RE: SEAT Leon Cupra R ST: Driven

[scottos]

Dale487 said:

This 16 plate is cheaper than the one picked out in the article at £16.5K;

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Someone in Manchester has a 15 plate Cupra hatch in grey, they've added copper accents to - I was almost convinced it was an R, until I saw it was on a 15 plate & the standard (non-copper) wheels.

Worth noting that one isnt 4wd

[Dale487]

scottos said:

Dale487 said:

This 16 plate is cheaper than the one picked out in the article at £16.5K;

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Someone in Manchester has a 15 plate Cupra hatch in grey, they've added copper accents to - I was almost convinced it was an R, until I saw it was on a 15 plate & the standard (non-copper) wheels.

Worth noting that one isnt 4wd

No manuals are - 4WD is DSG only.

[rb_89]

Nice looking car - 38k list price, owch.

[Onehp]

rob.e said:

bungle said:

I'm currently in the market for a fast wagon (albeit a manual, and therefore (unfortunately) not 4WD), and this has been on my radar for a while, but I've just not got round to test-driving one yet.

How do they cope with 300bhp through the front wheels? (or 290/280 depending on iteration).

Very well. It has a diff (electronic rather than mechanical but even so) works really well.

Good points made in the article. Agree it makes no sense at full retail but a slightly used example, FWD with manual, add some light wheels, sticky tires, good geo setup and better dampers, and a map and it'd be a great car ;-)

You basically described my car. Two comments: all FWD Cupras suffer from front wheel hop, I have an insert in the lower engine mount that reduces its severity. Also have new bushes and lower arms in front (Superpro Supaloy), stock ones are very mushy and make the car a bit floppy on the limit of grip, changing these really sharpened up the cars responses for me. Changing dampers -didn't feel the need, standard are DCC and are great IMHO (I used to change dampers on previous cars), shedding 5kg from each corner (18" Ultraleggeras for me) from the stock Cupra wheels helps a lot with the damping.

I'm not a Seat or VAG fanboy (my first actually), I was just looking for a family car with a big boot that was still interesting to drive for a driver enthusiast and thus doesn't weight 2 tons or more. Had it almost 3 years, very pleased esp after mods (big partbin to choose from). Bought new with mods it cost me about 32k. Mod list in 'my garage.'

Buying today, I would try this ST R as the front end sounds to be a lot better if it's anything like the 5D Cupra R / Clubsport S. And the 500 quid ABT remap with warranty does sound like a good deal. Perhaps one can haggle a bit from list as everybody wants the SUVs anyway...

Edited by Onehp on Wednesday 13th March 16:14

[scottos]

Dale487 said:

No manuals are - 4WD is DSG only.

I know, thats why i was pointing it out. Its not such a direct comparison but does give an idea of the depreciation

[nunpuncher]

bungle said:

How do they cope with 300bhp through the front wheels? (or 290/280 depending on iteration).

Fine as long as you don't actually plan on trying to use it all at once.

The diff is very effective at managing torque steer but the wheel hop is fking horrendous.

[Dale487]

scottos said:

Dale487 said:

No manuals are - 4WD is DSG only.

I know, thats why i was pointing it out. Its not such a direct comparison but does give an idea of the depreciation

Sorry, I was comparing it to the blue, manual referenced in the article not the R it's self - I'd save myself £20K and buy this instead of the R; I prefer a manual and can live without the moderate extra power, 4WD, small improvement in dynamics and slightly nicer interior (I'm not a fan of white detailing on the "normal" Cuprs's seats). For £16.5K you'll struggle to find a 3 year old car that covers more bases this well.

Edited by Dale487 on Wednesday 13th March 17:39

[AJB88]

Icehanger said:

But can it have a tow bar and be a proper fast family wagon?

Nope the Cupra was never approved for towing.

[AJB88]

David87 said:

So you can currently buy a SEAT Cupra or a Cupra Cupra. Right.

Nope.

MK3 Leon *what the above is* is a SEAT Leon Cupra.

MK4 Leon will come as a SEAT Leon & Cupra Leon

Ateca comes as SEAT Ateca or Cupra Ateca

[Jon_S_Rally]

I found this article a bit confusing to be honest. Lots of whimsical words about driving and such, but I found it a bit hard to get to the nitty gritty of what makes this different to a normal Cupra wagon. So it's got slightly better brakes, slightly tweaked suspension? And some copper colour bits?

These era Leons don't seem bad value generally. I was thinking of getting an Octavia vRS wagon as a tow car, but the Leon FR estate is notably cheaper I must say.

