Seat Cupra GT

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), May 2, 2003

Byline: By Steve Hughes

Seat is reinforcing its position as the sporting arm of the Volkswagen empire, together with Audi, with the unveiling of a new high-performance Cupra GT racer.

The Cupra GT is powered by a mid-mounted three-litre twin turbo engine of Audi origin, that develops a massive 500bhp and is coupled to a six-speed sequential transmission.

This results in a 0-60mph acceleration time of just over four seconds, with a top speed in excess of 175mph.

Pulling power throughout the rev range is massive, with a torque figure in the region of 600Nm, hence the huge front and rear ventilated disc brakes.

The striking aerodynamic body, which emanates from the Salsa concept car, encompasses the same style of gull-wing doors that were a feature of early Mercedes roadsters.

Unusually, the six double-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels are secure by just a single centre bolt, giving a clue to the car's intended track racing use.

The chassis is carbon fibre, which is incredibly light, but fearsomely tough, and the body comes in any colour you like, so long as it is metallic orange.

The final version of the Cupra GT is expected to race in this year's Spanish GT series, and SEAT Sport will begin building cars to customer order later this year.

The precise price is not yet known, but as Ferrari is charging a whopping pounds 425,000 for its new Enzo, it will be a snip at around half that.