Tuesday 4th March 2014

SEAT Leon Cupra: PH Buying Guide

The new Leon Cupra launches today at Geneva; here's how to land yourself an original

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Talk about timing: SEAT couldn't have hoped for a more opportune moment to join the hot hatch fray with its fast Leon in 1999. Originally badged as the Leon 20VT Cupra, it easily bettered parent company Volkswagen's dour Mk4 Golf GTI. The Golf had grown fat, slow and was trading on past glories where the Leon was lean, fit and fast with 180hp to see off 0-62mph in 7.7 seconds. At £14,995, the early Leon Cupra, which is a contraction of Cup Racing as a nod to SEAT's rallying activity at the time, this was a bargain hot hatch that boasted five doors and five seats.

Search for SEAT Leon Cupras here

Cupra went from mild originally...

In July 2002, the Leon Cupra range was expanded with the addition of the Cupra R that came with a 210hp engine lifted from the Audi S3. It used the same 1.8-litre turbo petrol motor as the base Cupra but with revised intercooler, 18-inch alloy wheels, Brembo brake calipers, quicker steering rack and revised spring and damper rates. It also sported a more aggressive look courtesy of different front and rear bumpers, including a low-slung front splitter

The R instantly became the Cupra to have thanks to 0-62mph in 7.2 seconds and a top speed that rose to 147mph from the standard Cupra's 142mph. However, SEAT wasn't done just yet and uprated the R to 225hp only a year later in July 2003. It delivered a claimed 0-62mph time of 6.9 seconds, though contemporary road tests regularly lowered that to 6.5 seconds, and top speed climbed to 150mph. All this and it still only cost £17,500.

...to something progressively more wild with R

SEAT also attached the Cupra name to a 150PS turbodiesel model in 2003 that knocked off 0-62mphin 8.6 seconds while returning 52.3mpg average economy. For the purposes of this buyers guide, thought, we'll stick with the petrol models that can be picked up for much less than £1000 now for early high milers. Late model Mk1 Cupra Rs in perfect condition come in at around £5500, so it's a very affordable way to have a family car that is still rapid enough to entertain a PHer.

 

 

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PHer's view:
"In hindsight, I wish I'd held out, done a bit more research and gone for a Cupra R. At my age (late 30s then) insurance wasn't an issue. The 180hp was sufficient for daily use, but the R has the smooth bumpers and just generally looks nicer in my opinion."
Hendy

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Buying guide contents:
Introduction
Powertrain
Rolling Chassis
Body
Interior

Search for SEAT Leon Cupras here

[John_LCR]

Cracking cars. Owned my 55 R from new and still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it over 8 years later.

[iloveboost]

Fifth gear tested the Leon Cupra R against the competition on track and I think Tiff Needell said that although on the track he prefers the Civic Type R because of the engine/gearbox/lift off oversteer on the road the Leon Cupra R could be the better car because it rides better and feels more stable.
I think the main way to improve any Leon Cupra, including the R, is fitting firmer dampers. The non-R models could do with the 'R' steering rack to make the steering a bit heavier as well.
I guess firmer dampers and/or springs will make the ride significantly worse as bumps will thump through the chassis more though.
Drove a facelift EP3 Civic Type R and although the engine is more exciting than any 1.8T/1.9TDi with a smooth, free revving feeling and a more exciting noise the car is worse or the same in every other way. I think overall it's a worse car than the R but a bit more exciting to drive because of the character of the engine. I think overall the Mk1 Leon Cupra R was the best hot hatch until maybe the Focus ST Mk2? I haven't driven one but I've heard them and that five cylinder noise is lovely.

Edited by iloveboost on Tuesday 4th March 12:51

[Emeye]

I had a 51 plate Mk1 Cupra as a company car - it was a fantastic all rounder and felt seriously quick (I always wondered if the guy who had it before me had chipped it on the QT)- mine had dealer fit raide alloys and side skirts, so didn't look quite as boring as the standard one. The facelift was a major improvement.

Here is a picture of it with my Eunos I had at the same time - it was a good combination to have.

Edited by Emeye on Tuesday 4th March 19:18

[QuantumTokoloshi]

I do not drive my LCR enough of late, just sits in the garage, still enjoy the Sunday blasts every so often.

They have an old school turbo feel, especially after a map.

