SEAT LEON CUPRA K1 - What's It Like To Drive? ON TRACK REVIEW

Now then! I got to drive this Leon Cupra K1 in a couple of different power modes and it was a right laugh. The car really surprised me how capable and fun it was, but as you'll see, it wasn't without surprises.
Thanks to the owner Nick for letting me take it out, you can follow him on Instagram here:
/ nick_howarth92
Thanks to KRF photo for the thumbnail pic www.krfphoto.com/
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Brief spec of the car:
2009 Seat Leon Cupra K1
Team Dynamic 1.2 wheels, 225 40 18 Nankang AR1 tyres
Audi RS3 front brakes
VAG stuff (you'll have to ask in the comments, he'll be along to answer)
3 power maps - low, medium, and high bost
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:58 Low Boost Session
05:49 Low Boost Summary
09:56 High Boost Session
15:04 Conclusion / Outro

[@Jimmy_Broadbent]

The virgin atom vs the CHAD LEON

[@intellectualtommy3902]

😂

[@RBRacing55]

Who doesn't love watching Danny sending it on track! Top video mate loved it!

[@Bill_Wennett]

Love these track reviews mate!

[@danielcgomez]

YEA! ...digging these reviews for sure! ...I'm sure Dan has lots of offers to review cars! I want to see ALLLLLLLL! haha

[@dannyDC2]

@@danielcgomez haha yeah getting quite a few now, trying to keep it to people I know or friends of friends for now. If I got to do this full time it would be quite the life though eh

[@byGiNeSiToX]

Danny is a mad man, its amazing to see him adapting to every car he drives

[@Vetrox13]

He’s Yorkshire’s takumi 😂

[@craigb4719]

Can you imagine that Cupra with wider tyres in the front more power and Danny behind the wheel would give a lot of cars a run for there money 👏🏻

[@R8DTF]

15:01... Brilliant 😂

[@nmc9617]

Loving these new vids man - so good!

[@MrSnowGul]

Loving these track reviews

[@jonathansands3067]

Love these track reviews

[@jokerfred69]

These track vids are really good mate! Really enjoy them.

[@jimmyjt16]

Really like these track reviews Dan. It felt like a was in that leon with you. Awesome car with an awesome driver👍

[@AdiL-vz6xx]

Loving the pedal cam!

[@Natedawg3451]

Looking forward to more of these, top driving as always. 👏🏾

[@markkennedy6754]

Awesome machine, great driving, great video again 💪

[@RuskiWeldFab]

enjoyed that! atom was really trying! always a great feeling when you can keep up with something like that. keep em coming Dan!

[@S13ndo1]

One of my favourites up to yet 👌👌

[@cjtr83]

Fantastic video. Nice to see people's different track toys of all flavours. Always driven brilliantly too. Really enjoy the content. Bit of a BTCC inspired weapon this 😎 👍🏻

[@joshdaniels6569]

Awesome video loved watching that

[@cipyc2157]

great video mate!

[@robertking6753]

Awesome driving Dan

[@andyslater9067]

Very capable cars, I loved mine. Excellent driving as always 👀

[@alistairdugen6472]

I'm not normally a fan of shiny pedals but i found that it actually works great for viewing. The pedal box was well lit and i was able to know exactly what you were doing with your feet whilst not needing to glance down to the left. Perhaps something to keep in mind for future videos on your own cars. This video was awesome.

[@danielcgomez]

Re: high Boost Setting ~ Some guys 'undriveable' is Dan's This is so much better! Great Review Dan! Enjoyed it a lot!

[@dannyDC2]

for sure it was the best to have all the power, but it put a lot more stress on the car

[@ziorxkomtuper]

good video, really enjoyed it

[@ScrewwyLouie]

Wicked video this! Keep it up! + the devvo cut was funny af🤣👍🏻

[@TheTechnoaddict]

Really like your driving! Nice how you hop in someone else his car and go pretty fast. 👌

[@benmiller9552]

Now then Dan the man

[@AJ-ms1oi]

Another great video

[@lowdl]

Nice to see some VAG car reviews. That Seat goes so well. Chopped an Atom as well!

[@shazkhan6383]

Lovely driving brilliant video hopefully bumping in on cadwell soon 😀

[@PlaneTMRS]

That thing moves!

[@TheAndyMaan]

These track reviews are great, interesting to see some modified/track cars too and not just standard cars, although it's good to see a mix of both types. I wonder if when you've got the integra back up and running again it might feel a little underwhelming after driving all these other cars? Looking g forward to seeing it again one day anyway. All the best Danny, keep up the good work 👍

[@JamesChurchill3]

The pedal moving will be an increase in vacuum as the RPMs increase, the valve to the diaphragm might be dodgy. Mint drive, it's impressive how quickly you get comfortable enough to go full send on these cars you're driving.

