With average fuel economy of 34mpg (35mpg in revised models from 2009), the Cupra shows that high performance needn’t mean high costs. Insurance is group 17 which is on a par with other hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type-R, Ford Focus ST and Vauxhall Astra VXR plus the Cupra will hold its value well, although not quite as well as the Volkswagen Golf GTI.

SEAT servicing is good value and parts are reasonably priced.

The Cupra is quite a polluting model with emissions of 199g/km of CO2, but this is acceptable given the performance and power it offers while fuel economy is 34mpg. Revised models from 2009 have lower emissions of 190g/km while economy improves slightly to 35mpg.

This engine has been well proven across the Volkswagen range as well as in cars from Audi and Skoda. It’s never been boosted to this power though, but the Golf GTI Edition 30 has the same engine with 230bhp and has proved problem free.