Seat Cordoba Cupra Sport
Reviewed by Unique Cars and Parts
Our Rating: 2
Introduction
The Seat Cordoba - a rarely seen car on Australian roads - was created by taking an Ibiza hatchback and adding a boot.
Aussie motorists have, however, always preferred the hatch design over the sedan, and with such low sales volumes it could easily be expected that the Cordoba was always going to struggle to gain a foothold.
But the "Cupra Sports" model was an entirely different beast. Featuring a more powerful 2.0 litre engine (instead of the standard 1.6 litre unit) producing a healthy 110 kw, the Cupra benefited from a very attractive colour-coded body kit, sports seats, 16"
alloy wheels, white backgroundgauges, ABS, EDS traction control,
air-conditioning and of course the regulation rear spoiler.
All the extra kit only added around $5K to the asking price of the base model, and made the Cupra exceptionally good value when compared to the competition.
However like its cheaper variant, and despite its size, the curious thing about Cordoba was the merely adequate interior space, especially for those in the rear.
Drivers were well looked after, though, and most praised the logical dashboard layout and the feeling of solidity.
Like the Ibiza hatchback, the Cordoba was an enjoyable car to drive; being both responsive and sporty, although the
suspension was set a little too firm for the crap Australian roads even in the base models, and the Sports variant only compounded to the NVH issues.
When SEAT left our shores the market value of the Cordoba likewise headed South, making the Cupra a possible bargain buy for the astute purchaser seeking something different.