steering wheel and black trim.

Despite the July revealing of the new Leon, UK sales will not start until early 2007.

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