I think the new 'r' looks great. Sure its a lot like the cupra, but the cupra is a fantastic looking car. I can see how you cupra guys might be disappointed, wanting something new and exciting from seat to upgrade to and so feeling let down by this, but for me with an fr, its the cupra that id be looking to upgrade to. I personally wouldnt spend the money on the 'r'. Id go for the cupra every time, and if i had that sort of money to even consider the 'r', id be looking for a second hand s3 instead. Realistically, seat did have to put the price notably higher than the cupra, but yes i totally agree that they should have offered a little more than they have done, not so much options wise etc, but more like an lsd, or even perhaps a 4 wheel drive option like the new golf 'r'.
Hot hatch wise, the cupra is still the one to chose imo- the new megane will never have the tuning potential of the 2.0tfsi- 360 on standard internals and turbos most likely wont be seen on the megane, and conversions such as those from regal etc to 450+ for the 2.0tfsi will probably never be offered for the megane because there simply isnt the market for that kind of development, where as the sheer number of tuned vag engines demands a wide range of tuning options, just take a look at the number of seriously tuned 1.8t engines in mags such as Redline and performance vw- compared to the astra vxr's and megane cups etc. For tuning potential vag wins hands down. of course the focus rs is another matter, but again i think id personally go for the cupra, although i can see how those who already have a cupra will be considering something different