CARRYING MOMENTUM

These two fast freighters combine power with practicality, but which is the better buy?

Distribution firms such as Amazon, FedEx, and DHL spend vast sums of money figuring out how to speed up deliveries. Perhaps they should just equip themselves with a fleet of fast estate cars like these and have done with it.

The Cupra Leon and Volkswagen Golf R wagons are every bit as rapid as their hot hatch equivalents. In fact, in estate form, the Leon gets an extra 10bhp and four-wheel drive over its hatchback sibling. And even if you go for top VZ3 trim, it still costs less to buy than the Golf R Estate.

However, the Golf also has four-wheel drive and packs even more power than the Leon, so perhaps it justifies its price? Let's find out.

DRIVING

Performance, ride, handling, refinement

We should take a moment to appreciate that these fast estates are every bit as quick as a Ferrari F355 from the mid-1990s a remarkable achievement, considering the two-seat Ferrari was a full-blown supercar with barely any room for luggage.

Against the clock, the Golf edges the Leon, though. It rockets from 0-60mph in 4.4sec to the Leon's 4.6sec. That isn't surprising, given that the Golf is more powerful and (slightly) lighter, but looking at the 30-50mph and 50-70mph times, which are more representative markers of overtaking ability, there's only a 0.1sec difference in favour of the Golf.