[@TheKasli]

wowowow, what an ending!

[@GregK2]

Devvo placement was perfect, killed me 😂🤣

[@jonboyy1327]

Fuuuucking belter this, Dan. Well piloted 😃

[@peteyscarantics9047]

Danny at his best fooking awesome!! as normal your driving is second to none well done lad 😉👌👍

[@leok3347]

that bollocking section was funny!

[@jackbradley2460]

Great review looked sic on hi-boost!

[@TheMick26]

Hey Danny.👋 I did enjoy the video... always do, mate. Shoutout to Nick for sharing his track weapon with us. The Nan-Kangs of Leon put on a hell of a performance. Very aggressive car on low boost, but it's a damn beast on high boost, as evidenced by the run with the Atom. Surprised me there. 👏👏 Great driving, Dan! I'm really diggin' this WILTD-OT series. Cheers, dude. p.s. That steering angle in the final scene is goals for The Green Bastard. Yikes!😲

[@dannyDC2]

cheers Mick! Yeah steering angle goals for sure eh haha

[@TB.JCE10]

Never been a VAG man but i've always liked the Leons. Would really like a mk1 one day but these are ace too. That devvo clip was perfect, David Firth made some proper comical stuff lol

[@shannonobrien5798]

That was brilliant. Just hope my golf will go this well?

[@pedrocacao5081]

Those TSFI are torque beast, great attack at cadwell park!

[@dannyDC2]

big torque

[@NeilMagill]

Superb video as always Danny. I thought as soon as you mentioned the pedal, it was ABS. The ABS on my EP3 is the same, where it tries to be clever and "reduce" your pedal pressure. Fuse pulled from now on and no problems since.

[@dannyDC2]

interesting!

[@Gcheung88]

Bigger and better RolexDan

[@pmrrmm]

Great video as always. Can we get a bit more info next time about suspension and brakes setup?

[@florian_montuzet]

I guess we all are NA hardcore fans here but turbos can be really fun too. Great review as always. Poor Cupra. Same thing happen to me at the ring two months ago. It's definitely not fun.

[@AngryTothGaming]

I’ve watched this a few times and the moment at 15:00 still gets me Everytime! 😂😂😂

[@BikingSean]

Good video, glad to see you enjoying a TFSI boosty boy

[@Spark972]

I had one of these back in the days, a 240 (not R with 18"), didn't like it at all. Nice daily but in the twisty roads/round about it was a mess : the car is very nose heavy and can't change direction very easily (left-right-left for instance). I even tried different XDS setting with VAGCOM, a bit better but still not on the level of my previous Honda ED/EE/EG, car is not agile at all in stock form. Mine was at 320bhp, was fast (for me at this time) but not very fun. The brakes was also an issue for me : a very nice bite at the start of the breaking curve, powerful, but hard to dial with the pressure on the pedal, sometimes it just dives on its nose a bit too much, sometimes it doesn't break enough. Sold it for a Golf and still +/- the same issues/effects, so for me : no more VAG, I'm done. Now I'm on a Fiesta ST mk7.5 : best hot hatch for me, like a 90s Civic but with comfort and goodies. Very responsive, very fun, 3 wheels everywhere. I don't have the raw power but it's still very quick (220bhp in mine) and answer exactly how I want it, it doesn't do strange things on it's own.

[@rossnos]

That devvo bit 😂😂😂

[@MomentumThief]

The devvo clip😂

[@OwainF]

Lmao the devvo clip, car seemed rapid to be fair

[@quicknickdriver8510]

Blimey Dan, you were driving well and going right quick. Leon’s a beast. Thought you went real fast into Hall bends that last time but didn’t notice the floppy strike. Hope you didn’t get into too much bother with Leon’s owner. Shame the car went and broke itself, thank god it didn’t crash and get smashed up. Be careful indeed...

[@dannyDC2]

Owner was fine, he did a bit more damage at the end eh haha

[@deanodrives4966]

That is one amazing car. My dad has a b7 a4 avant with the 2.0 tfsi in, he says I can have it dirt cheap so I may have to do something with it 👌

[@dannyDC2]

yeah get involved, nice daily

[@TAG247]

Okay, I want one.

[@arekb5951]

At the beginning of the video when I heard what kind of power and torque this thing makes I thought "Hmm, you have to be properly brave to send this much power and torque through suspension as simple as that", well, little did I know. It could use some Verkline subframe and suspension components, not cheap, but everyone says it's well worth it. The thing is already rapid though.

