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| Cupra stands out alongside normal Ibiza |
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Cupra means "cup" or "trophy" in Spanish, and designates Seat models tuned by the company's Sport wing in Barcelona. It's the badge Seat applies to its hottest, sportiest variants in a range (with the additional letter 'R', for Racing, on the top-spec models) and a label that rings all the right bells with hot hatch enthusiasts. With no convincing souped-up superminis from the likes of Ford and Vauxhall these days, the Ibiza has established itself as a firm favourite amongst young enthusiasts - and deservedly so. Even in base 1.2 S form, it looks great, lends itself well to being accessorised with sparkly aftermarket alloy wheels and booming stereo systems, and it's competitively priced as well.
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| Lairy yellow paintwork means you won’t lose the Cupra in a car park |
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A Cupra, though, is meant to be something special: indeed, Seat has introduced its 'FR' (Formula Racing) badge to designate merely warm, as opposed to hot, models, much as Citroen distinguishes between VTR and VTS, Audi its S and RS models (well, both are pretty quick, but you know what I mean) and Volkswagen its Golfs GT/GTi and R(32). So putting the Cupra badge on a diesel-engined Ibiza, albeit one with 160bhp, was a brave move
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