Driving simulator? Naw. You’re in a real drifting hot-hatch

By Joe Mahan March 28, 2014

Flying jets and driving Formula 1 racers must surely be the basis for every boy-racers dreams. I know they are in mine.

Frustratingly, the opportunity to drive like a mad racer rarely present themselves.

Instead of counting sheep, Seat (Volkswagen’s Spanish brand) created a driving simulator for some of its diehard fans. Now your dreams of popping on a helmet, strapping in, and going on one of wildest rides of your life can come true.

According to Autoblog, Seat created the simulator to give hot-hatch dreamers a taste of the new Leon Cupra. The Cupra boasts 276 horsepower and will scoot around the Nurburgring in under 8.0 minutes. It’s no wonder why Seat created a driving simulator to try and grasp what it would be like to drive the world’s fastest production hatchback on one of the best tracks of all time.

Two “Seats” were chosen for fans to get a glimpse of their hot-hatch dreams. Little did they know, once they stepped into the driving simulator, their driving experience was actually real life.

The Leon Cupra driving simulator isn’t traditional in any sense of the word “simulation”. A car with a mechanical front-wheel differential and dynamic chassis control should be used to its full potential, which Seat has aptly done.

This is truly the car of anyone’s dreams, as it is the king of hatchbacks and also returns an impressive 44 miles per gallon. Who knew you could lap the Nurburgring and do so at a low cost? Eat that, Civic Type R, Focus RS, and Golf GTI. I’m moving to the country of my dreams: Spain.

Watch the video below to find out what really happens with the world’s fastest fwd-production car.

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Joe Mahan is an intern at Digital Trends working in the Cars section. He is currently a Junior at the University of Portland…

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