2003 Seat Leon Cupra R
Discussion
Having been a forum lurker for some time (rank: amateur) and with the 10th birthday of my 03 plate Leon fast approaching, I thought now would be a good time to stick my neck out and say Hi 
The 1M Seat Leon Cupra R is a stable mate of the more renowned 8P Audi S3 and Mk4 Volkswagen Golf GTi, with a shared platform, drivetrain, transmission, switchgear and interior. Earlier examples (such as mine) had the less potent 210bhp (212ps) AMK 1.8T than the later 225ps (221bhp) BAM engine equipped cars. Presumably this was to prevent stepping on Audi's toes. They were produced from 2003 (52 plate) up until 2006 with the last units being registered on 07 plates.
I bought this car in May 2011 with 58,000 miles and after 20,000 miles of trouble free motoring, I can say that this has been a cracking car. Having looked at other equivalents (EP3 Civic Type R, 8P Audi S3, Mk1 Focus RS etc.) I found myself looking at Seat, the poor man of the VAG family. Considerably cheaper than it's competitors, but every bit as capable, the 1M Leon Cupra R has been no end of fun to own, with practicality to boot (excuse the pun).
She has let me down only three times, each time minor. The 1st time, being only a few days after purchase, was the coolant temp. thermocouple inside the expansion tank. A quick fix under warranty and no harm done. Next up was the auxiliary drive tensionser, a quick and cheap fix (thank-you trade discount!) that was making more noise than harm. Lastly, and most recently, was the original Bosch diverter valve that had sprung a leak and was causing boost to leak back into the intake side of the turbo. Another cheap fix involving an updated VAG part and now she's right as rain.
After much deliberation, I have decided to keep her for a while yet. This of course necessitates a round of upgrades to freshen her up and make her feel as new again.
Currently as standard as the day she left Spain's sunny shores, I intend to tastefully make her a little more purposeful and more capable of keeping up with modern hot hatches, owing to 210bhp (or as many as she has left) not really cutting the mustard by contemporary standards.
Mostly cosmetic upgrades, my to-do list comprises of a simple Stage 1 remap to give her a little more poke, a wheel refurb in dark bronze (looks great IMHO, and will set her apart from the usual black/silver/anthracite/another derivative of grey often seen), Brembo rebuild to bring her stopping power back up to par and a minor 20mm or so lowering to give her a more purposeful look and to lower her CoG a little bit. No loud exhaust or psss-tcchhhsss dump valve here.
Along with this will be a Skoda Fabia rear wiper conversion as the notoriously bad standard item is ill-shapen and skips across the window and by all accounts has done so on every 1M Leon since the dawn of time.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos of this oft under appreciated car, and here's hoping this one is still knocking about in another 10 years!
Thanks for Looking!
The 1M Seat Leon Cupra R is a stable mate of the more renowned 8P Audi S3 and Mk4 Volkswagen Golf GTi, with a shared platform, drivetrain, transmission, switchgear and interior. Earlier examples (such as mine) had the less potent 210bhp (212ps) AMK 1.8T than the later 225ps (221bhp) BAM engine equipped cars. Presumably this was to prevent stepping on Audi's toes. They were produced from 2003 (52 plate) up until 2006 with the last units being registered on 07 plates.
I bought this car in May 2011 with 58,000 miles and after 20,000 miles of trouble free motoring, I can say that this has been a cracking car. Having looked at other equivalents (EP3 Civic Type R, 8P Audi S3, Mk1 Focus RS etc.) I found myself looking at Seat, the poor man of the VAG family. Considerably cheaper than it's competitors, but every bit as capable, the 1M Leon Cupra R has been no end of fun to own, with practicality to boot (excuse the pun).
She has let me down only three times, each time minor. The 1st time, being only a few days after purchase, was the coolant temp. thermocouple inside the expansion tank. A quick fix under warranty and no harm done. Next up was the auxiliary drive tensionser, a quick and cheap fix (thank-you trade discount!) that was making more noise than harm. Lastly, and most recently, was the original Bosch diverter valve that had sprung a leak and was causing boost to leak back into the intake side of the turbo. Another cheap fix involving an updated VAG part and now she's right as rain.
After much deliberation, I have decided to keep her for a while yet. This of course necessitates a round of upgrades to freshen her up and make her feel as new again.
Currently as standard as the day she left Spain's sunny shores, I intend to tastefully make her a little more purposeful and more capable of keeping up with modern hot hatches, owing to 210bhp (or as many as she has left) not really cutting the mustard by contemporary standards.
Mostly cosmetic upgrades, my to-do list comprises of a simple Stage 1 remap to give her a little more poke, a wheel refurb in dark bronze (looks great IMHO, and will set her apart from the usual black/silver/anthracite/another derivative of grey often seen), Brembo rebuild to bring her stopping power back up to par and a minor 20mm or so lowering to give her a more purposeful look and to lower her CoG a little bit. No loud exhaust or psss-tcchhhsss dump valve here.
