'02 Seat Ibiza Cupra
Discussion
This is my '02 Seat Ibiza Cupra. It's a bit of a bought not built car, I first got to know of the car back in 2006 when it was owned and cherished by a friend who brought it to pretty much the spec it is now. It then fell through some hands and got tracked (which is fine) and basically very badly bodged.
Few pictures... visibly it hasn't changed a great deal!
Day I got it
When I got it the main issues were:
Then decided to retro fit the battery where it should be. Alternator packed in and we discovered downright scary wiring for the battery into the boot including bare live wires, and un-fused speaker cable... I s
t you not. Under the bonnet looks like this now, not immaculate but functional for sure
then took it to the PH big breakfast at the back end of this year... held it's own no problem with the VXR8 and big BHP Scooby over the moors. Cracked the sump on the way home chasing my mates Focus RS over Castleton!
few shots at Teesside Autodrome
Then had a new rear section made for the exhaust which is a bit more subtle and less restrictive, didn't like how the Superspint fit on the car.
all was going swimmingly until last month when i unfortunatley hit a fox, killing the front bumper and sideskirt. Bought new bits which will hopefully be painted and fitted soon. I am also off to Santa Pod on Sunday to see what 1/4 mile it does, hopefully annoy a few flash cars too
Rough spec...
Engine:
K03s Turbo
3" downpipe and 3" straight through exhaust
Air filter of unknown origin
Hard pipes for the intercooler
Jabbasport map
N75/112/249 valves bypassed
Has been rolling roaded various times anywhere between 234-251bhp @14psi
Suspension:
FK Coilovers
Seat Sport front strut brace
Brakes:
Brembo 305mm 4 pot front setup
Mintex pads
Short term plans -
Thank you for reading, see you at the meets guys and girls
Few pictures... visibly it hasn't changed a great deal!
Day I got it
When I got it the main issues were:
- Serious running fault - turned out the previous retard owner had the MAF on backwards...
- Badly bodged in seats, these would fail any MOT/scrutineering, how he took it to the 'ring in this shape just baffles and scares me.
- Front end needed a repaint and bonnet catch doesn't and still isn't working
Then decided to retro fit the battery where it should be. Alternator packed in and we discovered downright scary wiring for the battery into the boot including bare live wires, and un-fused speaker cable... I s
t you not. Under the bonnet looks like this now, not immaculate but functional for surethen took it to the PH big breakfast at the back end of this year... held it's own no problem with the VXR8 and big BHP Scooby over the moors. Cracked the sump on the way home chasing my mates Focus RS over Castleton!
few shots at Teesside Autodrome
Then had a new rear section made for the exhaust which is a bit more subtle and less restrictive, didn't like how the Superspint fit on the car.
all was going swimmingly until last month when i unfortunatley hit a fox, killing the front bumper and sideskirt. Bought new bits which will hopefully be painted and fitted soon. I am also off to Santa Pod on Sunday to see what 1/4 mile it does, hopefully annoy a few flash cars too
Rough spec...
Engine:
K03s Turbo
3" downpipe and 3" straight through exhaust
Air filter of unknown origin
Hard pipes for the intercooler
Jabbasport map
N75/112/249 valves bypassed
Has been rolling roaded various times anywhere between 234-251bhp @14psi
Suspension:
FK Coilovers
Seat Sport front strut brace
Brakes:
Brembo 305mm 4 pot front setup
Mintex pads
Short term plans -
- Paint front end
- Fix bonnet catch
- Slight turbo upgrade
Thank you for reading, see you at the meets guys and girls
Nice, pretty much identical to mine 
Its a love hate relationship with these cars, great when they're going well, irritating when simple things fail.
I've had mine for over 10 years and have had many highs and lows £
but wouldn't swap it for a minute.
Hopefully you get round to your 'to do' list, i'm still working on mine,,, slowly.
Its a love hate relationship with these cars, great when they're going well, irritating when simple things fail.
I've had mine for over 10 years and have had many highs and lows £
but wouldn't swap it for a minute.Hopefully you get round to your 'to do' list, i'm still working on mine,,, slowly.
now i've got through the previous idiots bodges it's going well. got a link to the build thread for yours?
the bumper and stuff is waiting for paint just waitiing for my painter to become free
as for the turbo upgrade, well the big bits are bought just need the supporting mods like new clutch etc.
being a friend's old car, and kinda idolising it when i was 18 and seeing it every day, feels rather nostalgic now i own it, i just want to bring it back to how good it used to be!
the bumper and stuff is waiting for paint just waitiing for my painter to become free
as for the turbo upgrade, well the big bits are bought just need the supporting mods like new clutch etc.
being a friend's old car, and kinda idolising it when i was 18 and seeing it every day, feels rather nostalgic now i own it, i just want to bring it back to how good it used to be!
Looking nice..Keep up the great work..
