This is the top of the range hatchback, although there is an estate version. The makeover is a fairly cautious one, meaning minor rises in everything from power to price. Whether it is enough is the question.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, for example, goes from 276bhp to 286bhp. Torque now comes over a wider rev range, but none of this changes the official acceleration time of 5.7sec to 62mph.

For the test we went for the Black-line pack which adds some colour and also adds two-tone 19in wheels. It must be said these wheels don’t appear to be a success on the Cupra 290. The ride is really rather firm and you get plenty of bangs and crashes as you go down a B-road. We suspect this is more to do with the extra diameter of the wheel rather than the two-tone colour.

The suspension movement is fairly short, so the adaptive dampers don’t have a lot of room to manoeuvre, with the result that the ride really isn’t what you’d want to tolerate for long journeys.

The payoff is that handling is pretty crisp. You can play with the four drive modes to fine-tune, but you still probably won’t find the perfect balance between ride and handling. Handling wins, at the expense of ride quality. If handling is your prime concern then that’s fine, and you also gain well-weighted steering for when you’re chucking it about.

The engine adds to the sparkle. Working through a slightly notchy six-speed manual gearbox, the turbocharged four-pot has plenty of fizz, particularly at the top end, now more noticeably so in this revamp. Given that this is the basis for the engine in the Audi S3 and the Golf R, it’s surprising how much life Seat seem to have added over the already formidable competitors. The engine’s performance is underscored by a new and sportier exhaust as well.

Would we recommend the Cupra 290? Not on those 19in wheels. Maybe on standard 19in alloys it would be a better story. But, whatever the wheels, the upgrades to the Cupra are probably a bit too conservative to keep it up with the competition. When that competition includes the Ford Focus RS then, frankly, it’s no competition at all.

Seat Leon Cupra 290

Location: Surrey

On sale: Now

Price: £29,755

Engine: 4 cyls, 1984cc, turbo, petrol

Power: 286bhp at 5600rpm

Torque: 258lb ft at 1700-5800rpm

Gearbox: 6-spd manual

Kerbweight: 1395kg

0-62mph: 5.9sec

Top speed: 155mph

Economy: 42.2mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 156g/km, 28%