Along with this will be a Skoda Fabia rear wiper conversion as the notoriously bad standard item is ill-shapen and skips across the window and by all accounts has done so on every 1M Leon since the dawn of time.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos of this oft under appreciated car, and here's hoping this one is still knocking about in another 10 years!
Thanks for Looking!
Edited by Alias218 on Thursday 14th March 16:27
Lovely car. I had an Ovni Yellow 225, with Milltek non-res exhaust, Jetex induction, Forge turbo intake pipe, Forge blow off valve, coilovers that prevented me from using multistory car parks and remapped to 270bhp. Awesome car, the straight line punch was vicious. I don't think full boost was available in second gear, but put it in third and floor it and dear god, it picked up well!
I still miss it in some ways, the driving position was excellent and despite being so low it was actually pretty comfy to drive. It's the hidden gem of the VAG hatch world imo.
I still miss it in some ways, the driving position was excellent and despite being so low it was actually pretty comfy to drive. It's the hidden gem of the VAG hatch world imo.
I've never found it to be lacking in the corners. I've not tracked it so I can't say what it's like in that respect. However, I've never felt unstuck in this nor has it given me cause for concern. That may be as much to do with the tyres as the car, but you'll have to drive one for yourself to see. I imagine it is much the same as an equivalent age S3 or Golf GTi.
Welcome, nice car 
Read your thread on seatcupra.net today. I've got a red one, not quite as shiny as yours, waiting til the snow has definitely gone before spending any serious time washing it.
To whoever asked the question about wobbly in the corners - yes, as stock I'd say they are a little bit. Easy cured though, the front anti-roll bar (19mm) can be exchanged for a 23mm mk4 Golf R32 item and it's an easy job to fit a rear one. I've got the 23mm R32 front and 24mm adjustable Whiteline rear, that makes a difference. A modest drop in ride height with some good quality shocks and springs helps a bit too, I went for Weitec 40mm/40mm ones.
Got much planned for this?
Read your thread on seatcupra.net today. I've got a red one, not quite as shiny as yours, waiting til the snow has definitely gone before spending any serious time washing it.To whoever asked the question about wobbly in the corners - yes, as stock I'd say they are a little bit. Easy cured though, the front anti-roll bar (19mm) can be exchanged for a 23mm mk4 Golf R32 item and it's an easy job to fit a rear one. I've got the 23mm R32 front and 24mm adjustable Whiteline rear, that makes a difference. A modest drop in ride height with some good quality shocks and springs helps a bit too, I went for Weitec 40mm/40mm ones.
Got much planned for this?
The tensioner noise was an odd one. It was an intermittent crunching/knocking noise, like the bearings were shot but it was hard to pinpoint the source. Only once the belt started slipping (loudly I might add 
) was the source obvious.
I've no intention of tracking this car. I've never been on track, but if I were to it would be in something considerably lighter, older and not my daily.
I've seen you about on the forums 8bit, you've got a great looking car. Last I saw you were having trouble with it. Any update?
As for my plans, I've had the car nigh on two years now so it's going to be a light freshen up with a stage one (possibly Revo), a small drop on 20mm eibachs - I'll see about damper replacement, Brembo rebuild, new discs and pads for the front, Fabia rear wiper as I can't stand using the OEM one anymore, and a wheel refurb to dark bronze. That and a few minor cosmetic fixes. It's nothing big, but it just tidies the car up a little and improves her driving characteristics (I hope).
The exhaust can stay until it gives out. Being 10 years old, I'm sure it won't be long before corrosion gets the better of it and it starts whistling dixie.
) was the source obvious. I've no intention of tracking this car. I've never been on track, but if I were to it would be in something considerably lighter, older and not my daily.
I've seen you about on the forums 8bit, you've got a great looking car. Last I saw you were having trouble with it. Any update?
As for my plans, I've had the car nigh on two years now so it's going to be a light freshen up with a stage one (possibly Revo), a small drop on 20mm eibachs - I'll see about damper replacement, Brembo rebuild, new discs and pads for the front, Fabia rear wiper as I can't stand using the OEM one anymore, and a wheel refurb to dark bronze. That and a few minor cosmetic fixes. It's nothing big, but it just tidies the car up a little and improves her driving characteristics (I hope).
The exhaust can stay until it gives out. Being 10 years old, I'm sure it won't be long before corrosion gets the better of it and it starts whistling dixie.
rohrl said:
Beefmeister said:
300bhp/ton said:
Well what can I say... er nice car? 
What's the point of this back-handed comment? It's a Readers Car thread, what were you expecting?!FFS.
Nice car and nicely kept too, I think they have great road presence. Much more interesting that the other VAG equivalents and rarer also. I usually always notice owners of similar Mk1/Mk2 Leon Cupra/FRs admiring each others cars when out driving (in traffic!) or at least Im admiring theirs anyway.
Each to their own if they dont like it!
Each to their own if they dont like it!
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