[mk1chopper]

"It used the same 1.8-litre turbo petrol motor as the base Cupra but with revised intercooler" It was i bit more than a revised intercooler, try bigger ko4 turbo (180 is ko3/ko3s)

You might want to amend the following as its misleading "Leather seats and satellite navigation were both options for the R but most owners stuck with the standard Recaro fabric seats and shunned sat-nav." Recaros were an option, most owners stuck with the standard cupra r badge fabric sports seat

Edited by mk1chopper on Tuesday 4th March 14:08

[chrisxr2]

do not buy yellow, though, for gods sake, loved mine but the yellow fades terribly and also don't forget the leaking rear doors, and the air con fan problem all well known. Loved june despite the foibles but always felt though quick the driving experience with regards to speed could have been more exciting, always felt you were going much slower than you actually were. Chav fodder round these parts now sadly.

[Mr Tidy]

I bought a Cupra in 2003 and had it 2 years.
It was Black Magic with the optional leather seats with memory - a brilliant car!
Sadly it had to go when I started doing alot of business miles and I would have been subsidising my firm at the mileage rate I was getting, so I had to change to something that drank the black stuff.
Now I don't do the miles a 1st generation Cupra R is quite tempting.

[CaptainSensib1e]

Loved my Cupra R, at £5.5k for a late, clean example they are a steal. Still one of the best ever looking hot hatches IMO.

[geeks]

mk1chopper said:

"It used the same 1.8-litre turbo petrol motor as the base Cupra but with revised intercooler" It was i bit more than a revised intercooler, try bigger ko4 turbo (180 is ko3/ko3s)

You might want to amend the following as its misleading "Leather seats and satellite navigation were both options for the R but most owners stuck with the standard Recaro fabric seats and shunned sat-nav." Recaros were an option, most owners stuck with the standard cupra r badge fabric sports seat

Edited by mk1chopper on Tuesday 4th March 14:08

Also i am prety sure the Cupra R had the twin intercooler setup

[MinuteMan]

iloveboost said:

Drove a facelift EP3 Civic Type R and although the engine is more exciting than any 1.8T/1.9TDi with a smooth, free revving feeling and a more exciting noise

Exactly the reason I keep wanting to sell up for a CTR. The 1.8T is a dull engine IMO, made worse by the fact that the engine noise in-cabin is too quite, so I find myself driving with the windows down half the time just to hear something. Nothing an exhaust won't solve though

[the_hood]

I had an early Cupra a few years ago. At the time, my budget wouldn't stretch to the facelift model, which looks better but at least it gave my car the Q-car look. Only the twin exhausts gave the game away to those in the know.
Mine was high mileage but with a full service history. It was my first non Japanese car and also the one which cost the most in maintenance. Some parts could be classed as wear and tear, ie perished rubber hoses, snapped springs, the infamous rubber door seals, etc. But I never had anything like as many problems with my last 3 cars combined! There always seemed something more to fix and the EML was never off in the 2 odd years I had the car.
I still think it's a good looking car, with a touch of Alfasud about it. The engine has a good spread of torque and it's quite quick with a distant 5 cylinder warble when flooring it.
I possibly bought a poor example and a late model R in pristine condition would still tempt me.
So much better looking than the mk2 people carrier that replaced in imo.

[alisdairsuttie]

From the Powertrain section of the guide:

'The 180hp Cupra has a K03 turbocharger, but this was uprated to a K04 for the first R model to free up 210hp, with help from twin intercoolers, new exhaust system and a reworked ECU. Further remapping of the ECU resulted in 225hp for the R in mid-2003.'

[rmcoboy]

Had a 1st gen Cupra in 2003. Lovely thing. I remember a journo comparing the looks to Saab front end, Alfasud rear. Still look good now. The top speed is reachable too i seem to remember...

[dave_s13]

Had mine nearly a week.

103k miles and pulls very, very strongly indeed.

Did 34.5mpg on my trip home from the gym thiis evening too, and that was with a couple of WOT 3rd gear over-takes.

Agree the sound in the cabin could be louder but I think this would be solved with an induction kit of some description, I'm not fussed though.

Ride is a bit crashy too and the cabin in my car rattled, creaked and groaned like a mofo. An application of gummi pflege to all the door seals and a spray of motocycle chain lube into all the dash crevices has sorted that pretty well.

Anyway, I've come from a toyota celica 190 t sport and so far the LCR is proving much more lovable. I like it!

[rmcoboy]

Had a 1st gen Cupra in 2003. Lovely thing. I remember a journo comparing the looks to Saab front end, Alfasud rear. Still look good now. The top speed is reachable too i seem to remember...