[@dannyDC2]

discord crew checking in

[@xRichUKx]

discord crewwwwww

[@justsean6199]

Dogshit

[@dannyDC2]

Dog dirt - Peter Beardsley

[@ShaiyanHossain]

Disbordddd

[@TheRyanl164]

ayup

[@alexandrumarinescu1]

i think i've watched this 10 times already.. ❤️ Danny out of curiosity how many practice laps did you do before? I've noticed that with all of the cars you drive them so smooth on track.

[@jessesnowden4578]

Awesome upload dan, that cupra fucking flies.. I think the front coped quite well considering the power on tap, certainly looked very fast

[@dannyDC2]

Yeah deffo

[@cammyboan5322]

I think it would be interesting to see a whats it like on track video in some kind of kitcar 🔥

[@danbe2284]

Love the channel Danny, you ever driven the FK8? Can't wait to get mine round Cadwell after seeing your vids. You ever thought of doing any short videos on your driving technique? Or stuff like how you set up your seat position etc?

[@lewishunter6252]

That car is seriously quick! Flat shifting is weird, used to flat shift my Peugeot partner work van just because it was funny

[@skytegra5]

Still watching but from the driving in high boost, i can tell you loved it 😁

[@dannyDC2]

yeah haha was fast

[@skytegra5]

@@dannyDC2 do you have any clue how many ponies it had on high? Oh yeah I have had that sudden pedal thing on my old Honda, during hard breaking. I did a fluid change and sorted it out. Loving your reviews too, lots of fun and that thing we all like to watch.. the track attacks with Dan driving 👌👍😄

[@Leesmithmk2]

@@skytegra5 He said 380hp mate.

[@meshuggah18]

Another enjoyable vid Dan, Cupra sounded filthy af. Be cool to see you try out a track spec R26 if someone would give you one for a sesh. keep em coming babbi!

[@dannyDC2]

Yeah it’s on the cards

[@jonheezy]

Understeer issue will probs be down to differential braking. It brakes wheels independently to stop the car from getting into a spin. Can be coded out with VCDS I believe.

[@dannyDC2]

haha that's a good vag excuse if I've ever heard one! I'm not saying it's not true, just funny that you thought it might be causing the understeer. It wasn't even that bad once I knew what the tyres were doing, and as long as I didn't load it up too quickly coming out of a corner.

[@garybocking4541]

Mine does that front end thing too

[@benripley7596]

Mint vid mate tho. Cheers u got that racers mist with atom.

[@CJS890]

Stage 2 brooo 😂 loved that Ibiza!!

[@dannyDC2]

haha yes mate! What a little car it was

[@KostadinDelizhanski]

well the same type wheel work perfect for e36/e46 with z3 fast racks ;) just as an idea that VAG is fast Like, like, like for the channel

[@jasonboyle7203]

FAST CAR 👀👍

[@fedezyl]

I have the same thing happen with the brakes and it’s the ABS, in my case it always triggered at the same corner, just approaching the hairpin at Suzuka, I think it has something to do with the rear end being light and turning at the same time, seems like it senses the rear wheels are locking up but I don’t feel it locking. It’s made me run wide and have a few scary moments as the stopping power just isn’t there, i’ve got to drive around it by not being so agressive on the initial braking. Funny enough it’s one of the things they talked about on the driver briefing on the track days as a common problem, so i’m guessing it wasn’t just my case. Great video, these are the ones, along with the racing vids, that I enjoy the most. About the aftermarket parts, I think I remember a video you posted at the Nurburgring where one of your spanish friends snapped a control arm on his Honda, been weary to go aftermarket on that stuff since I saw that.

[@dannyDC2]

yes its an awful feeling. My friend snapped an aftermarket alloy control arm, but this time with the Seat the subframe is original, just with a brace. The theory is the brace caused the alloy subframe to snap

[@fedezyl]

@@dannyDC2 I couldn’t see if the Seat had a full cage or not, maybe some of the load that usually gets spread through body/chassis flexing just went for the weakest part. Been wanting to improve the suspension setup on my car but the more I dive into it, the least changes I want to do other than some spring rate/damper and alignment, hope he gets his car fixed soon, it looked like a ton of fun, Integra was fun, but this was freaking fast, i’d trade a bit of the DC2 fun you tested for the speed of this Leon.

[@mantasv6208]

wow, dont like fwd cars but this one looks legit! high boost looked like you enjoyed more.

