Thursday 21st August 2014

SEAT Leon Cupra R: Catch It While You Can

For the price of SEAT's new Sub-8 upgrade you could have a whole Leon Cupra R. Is it a classic in waiting?

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So SEAT has a new 'Sub-8' performance pack out for its new Leon Cupra 280. I'll agree it seems like a tasty enough bit of kit: chunky 370mm front discs and Brembo four-pots (yum), side skirts (hmm, maybe not) and 19-inch wheels in orange if you like (and I do - being very much of the Spangles and Space Hopper era).

Even the price (£2,025) looks tempting. But hang on. For little more than the cost of the Sub-8 package, you could have an entire SEAT Leon Cupra.

Cupras are down as Shed money...

The original Cupra is on its way to becoming a minor classic. Born at a time when VW really wanted SEAT to be its sporty brand, if I say that the Leon Cupra is basically a Golf GTI Mk4, I'd be doing it a disservice. It's far better than that: more power, a better spec, sharper manners and a subtler road presence. I well remember doing a group test of hot hatchbacks back in 2003 and SEAT's Leon Cupra R emerging as the comfortable winner.

Let the Golf GTI be the 'one to have' with all the pumped-up pricing that go with it. No, the Leon will never be as desirable as a Golf, but that makes it sufficiently under the radar that the 'lion' is not so much roaring as mewing quietly in a corner.

Which, of course, is great news for buyers. Prices in the classifieds for early 180hp Cupras now start at Shed money. I did raise my eyebrows at the £1,100 price tag of a 20V T Leon Cupra of 2002 vintage with 79,000 miles, 10 months MOT and a smidge of tax.

... and the Cupra R under £3K. Tempted?

But the 20V T is not 'the one' - that's the Cupra R of course. As launched in 2002, the engine came straight from the Audi S3, with 210hp in initial form. The 225hp version that superseded it in 2003 is even better, and its 0-62mph time of 6.5 seconds is still respectable.

With the entry ticket for 225hp R ownership starting at just £2,750, the only way is up. That buys you an unmolested 2004 model with 118,000 miles. Sure, it's got a few scratches and not much tread left on the PZeros, but a straight R for under £3K has got bargain written all over it.

Thing is, the Cupra's 1.8 turbo engine is tough, long-lasting and eminently tuneable. Many owners get tempted into remaps and (usually noisy) free-flow exhausts, which often means upgrades in other areas to cope.

Modified cars common, standard most desirable

There's plenty of choice of upgraded metal out there. The owner of this remapped, decatted 260hp R is "open to sensible offers", so it could likely be yours for under £3K. Another R with a 265hp Stage 1 Revo remap is up for £3,400.

As ever, my mantra with older performance cars is: keep it original. Sure enough, unmolested Cupras are becoming scarcer. Find a well looked-after original-spec Cupra R 225, pay £3-4K for it and you'll be on to a winner, I reckon. And one final word in favour of the Leon: being pre-2006, you'll even avoid the crushing top-rate VED.

[Mike1990]

There's something about these LCR's that excites me, they still look fantastic even buy today's standard's.

My cousin had a fairly well sorted one,

• Forge FMIC
• Forge Dump Valve
• Jabbasport Airbox/Filter
• Mapped and RR'd at 270BHP by REVO
• KW V1 Coilover's with full Geo setup
• Neuspeed (IIRC) Front and Rear ARB's
• DS2500 Brake Pad's Front and Rear
• Uniroyal Rainsport 2 Tire's all round.

It was a sure capable hot hatch, just lacked some character.

Few pictures of it with my VXR,

Untitled by michael.smith199042, on Flickr

by michael.smith199042, on Flickr

by michael.smith199042, on Flickr

[anonymous-user]

They do look good, but mine was so boring to drive I sold it after 3 months

[C.A.R.]

They do look good and they sound good too, but agree with the two above posts that they lack character. Otherwise a perfect car!

The diesel Cupra's hold their value incredibly well too and haven't aged anything like as badly as the MK4 Golf.

[QuattroDave]

tom2502 said:

They do look good, but mine was so boring to drive I sold it after 3 months

Mine was like a scalded cat to drive, it'd been worked over extensively by the previous owner and even though it was just the lowly 180bhp model it was showing 236bhp on the rolling road printout that came with it.

We would have kept it but for my wifes daily drive it was a) perhaps a little too quick for someone who'd only been driving 1.5 years and b) it did some woeful mpg, even lower than the 330i touring auto it replaced - barely made 28mpg on a steady run!

Still, in yellow it looked great and handled pretty well but I prefer the slightly slower mk1 octavia vrs estate I've got now, far more spacious and much more economical as a daily leaving more fuel money for my weekend drive :P

[MissChief]

I have an original 180 version that I got for £3k 2 1/2 years ago. Other than consumables and servicing it's cost me a thermostat, a cracked front spring and a brake pedal switch. It flew through its MOT last time without needing a single thing too. Sure it lacks character and is a little bit lifeless but I got 35mpg+ according to the OBC and recently got 390 miles from the 55 litre tank. Not a patch on my previous 306 GTI-6 but way more reliable and far more economical. It's also fast enough for overtakes of the dawdlers but not exactly super quick.