LiamM45 said:
now i've got through the previous idiots bodges it's going well. got a link to the build thread for yours?
the bumper and stuff is waiting for paint just waitiing for my painter to become free
as for the turbo upgrade, well the big bits are bought just need the supporting mods like new clutch etc.
being a friend's old car, and kinda idolising it when i was 18 and seeing it every day, feels rather nostalgic now i own it, i just want to bring it back to how good it used to be!
the bumper and stuff is waiting for paint just waitiing for my painter to become free
as for the turbo upgrade, well the big bits are bought just need the supporting mods like new clutch etc.
being a friend's old car, and kinda idolising it when i was 18 and seeing it every day, feels rather nostalgic now i own it, i just want to bring it back to how good it used to be!
Ace car. Looks like it needs to be raised just a tad to stop the front getting so battered and give better protection against future sump-damage. That, or fit a sump-guard! I love the front mount intercooler, looks absolutely brilliant. A friend of mine is on the lookout for a new car, believes he cannot afford a fast car because of the insurance, petrol etc so was instead looking at getting a brand new VW Scirocco TDi on finance. I pointed out that something like one of these Ibiza Cupras are cheap to buy, but more expensive to insure and fuel, but still worked out cheaper per month and per annum than paying £460 on a finance car. I think the point was lost on him, but it goes to show how owning a performance car like this doesn't have to be a money pit which destroys your wages, and aside from being incomparably more fun to own and drive, can actually work out cheaper than the "new car every 4 years on finance" trap.
Glad you got the bodges sorted, the idea of someone with obviously zero electrical safety knowledge doing wiring jobs on a car is frankly scary. Imagine those live wires touching something flammable, or conducting into something that you might touch while working on the car!I had a Cupra R 225 modded up to about 270bhp, I was poking around under the bonnet and found some fairly hefty wiring that had obviously been used to hook up a big subwoofer in the boot, and though the job was a good one, I just ripped the redundant wires out.
That car was also lowered on coilovers, to the point where the front splitter had to be removed as it was so low, the handling was ace for a heavier hot hatch but it pretty much locked me out of using multi-story car parks, or anywhere with large speed bumps, which was annoying. Overall though, it was a great car, though I try to look back with rose-tinted specs to forget the times when this sensor would fail, then that sensor, then a new fault code would appear etc. On dark night though, watching that boost gauge flicking toward the redline as the car charged forward as a thrill I won't soon forget.
Enjoy your SEAT!
Glad you got the bodges sorted, the idea of someone with obviously zero electrical safety knowledge doing wiring jobs on a car is frankly scary. Imagine those live wires touching something flammable, or conducting into something that you might touch while working on the car!I had a Cupra R 225 modded up to about 270bhp, I was poking around under the bonnet and found some fairly hefty wiring that had obviously been used to hook up a big subwoofer in the boot, and though the job was a good one, I just ripped the redundant wires out.
That car was also lowered on coilovers, to the point where the front splitter had to be removed as it was so low, the handling was ace for a heavier hot hatch but it pretty much locked me out of using multi-story car parks, or anywhere with large speed bumps, which was annoying. Overall though, it was a great car, though I try to look back with rose-tinted specs to forget the times when this sensor would fail, then that sensor, then a new fault code would appear etc. On dark night though, watching that boost gauge flicking toward the redline as the car charged forward as a thrill I won't soon forget.
Enjoy your SEAT!
Edited by Mastodon2 on Sunday 8th January 14:02
The front bumper is battered due to a slightly iffy paintjob I believe, I'm going to for slightly larger wheels at some point, as the 16" wheels, despite being very light and the desirable OZ Seat Sport alloys, I think with more power it will need bigger wheels to help put down the power. To be fair it only scrubs on really really bumpy roads, so a little bigger diameter wheels should keep it right
Must say when the new bumper goes on I am going to spray the intercooler black and keep the centre section of the bumper in so it is a bit more subtle. I do like it as it is now but I don't like 'in your face' cars so I'm going to hide it... all adds to the surprise
I definitely echo your comments about buying something like this instead of a newer car on finance. Granted this is 10 years old, but the 1.8T engine is great, cheap to run and cheap to tune, and these Seat's are well kitted out for a hot hatch of their time. The LCR is a great car, a few friends have them and I'm a big fan, such a lot of car for not a great deal of money. Maybe neither have the refined handling of say of Clio 172 or a Civic Type R, but they are great fun cars. The only part to go wrong on mine since I've owned it is the alternator.
Thanks for the comments chaps, makes it all worthwhile, it may not be a sports car or supercar but hey ho
Must say when the new bumper goes on I am going to spray the intercooler black and keep the centre section of the bumper in so it is a bit more subtle. I do like it as it is now but I don't like 'in your face' cars so I'm going to hide it... all adds to the surprise
I definitely echo your comments about buying something like this instead of a newer car on finance. Granted this is 10 years old, but the 1.8T engine is great, cheap to run and cheap to tune, and these Seat's are well kitted out for a hot hatch of their time. The LCR is a great car, a few friends have them and I'm a big fan, such a lot of car for not a great deal of money. Maybe neither have the refined handling of say of Clio 172 or a Civic Type R, but they are great fun cars. The only part to go wrong on mine since I've owned it is the alternator.