[@Pistolspete82]

Good vid Danny, Nik has always done well with the car in the Sprints, looking forward to my drive :) (when he's fixed it) I got the seat fitted in that car in the right place. He has always struggled with air in the ABS system, maybe that was the issue going into park a little air left in the system

[@dannyDC2]

they did the brakes just the day before, I think it was just the ABS or something electronic. Felt weird that's for sure. Only did it once

[@Pistolspete82]

@@dannyDC2 strange.. he was coming up with all different reasons he had loads of issues before. Kept telling him it was air. As far as I'm aware he hasn't had an issue since... Vag life 🤣

[@marin2523]

Haha never saw you so excited after driving a car. Of course Atom getting ✂ might have contributed to that 😁

[@TheDavidloxley]

My Focus St225 does the same with the brakes on track days, its almost like it gives you more pedal range for more brake adjustment, it does throw me off massively

[@brandonrice9274]

Mine does exactly the same if I come on the brakes abit too fast or the car gets un settled. Just assumed it’s the abs doing weird stuff

[@Leesmithmk2]

I've got a mk2 golf gti 16v running around 170hp with a cage and buckets in thats nearly finished, you're welcome to take that around cadwell one time if you wanna try some older vag stuff! I'm local as well.

[@dannyDC2]

Sounds fun

[@garybocking4541]

Top stuff Dan I have an Edition 30 similar power ;)

[@mintmansam]

Pedal dropping sounds like ABS perhaps air in the ABS circuit / pump. Outside wheel losing grip on inside could that be overly stiff anti toll bar, thus the inside wheel “tugging” the outer wheel up?

[@jordanmiles4898]

I run AP 4 pots on my mini and they do something similar occasionally when the abs cuts in, not a great feelint

[@adi46wilson30]

yo i was watching you and ive just found you on yt thats mad haha

[@DavesInHisGarage]

Atom needs a ddc2 behind the wheel

[@Pagelos]

On some cars on real heavy braking the brake reservoir moves which gives a similar pedal sensation

[@dannyDC2]

yes we had stoppers for that in the Integra world but I never felt it on mine

[@Pagelos]

@@dannyDC2 no idea how thick that firewall is but on my miata it moves around a lot without the stopper. Pedal gets sloppy! Greetings from Sweden, fantastic driving m8!

[@HashDogg06]

You need to drive the Atom around track Danny to show the owner how it is done, clearly he isn't able to get the most out of it like you could.

[@danmassey83]

How many ebay searches do you reckon there are for seat leon cupra k1's after watching this?? Great video as always Dan.

[@TwoChickenNuggets]

Happens to my brake pedal too on my polo

[@dannyDC2]

shite

[@abc123732]

That things planted, wonder if it just feels different because its not moving, floating as much as a staggered setup, but seems to be turning in sweet most times

[@dannyDC2]

Yeah it felt great. Nankang did good with the ar1

[@danonbass2924]

"Your floppies are back in action, sir"

[@chrislawrence5303]

Great video as usual, would be interesting to know the lap times of each review tho 🤔

[@MrDrift3887]

That would be nice to know but I suspect that with it been a track day you can't get consistent lap times

[@dannyDC2]

Can’t be lap timing, stretching the rules enough “reviewing” the cars

[@chrislawrence5303]

@@dannyDC2 not knocking the videos like I love them mate just would be interested to see what's actually quicker than what but yeah don't be getting banned off track 😅😅😅

[@crg92]

Should get a rear view camera too for times like that with the atom

[@dannyDC2]

yes I actually had 2 forward facing here (one for backup) as didn't think the action would unfold like that. I need more cameras

[@StalkerRacingTeam]

VAG

[@geezawannapleaza1235]

Please do a megane rs250 man!

[@thedetailingdoctor5746]

Hmm maybe the owner has done a vacuum simplification and in the process he’s removed the vacuum resoviour he should re add it for sure!

[@cozifpv2069]

Mine does that 🤷‍♂️

[@Fuzzarr]

This is proper rapid. Looks well stable, too. Question! You were hitting 130ish in this at the end of the straight. How fast would your DC2 have been going at that point?

[@dannyDC2]

probably 120-125

[@robmoran9879]

Absolute class lad , undriveable ...f...off just like you said be sensible common sense. So glad you're going for it lad you are what got me watching KZbin vids donkeys ago. Feet work on point with ...the f***ing river dance 🕺 class keep these coming really entertaining and yeah we'll you have me pissing myself....I totally get your humour 😅🤣 and that atom... alt best 😅🤣🙊

[@Birmingham_racing]

My friend has one running 380bhp wouldn't call it out of control

[@AlexGrA]

I'd more likely put it down to heel toe with a vacuum pump. but I'm often wrong.

[@dannyDC2]

I'd hope not

[@timocallaghan4408]

#floppylivesmatter mcpherson strut front geometry changes more under loading, so maybe big kerbs and stiff antiroll bars can push the outside tyre past whatever geo it wants if it's already loaded up. But then you should experience similar in the e46. Now I watched to the end maybe it was just fooked..

[@exploreendurodiscover8775]

The gear box is interesting "Its shit but you get used to it" 😂

[@dannyDC2]

🤣