Cupra Leon VZ

FIRST DRIVE We get to grips with new range-topping version of the Cupra Leon - the brand's most powerful front-wheel-drive hatch ever

- By Jordan Katsianis

HOW much power is too much for a front-wheel-drive car? This is the question we found ourselves asking when accelerating hard out of a tight, second-gear corner in the new Cupra Leon VZ. Packing a 320bhp punch from a tuned version of the standard car's 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, it's the most powerful front-wheel-drive Leon in the brand's history – in fact, alongside the new Golf GTI Edition 50, it's the most powerful front-wheel-drive car from the whole VW Group.

The VZ isn't alone at this level, though, because Honda's Civic Type R has a similar output. But these two hot hatches couldn't feel more different.

Honda's high-grade engineering counteracts the forces generated by so much power going through the front wheels; separating the dampers from the steering arms, widening the body, and fitting huge sticky Michelin tyres all help the Honda feel like a BTCC racecar. And the Leon? Not so much.

We're told the VZ's springs and dampers have been fiddled with, but that's about it. Otherwise, the electronically controlled limited-slip differential, seven-speed transmission and Bridgestone tyres are all identical to what's used on lesser models.