PH Fleet Update: Seat Leon Cupra R
Discussion
Beefmeister said:
I think the Leon is a great car, especially in Cupra R form. But one thing really lets the Leon down for me, and that's the dash.
Ours has the newer dash. but I agree with you, it still doesn't look great. And the sat-nav/infotainment is a tricky ol' thing to master...I've got the latest cupra r and it's great. Mainly because everyone rates something else...making it a very cheap car for the spec.
£18k to £19k will bag you one less than a year old, £21k and you can get a new one through a broker.
For that you get the same engine as an S3, leather, and if your lucky it'll have the options of xenons' sat nav and the front parking sensors. Oh and 19" alloys... Whats not to like.... For the same money you'll be in an old Audi or vw with this much power.
£18k to £19k will bag you one less than a year old, £21k and you can get a new one through a broker.
For that you get the same engine as an S3, leather, and if your lucky it'll have the options of xenons' sat nav and the front parking sensors. Oh and 19" alloys... Whats not to like.... For the same money you'll be in an old Audi or vw with this much power.
I had a MK1 Cupra R remapped to about 265bhp and it was great. It had a very hard, aggressive feel to it, and when it came on boost it pulled very, very hard with minimal fuss for a FWD car. If you were trying to get the power down on patchy roads it might tug a little, but otherwise it was generally free of torque steer. The steering was heavy and you could feel the heft of the car in the corners, but it had loads of grip, so it could pretty much demolish challenging roads. The standard ones are supposed to be very smooth and fairly lag-free, the map on mine was pretty old school. A fair bit of lag, then WHOOOSH, all the boost kicked in at once, then it really did take off. Progress was rarely smooth but it was very quick!
In terms of involvement, driver reward etc it's perhaps not the highest, I think Honda do that best. Against it's turbo powered peers like the Golf GTI, the Focus ST etc, it's a great option. It's cheap, comfortable on a cruising drive (unless I was on bumpy roads!) and I got 32mpg from mine on average. They are also a bit rarer than the ST and the GTI. A great hot hatch option if you ask me!
In terms of involvement, driver reward etc it's perhaps not the highest, I think Honda do that best. Against it's turbo powered peers like the Golf GTI, the Focus ST etc, it's a great option. It's cheap, comfortable on a cruising drive (unless I was on bumpy roads!) and I got 32mpg from mine on average. They are also a bit rarer than the ST and the GTI. A great hot hatch option if you ask me!
I'm amazed reading some of the comments on here. I had the Leon FR 550(a step down the rung from the Cupra), and it was one of the worst handling cars i've ever had the displeasure to drive - trying to make any sort of good progress resulted in either wheelspin, understeer or torque steer, none of which i consider to be positive characteristics.
I would've thought that putting more power through the front wheels would only amplify the negatives. Reading the glowing posts here, it would appear that my supposition is incorrect.
I would've thought that putting more power through the front wheels would only amplify the negatives. Reading the glowing posts here, it would appear that my supposition is incorrect.
Problem is ...if you want 5 doors for the little ones, what else do you get?
S3- that'll be nearly 3 years old at this price. Golf GTI...two years old. Golf R...don't be silly. Golf R32/Subaru STI....tax and petrol- that'll be a brave decision.
Focus/Megane/Civic...all 3 door only, better- maybe, but still 2 doors short of a family car.
If you want a modern 5 door hot hatch Seat seem to have it pretty much covered. The only other option would be the Octavia VRS but it'll be a brave man at VW HQ who signs off giving them the 260bhp motor....
S3- that'll be nearly 3 years old at this price. Golf GTI...two years old. Golf R...don't be silly. Golf R32/Subaru STI....tax and petrol- that'll be a brave decision.
Focus/Megane/Civic...all 3 door only, better- maybe, but still 2 doors short of a family car.
If you want a modern 5 door hot hatch Seat seem to have it pretty much covered. The only other option would be the Octavia VRS but it'll be a brave man at VW HQ who signs off giving them the 260bhp motor....
mistergixer said:
I'm amazed reading some of the comments on here. I had the Leon FR 550(a step down the rung from the Cupra), and it was one of the worst handling cars i've ever had the displeasure to drive - trying to make any sort of good progress resulted in either wheelspin, understeer or torque steer, none of which i consider to be positive characteristics.
I would've thought that putting more power through the front wheels would only amplify the negatives. Reading the glowing posts here, it would appear that my supposition is incorrect.
What you have to bear in mind is that the FR550 has a big, heavy diesel lump in the front. The chassis is the same as the MK5 Golf GTI, and that has been up there in terms of good handling cars.I would've thought that putting more power through the front wheels would only amplify the negatives. Reading the glowing posts here, it would appear that my supposition is incorrect.
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