CARRYING MOMENTUM

These two fast freighters combine power with practicality, but which is the better buy?

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Distribution firms such as Amazon, FedEx, and DHL spend vast sums of money figuring out how to speed up deliveries. Perhaps they should just equip themselves with a fleet of fast estate cars like these and have done with it.

The Cupra Leon and Volkswagen Golf R wagons are every bit as rapid as their hot hatch equivalents. In fact, in estate form, the Leon gets an extra 10bhp and four-wheel drive over its hatchback sibling. And even if you go for top VZ3 trim, it still costs less to buy than the Golf R Estate.

However, the Golf also has four-wheel drive and packs even more power than the Leon, so perhaps it justifies its price? Let's find out.

DRIVING

Performance, ride, handling, refinement

We should take a moment to appreciate that these fast estates are every bit as quick as a Ferrari F355 from the mid-1990s a remarkable achievement, considering the two-seat Ferrari was a full-blown supercar with barely any room for luggage.

Against the clock, the Golf edges the Leon, though. It rockets from 0-60mph in 4.4sec to the Leon's 4.6sec. That isn't surprising, given that the Golf is more powerful and (slightly) lighter, but looking at the 30-50mph and 50-70mph times, which are more representative markers of overtaking ability, there's only a 0.1sec difference in favour of the Golf.