Tuesday 30th September 2008

306bhp SEAT Leon Cupra Limited Edition

Captain, she cannae take any more!

---

Front-wheel drive just got madder

A VW insider recently told me that the 2.0-litre TFSI engine in the Golf GTI is good for 300bhp. It seems that SEAT has taken this as some kind of achallenge and subsequently tuned the Leon Cupra to within an inch of its life.

The company has unveiled a 306bhp limited edition version for the Dutch market and just 100 units will be made. Torque is now 315lb ft and top speed is a whopping 161mph, making this the fastest production SEAT ever. The car sports black alloy wheels, a special special badge on the dashboard with the production number of the vehicle. Prices in The Netherlands are set at € 32,995.

[Tracked_Out]

I heard there are two variants of the 2.0 TFSI engine used in the GTi - the "normal" one and the one fitted to the Edition 30, which is fact the same engine as the current S3. It is the Edition 30/S3 engine that can be pushed much further in terms of power (apparently 315bhp is easily achieved through a remap), whereas the "normal" GTi engine struggles to top 250bhp.

Can anyone else confirm this?

[FWDRacer]

Understeering into a dyke near you soon...

[Mclovin]

front wheel drive ha ha ha..
fwd for show.. rwd for go..

[Callan.T89]

Tracked_Out said:

I heard there are two variants of the 2.0 TFSI engine used in the GTi - the "normal" one and the one fitted to the Edition 30, which is fact the same engine as the current S3. It is the Edition 30/S3 engine that can be pushed much further in terms of power (apparently 315bhp is easily achieved through a remap), whereas the "normal" GTi engine struggles to top 250bhp.

Can anyone else confirm this?

You need to clarify what you mean by "engine"

The block, head, water pump, etc will be the same for both "engines" but the ancillaries like injector, turbo, ecu will be different. But does this make it a different engine?

The engine in the S3 will probably have uprated ancillaries to give it the extra power in a more reliable fashion than just pushing all of the existing bits to there limits.

[900T-R]

Great bang for buck though - and the right pedal of course still is an analogue device.

[briSk]

Tracked_Out said:

I heard there are two variants of the 2.0 TFSI engine used in the GTi - the "normal" one and the one fitted to the Edition 30, which is fact the same engine as the current S3. It is the Edition 30/S3 engine that can be pushed much further in terms of power (apparently 315bhp is easily achieved through a remap), whereas the "normal" GTi engine struggles to top 250bhp.

Can anyone else confirm this?

yes you're right.

although i had heard that the ed30 wasn't the cupra/s3 motor but is actually different tune of the std gti/fr/vrs motor.. can anyone confirm the ed30 motor because we know gti and s3 are different... come on use some engine codes chaps!

[900T-R]

Mclovin said:

fwd for show.. rwd for go..

You'll be struggling to get anywhere near similar 'go' in a RWD car for the same kind of outlay here, though - 118i anyone?

[Dift]

Wonder if it is a simple remap... or they used larger turbo/injectors etc.

Fingers crossed its the latter.

[slikrs]

900T-R said:

Mclovin said:

fwd for show.. rwd for go..

You'll be struggling to get anywhere near similar 'go' in a RWD car for the same kind of outlay here, though - 118i anyone?

Depends how many seats you are looking for. There are 2 seat RWD options (for less money but with more power) and of course a fair few 4WD options including the S3 with the new transmission as featured in the PH article. Don't see this special edition weighing up well against that tbh.

[bales]

Mclovin said:

front wheel drive ha ha ha..
fwd for show.. rwd for go..

This sort of comment is just so boring I don't know why you even bother writing it, unless of course you just want to wind people up for the sake of it...

[SleeperCell]

900T-R said:

Great bang for buck though - and the right pedal of course still is an analogue device.

Really? I would have though most cars would be fly by wire digital throttles by now?

[bales]

SleeperCell said:

900T-R said:

Great bang for buck though - and the right pedal of course still is an analogue device.

Really? I would have though most cars would be fly by wire digital throttles by now?

Think that may have gone over your head slightly....

[dazsmith69]

traction problems and understeer come to mind

we all know fwd cars peaked with the DC2 :P

nothing brilliant about creating a really powerful FWD car without it being engineered properly to handle it

[LuS1fer]

900T-R said:

Mclovin said:

fwd for show.. rwd for go..

You'll be struggling to get anywhere near similar 'go' in a RWD car for the same kind of outlay here, though - 118i anyone?

£27500?

Mustang GT Bullitt 325hp (may possibly get a supercharger within that price too)
350Z (302hp?)

[Batfink]

dazsmith69 said:

traction problems and understeer come to mind

we all know fwd cars peaked with the DC2 :P

nothing brilliant about creating a really powerful FWD car without it being engineered properly to handle it

true
I'd rather have the new Focus RS. At least they have improved the macpherson strut to eliminate these issues.

[The Walrus]

The engine codes due to the engine map may be different i.e. the old 1.8t 150 bhp AUM engine out of the golf was exactly the same block as the Anniversary and Octavia VRS with 180 bhp to name a few but had a six speed box, due to the 4WD you will find the S3 has a different engine code to the Seat and ED30 but in basic principle the engines are very similar if not identical bar gearboxes.

[scotty_917]

bales said:

Mclovin said:

front wheel drive ha ha ha..
fwd for show.. rwd for go..

This sort of comment is just so boring I don't know why you even bother writing it, unless of course you just want to wind people up for the sake of it...

ditto.

[neema_T]

Mclovin said:

front wheel drive ha ha ha..
fwd for show.. rwd for go..

Tell that to an Integra Type R/Civic Type R/Focus RS/Renaultsport Clio/Megane owner, then get out.

[Dr G]

Edition 30, S3 and Cupra R TFSI motors gained strengthened internals and a K04 series turbo.

300 BHP is a cheap remap away, not really "tuned within an inch of its life"

[900T-R]

LuS1fer said:

£27500?

That includes the dreaded BPM (43.2% of the net price excl. VAT at present). Plus the £/euro exchange rate is quite unfavourable for you folks ATM. It used to be 1.5 euro to the pound until a year or so ago.

LuS1fer said:

Mustang GT Bullitt 325hp (may possibly get a supercharger within that price too)

Can't find a price for a new one (only grey import here) but you could probably just afford a second hand V8 GT (300 hp) model for around that price.

LuS1fer said:

350Z (302hp?)

59.400 Euro for the base coupé.

Edited by 900T-R on Tuesday 30th September 13:02

Edited by 900T-R on Tuesday 30th September 13:04