[T31WRC]

Sold my classic scoob of 6 years to buy an ex demo 'revo'd ' r, but like the 1st couple of posters stated, it lacked that something special. It was quick, comfortable and IMO very good looking ,but for some reason I always felt the need to drive it like I'd nicked it in order to get any enjoyment out of it. Sold it after 18 months. Glad I owned one, but have never really missed it, so to me that says something as I usually regret selling all my past cars.

[sp222]

I had a 20VT on an 02 plate - I wanted to like it, but I must have had a friday afternoon car - one of the valves burnt out, Seat quoted £4000 for a replacement engine (it was 4 years old and 40k miles), and after taking the company that sold it to me to small claims, I got it repaired for £1500 with a reconditioned head at their cost.

Then started the water leaks, and the last straw were the crap electrics. Once I had it sorted, it was chopped in for a Kia Cee'd... that's how much I hated it in the end.

shame as I still think they look good.

[Bone Rat]

Had LCR 210 between 03 & 07, nice car on the open road but got so fed up with the splitter grounding & coming off in car parks, on speed bumps & on kerbs it went. Odd niggly failures marred ownership, lambda probes, CV boots etc all at young age.

Got odd looks when sourcing a replacement as would measure the clearance with ruler, so annoying.

[dave_s13]

Ha, good timing!

That's my car linked to in the article

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...



I sold it on tuesday night and it's being picked up at the weekend.

Epic car, they go and stop incredibly well indeed and it'll be sadly missed. I will admit that the steering lacks a certain amount of feel but they have incredible grip and can be thrown through corners at alarming speeds. With a re-map they are rapid as well.

I've replaced it with a 2005 Citroen C5 2.0HDI that I inherited of my dad for peanuts...needs must and all that

Oh and



Not to be sniffed at... That was a 22mile round trip to work and back.

Edited by dave_s13 on Thursday 21st August 12:08

[FWDRacer]

Golf Mk4 platform. So much better than the same Gen-Golf GiT.

[JaseB]

Fond memories of lapping E30 M3s on a trackday at Mallory, them brakes were awesome!

[NGK210]

Worth bearing in mind that most of the stage-1 remaps up the torque to a headline-grabbing 270+ lb-ft, which sounds great, until you realise that VWG's tech specs rate the gearbox's max torque at 260lb-ft...

And compared like-for-like, LCRs seem to have curiously inconsistent MPG

Edited by NGK210 on Thursday 21st August 12:47

[Amirhussain]

Love these shape Cupra R's, for me they are the daddy of all Leon's made.

[skinny]

i've had my LCR for a couple months now. intend to keep it completely standard (well apart from the obligatory remap and exhaust - it would be rude not to).

for me, coming from the 150bhp mk4 golf gti, the steering is much nicer, although not as good as my mx5. the mid range kick is great, but it does suffer with passengers. the recaro seats are also pretty good (tho i haven't tried the non-recaro's).

So far, only things that have gone wrong is a coil pack failed. It does have a tendency to warp front brake discs too for some reason.

[Mike1990]

T31WRC said:

Sold my classic scoob of 6 years to buy an ex demo 'revo'd ' r, but like the 1st couple of posters stated, it lacked that something special. It was quick, comfortable and IMO very good looking ,but for some reason I always felt the need to drive it like I'd nicked it in order to get any enjoyment out of it. Sold it after 18 months. Glad I owned one, but have never really missed it, so to me that says something as I usually regret selling all my past cars.

My cousin said exactly the same, you have to drive it really hard and push it to the limit and just beyond it for to get exciting which lead to him getting a Renaultsport Clio 182 in fear of losing his licence LOL in which you can properly enjoy a half the speed. Although after having a 172 i'd pick the LCR everytime.

[mk1chopper]

I'd ignore what the trip computer says with regard to mpg, my S3 over read i think it averaged 29, I always check fuelly to see what cars real mpg is these days.

[dave_s13]

NGK210 said:

Worth bearing in mind that most of the stage-1 remaps up the torque to a headline-grabbing 270+ lb-ft, which sounds great, until you realise that VWG's tech specs rate the gearbox's max torque at 260lb-ft...

And compared like-for-like, LCRs seem to have curiously inconsistent MPG

Edited by NGK210 on Thursday 21st August 12:47

There does seem to be anissue with a gearbox whine in some cars but it's an easy fix.

Looking at the Seat forum there isn't really an alarming number of failed gearbox threads?

Mine is on 106k miles, it purrs like a kitten and the gearbox/clutch are faultless.

My overall average MPG for everyday knocking about it around 32mpg. The 40 odd I posted above is a one off hypermiling exercise. That same trip done with a bit more vigour still sees 35mpg though. I was getting 350-375 miles to a tank on mine. For the performance available that is bloody good if you ask me.

[skinny]

I'm on about 31 multi-tank mpg with mostly commuting (8-mile) and then a few weekend trips.
The same as my golf, but with 110 more BHP.

[dave_s13]

skinny said:

I'm on about 31 multi-tank mpg with mostly commuting (8-mile) and then a few weekend trips.
The same as my golf, but with 110 more BHP.

I got similar from my previous Toyota Celica 190 VVT and that "only" had 187bhp.

They are one of those engines that reward careful driving but when you thrash it, they like a drink.

[n4aat]

I had an R 10 years ago as a company car and did 50k in it. It was extremely rapid, for what it was, but as dull as Cat Deeley.

Not sure I would have kept it that long if I hadn't had to keep it for three years.