2014 Seat Leon Cupra 280 Smashes Nurburgring FWD Lap Record: Video

Spanish automaker Seat has claimed the record for fastest FWD car around the fearsome Nurburgring Nordschliefe, with its new Leon Cupra 280 sneaking under the eight-minute barrier with a 7:58.44 lap time.

That bests the previous record holder the Renault Megane RS Trophy by a little over nine seconds - a fair margin around the 22km-long Nurburgring circuit.

It also sets a lofty target time for the yet-to-be-released Honda Civic Type R - a car which Honda says will be the fastest FWD performance car around the Nordschliefe.

The Leon Cupra 280 is powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged inline four with 206kW and 350Nm, with a manual transmission used in Seat's record attempt (a six-speed twin-clutch automatic is also available).

The Civic Type R will have similar specs when it eventually makes its production debut (a pre-production "concept" has hit the stands at Geneva this week), but will be manual-only. 

With Honda's history with making fast hatchbacks, Seat may well find itself dethroned in the near future. For now, however, as far as hot hatches are concerned, the Seat Leon Cupra is the new King of the 'Ring.

A video of the full lap can be found here.