[Onehp]

As for price/performance.

This one is about as fast as a new Audi S4.

With the ABT warrented power hike, it's in the same league as a brand new RS4. Wonder how much one of those is with similar equipment... 65k?

[pimpchez]

My cupra 280 is running the same power at 370+ with PS4S tyres and they make all of the difference for turn in.

Can we find anything thats new that offers EVERYTHING this does for less than 40k
Remember Cupras dont really come with any options as such so you get adaptive dampers , radar cruise , 7spd box , sat nav ,phone link, LCD IP ,combine that with the ABT upgrade your looking at 4 sec dead to 60 (draggy verified based on golfs) and 100 in less than 10, all with every modern gadget you could want/need and a warranty to boot.

Its a bargain
If it had a visible VW badge (It actually has loads if you look), PH crowd would be wking themselves silly

[Dale487]

Onehp said:

As for price/performance.

This one is about as fast as a new Audi S4.

With the ABT warrented power hike, it's in the same league as a brand new RS4. Wonder how much one of those is with similar equipment... 65k?

And the Audi is hardly any bigger - I suspect the engine will sound better though

[Stig]

CrippsCorner said:

I like that, nice to have another fast estate to choose from. However, you lost me at 'auto-only'

I’m a dyed in the wool manual driver, but recently bought a Leon Cupra 300 ST 4Drive Carbon edition (got all that?) which is basically the same car as this R but without a carbon wing, mirror caps and alcantara covered wheel.

Whilst it has the 6-speed DSG rahter than the 7 in the R I’m a complete convert. The shifts are virtually seamless with a nice ‘parp’ for the changes. You can short shift with the paddles on the wheel for a more ‘manual’ experience if you like too.

As commented, it’s a real sleeper. Quiet and comfortable for cruising and goes like a scalded cat when you want. I wanted a practical estate with power when required, this does just that. My carbon edition is one of only 42 in the UK, so the rarity value appealed too.

Not cheap in Seat terms, but compared to equivalents with this packaging/power and it’s excellent value!

Now just need to convince Seat UK to let me have the ABT upgrade with warranty for £500

[AJB88]

The £500 upgrade appears only to be for the 150 Cupra R ST's

I reckon they will offer ABT through dealer network for other models but charge £1000+ for it.

[Onehp]

Dale487 said:

Onehp said:

As for price/performance.

This one is about as fast as a new Audi S4.

With the ABT warrented power hike, it's in the same league as a brand new RS4. Wonder how much one of those is with similar equipment... 65k?

And the Audi is hardly any bigger - I suspect the engine will sound better though

Interior wise very similar, perhaps the odd half an inch here and there advantage for the audi, boot is deeper on the ST. Engine sound better especially from the outside, but people still complain it doesn't sound that great. Anyhow, the RS4's for sale here are at least double the price... and 300-350kg more, which is a clear disadvantage in my world.

[lee_erm]

Seat has the worst branding team in automotive history.

[Dale487]

Onehp said:

Dale487 said:

Onehp said:

As for price/performance.

This one is about as fast as a new Audi S4.

With the ABT warrented power hike, it's in the same league as a brand new RS4. Wonder how much one of those is with similar equipment... 65k?

And the Audi is hardly any bigger - I suspect the engine will sound better though

Interior wise very similar, perhaps the odd half an inch here and there advantage for the audi, boot is deeper on the ST. Engine sound better especially from the outside, but people still complain it doesn't sound that great. Anyhow, the RS4's for sale here are at least double the price... and 300-350kg more, which is a clear disadvantage in my world.

As Leon ST owner (FR not Cupra) & Yorkshire man, I completely agree with you.

The MQB based cars seem to have a couple of inches more leg room in the back & a back seat set about 2 inches as well as a longer rear bench over the similar sized rivals. The Leon ST's boot beats many larger cars by volume (I guess some people may argue the larger cars have a better shaped boot & hence more usable space).

A deficiency in Leon compared to the RS4 is easily squared with the £30k-35k price difference - either keep the cash or reduce your out goings or could buy you a decent used sports car (I'd go Cayman or 997 personally).

I do think the Leon ST R with the ABT up grade is all the car most people need.

[Baldchap]

I wish VW would offer an official remap on the same engine.

[KPB1973]

I had a 300 ST 4Drive running similar power for a while. Absolutely crackers performance in all weathers and the chassis coped perfectly fine. Grip, grip and more grip.

The DSG didn't enjoy the extra poke though.

Perhaps a little aloof in its manners but that wasn't without merit as a fast family wagon. It also seemed to attract zero attention.