Thanks for the comments chaps, makes it all worthwhile, it may not be a sports car or supercar but hey ho
Just a little update from few weekends ago at Santa Pod.
The weather wasn't great, but at least it was dry. Kinda struggled for grip and it showed in my 60ft times, but managed a 13.9 @ 103mph. New tyres and warmer weather should get a few tenths off that i hope
Had some good scalps, a new mapped Fabia VRS, the Scooby below, a worked on DC2 Teg, a bunch of other Ibiza Cupras. It was the quickest 1.8T powered car on the day
anyway some pictures, not the best but i wasn't taking them!
Cupra fwends.
not sure why but after the front end is painted I am seriously contemplating selling it... so if anyone with something Japanese and turbo'd fancies a quick little Cupra drop me a message. If not I'll keep it and get the bigger turbo bits on by Summer.
The weather wasn't great, but at least it was dry. Kinda struggled for grip and it showed in my 60ft times, but managed a 13.9 @ 103mph. New tyres and warmer weather should get a few tenths off that i hope
Had some good scalps, a new mapped Fabia VRS, the Scooby below, a worked on DC2 Teg, a bunch of other Ibiza Cupras. It was the quickest 1.8T powered car on the day
anyway some pictures, not the best but i wasn't taking them!
Cupra fwends.
not sure why but after the front end is painted I am seriously contemplating selling it... so if anyone with something Japanese and turbo'd fancies a quick little Cupra drop me a message. If not I'll keep it and get the bigger turbo bits on by Summer.
Just a little update.
The car came off the road in February with transmission issues, driving very slowly one night the car stuck in third gear after a bit of diagnosis we thought the shift tower on the box had failed. I wanted to remove the DMF so come payday (and erm, thanks Dad!) I ordered a new Sachs Golf VR6 clutch and Golf G60 flywheel and bought a gearbox from my friend.
Going into my friends unit for work...
new box
getting everything bolted back together
so we got the box in, everything together... still stuck in gear. So we removed the selector mech from inside the car to find this...
the heatshield between the cables and the exhaust had came loose and ended up not shielding much heat and melting my exhaust. Bit of a rookie mistake that we hadn't checked this before replacing the box, but being honest the clutch, dmf and box were all 110k old and would need replacing sooner rather than later, so it's ready to race next season. We fitted some cables we had spare and set them up and bingo... worked a treat, still needs a little fine tuning to get the shifting perfect but the lighter flywheel is really noticeable.
Also got a new sideskirt on after the fox incident, got it painted for £20, the paint work on it is perfect, i thought it would be a case of get what you pay for! As such I've left him with the bumper rubstrips to paint gloss black, they should be done by Monday. Spot the daily shed in the background, Polo SDi!
It's looking a little scruffy but mechanicals takes preference over looks, and it needs two tyres and brakes all round which is the thick end of £550, plus my contribution of road tax for another year, so paint can wait for a while.
On the bad side when i took it for a run out the day i got it back, a coilpack has started to break down, first i thought it was the MAF sensor but tried a friends and it still misfires under boost at full throttle, which is getting worse, so I have 4 coilpacks and 4 new plugs to fit tomorrow
Thank you anyone who has taken the time to read this anyway
The car came off the road in February with transmission issues, driving very slowly one night the car stuck in third gear after a bit of diagnosis we thought the shift tower on the box had failed. I wanted to remove the DMF so come payday (and erm, thanks Dad!) I ordered a new Sachs Golf VR6 clutch and Golf G60 flywheel and bought a gearbox from my friend.
Going into my friends unit for work...
new box
getting everything bolted back together
so we got the box in, everything together... still stuck in gear. So we removed the selector mech from inside the car to find this...
the heatshield between the cables and the exhaust had came loose and ended up not shielding much heat and melting my exhaust. Bit of a rookie mistake that we hadn't checked this before replacing the box, but being honest the clutch, dmf and box were all 110k old and would need replacing sooner rather than later, so it's ready to race next season. We fitted some cables we had spare and set them up and bingo... worked a treat, still needs a little fine tuning to get the shifting perfect but the lighter flywheel is really noticeable.
Also got a new sideskirt on after the fox incident, got it painted for £20, the paint work on it is perfect, i thought it would be a case of get what you pay for! As such I've left him with the bumper rubstrips to paint gloss black, they should be done by Monday. Spot the daily shed in the background, Polo SDi!
It's looking a little scruffy but mechanicals takes preference over looks, and it needs two tyres and brakes all round which is the thick end of £550, plus my contribution of road tax for another year, so paint can wait for a while.
On the bad side when i took it for a run out the day i got it back, a coilpack has started to break down, first i thought it was the MAF sensor but tried a friends and it still misfires under boost at full throttle, which is getting worse, so I have 4 coilpacks and 4 new plugs to fit tomorrow
Thank you anyone who has taken the time to read this anyway
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