[Mastodon2]

dave_s13 said:

Had mine nearly a week.

103k miles and pulls very, very strongly indeed.

Did 34.5mpg on my trip home from the gym thiis evening too, and that was with a couple of WOT 3rd gear over-takes.

Agree the sound in the cabin could be louder but I think this would be solved with an induction kit of some description, I'm not fussed though.

Ride is a bit crashy too and the cabin in my car rattled, creaked and groaned like a mofo. An application of gummi pflege to all the door seals and a spray of motocycle chain lube into all the dash crevices has sorted that pretty well.

Anyway, I've come from a toyota celica 190 t sport and so far the LCR is proving much more lovable. I like it!

For cabin noise, any of the induction kit options will get you a nice induction note, or as nice as you'll get on a 4 cylinder turbo. Fit a heatshield for peace of mind to reduce heatsoak effect - I didn't have a heatshield fitted when I went to an open cone filter on my car, as I never drove slowly enough for hot air to build up and affect throttle response.

If you change the dump / blow-off valve, you'll get a nice noise in the cabin from that. Mine used to sound like someone opening a can of coke, rather than an aggressive and annoying loud hiss that some of them make that sounds like a compressed air hose spraying under the bonnet. If you do feel tempted to change valves, do it right and get a Forge Motorsport valve, you choose the spring for the valve based on your car's BHP - higher powers need need higher boost, and the more power you've got the stronger the spring needs to be to stop the pressure forcing the valve open when you want it to stay shut (when you're on throttle), causing a loss of boost. My Cupra R was a 225 running 280bhp, I can't remember what spring colour I had, I think it was two grades up from the spring spec'd for the 225bhp standard car. Cheap, poorly designed valves are "one spring fits all" affairs, and might work great at lower boosts, but bleed badly and cause all sorts of throttle issues on higher boost cars.

Great all rounders and one of the best looking hot hatches of all time imo, but many foibles for a VAG product and not the most exciting drive. The EP3 I replaced mine was nowhere near as fast but a much more rewarding car for the keen driver.

[anonymous-user]

I had a 225 lcr. Absolutely hated the thing, it just wasn't really aggressive enough for my tastes as a hot hatch.

It was quite remote and lacked any feel from a driving perspective, and the 1.8t vag lump is a dull engine to listen to.

It was a quick car across country but it just left me a bit cold. The sort of car that just does everything just enough, but excells in nothing.

But that's just my opinion

[MissChief]

I have a standard 180HP non-R. Very little noise in the cabin, to hear anything vaguely turbo related you need to crack a window. The 1.8T has a reputation for blocking the oil pick up pipe so have this checked.

[QuantumTokoloshi]

An excellent summary of potential issues on the lCR grabbed from another thread.

Leadfoot said:

Things to look out for:

Failing clutch slave cylinders (should have been fixed under warranty years ago, might have been sorted before '04 anyway). Symptoms start with the pedal sticking down, quickly followed by the clutch fluid dumping on the floor.

Leaking seals on the doors, where the inner panel bolts to the door. There is (was) a foam strip sealing it, that allows water past & into the car. Easily fixed with silcon or the correct seal that VAG sell. Drying out a car that has had a leak for a while is a PITA though.

Leaking pollen filters when some goon doesn't refit it properly.

Failng coil packs, should have been fixed by now as there was an FOC replacement on these.

Faulty radiator fans. If the fan (s) cycle on/off full speed with a cold engine & the aircon switched on, the fan has a blown internal resistor - which should let it run at a slow speed for the aircon. There is a cheap fix to wire in external resistors instead of buying new fans.

Power steering hoses can leak where the banjo fittings for the rack are swaged onto the ends.

Water pumps have a plastic impellor that fails. shoud have been replaced with a metal one when the cambelt was changed (which is a pain to do as the access is very tight).

Front brake calipers can corrode & cause binding. There is a stainless shim that's attached to the caliper, contacting the top & bottom edges of the pad. The Alloy caliper can corrode underneath this shim, forcing it away from the caliper & stopping the pads sliding.

Enjoy!

[lewisf182]

One of the top 5 wheel designs ever IMHO, the MK1 Cupra R has massive road presence!

Would love to have tried one, sadly they seem to be in the wrong sort of hands these days but I'm sure in a few years that will change as they go through the and past the chav phase that most hot hatches go through, maybe then I'll give it a go!

Shame the Ibiza Cupra never really gets mentioned, same package in a smaller & Nimbler car & IMHO looks just as good if not better.