2005 SEAT Leon FR+

[AJB88]

Thought I would do a readers ride thread of my current daily, its a 2005 SEAT Leon FR+ (1.9TDI PD150), being the FR+ and not FR it comes factory fitted with Leon Cupra R bodykit and 17" version of the Leon Cupra R wheels.

few pics of when I got it, LCR splitter missing




Pretty standard apart from Ecomax Stage 1 remap, short shifter on gearbox and Darkside Developments EGR delete.

Removed this straight away as I have been several times



I then Plastidipped rear leon badge, front S badge and grill, both mirrors & also fitted the missing LCR splitter (these are getting rare now)

[AJB88]

next up was a general service

Pollen filter lovely and clean


Oil filter


Air filter not super bad but out it comes anyway


old fuel fiter, forgot to take photo of new clean one


Used an unopened bottle of Quantum (from TPS) 5litre oil I had left over from when turbo blew on my old MK2 Golf TDI.

[AJB88]

Black sunstrip on


Being an FR+ it had OEM red FR badges rather than the standard red/black ones, unfortunately these have been discontinued by SEAT now had to go for fake ones but they still look 100% better than the original ones

[AJB88]

Then came the start of the LCR upgrades

pedals



gearknob & handbrake







seats



and wheels



Unfortunately the car these came off were being broken, the owner let it go off to insurance before we could get the LCR steering wheel off it as well!

[AJB88]

The latest problem was that the OEM backbox exhaust hanger had snapped, when inspected it was pretty obvious it had been bodge welded at some point and was not worth saving. I also wanted to ditch the OEM TDI exhaust for an OEM LCR exhaust.

exhaust hanging down


After a few weeks found this for sale cheap with a broken hanger as well.


On it goes, not quite as loud as was hoping for but looks 100% better!




I have also added a few more bits like DAB radio, LED lights and a few VCDS tweaks (alarm bleep etc)

Edited by AJB88 on Tuesday 10th September 09:05

[s3 akr]

I had one of the very first FR PD150 cars after ordering a Cupra TDi in 2004. I didn't know I was getting the FR until it turned up on the drive! I did 98k in mine and mod'd it a fair bit, but nothing excessive. It was measured at 202.6hp/310.7lbft on my Revo map by AMD Essex. Ended up with full turbo back Milltek exhaust, lowered about an inch on Eibachs with new Bilsteins to compliment, Poly-Pro bushed throughout, RS6 replica wheels, a sachs uprated clutch to deal with the extra torque and the all important S3 illuminated air vents!! It was a quick car once it was rolling - really enjoyed my 6 years with it.

Unfortunately, the pictures in the thread I ran on seatcupra.net have been reduced in quality by Photobucket so are barely visible which is a shame.

Anyhow - great car, plenty of tuning options and potentially a bit of a sleeper.

[AJB88]

Plenty of options for this, this is only my daily (got a Porsche Cayman S 981 which is modified) but my previous history is

2007 SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDI stage 1
2008 SEAT Leon FR TDI Stage 2
2010 SEAT Leon Cupra R stage 2+
2014 SEAT Leon Cupra 280 Stage 2

So yeh never owned a standard car haha, this has a SMF and organic clutch (forgot to mention that) so eventually will be looking at a turbo to take it past 220, old owner had it RR'd at just over 200.

Plans are to keep it looking OEM+ though with the LCR Brembo's going on eventually etc.

[s3 akr]

I did the 1.8 Cupra front brake disk upgrade to 312mm from the 288mm standard disks, but didn't have the funds to splash on the Cupra R setup. I had a stint with a 5 paddle sintered clutch plate that was a disaster - oh it didn't slip, but it was an on off switch and you simply couldn't pull away cleanly, so that got junked for the (at the time) popular Sachs upgraded set up (still on DMF which was just replaced with a new OEM). I liked the OEM look of the car so kept it pretty standard looking, and driveable as the Mrs used it day to day as the baby carrier etc! I put a K&N panel filter in, but not a full CAI kit.

[paradigital]

The splitters are getting rare? I used to go through 2 or 3 A YEAR when I had my 53 plate LCR (225) back in 2005-2011.

Fitted one to my Mk1 TT 3.2 last year also, had no issues finding one? They do appear to be more expensive than they once were though.

[AJB88]

They are discontinued TPS had 4 in stock in the UK, lots on ebay for silly money, I remember in 2005 when they were like £15-20 new from TPS.

[Mr Tidy]

I never knew they made an FR+ - you live and learn!

I always liked the shape of the Leon, and the OP's looks particularly striking.

Back in 2003 I got offered a deal I couldn't resist on an ex-company X-plate Cupra (petrol) by my employer. It was a great car, especially as it had the optional leather seats with electric adjustment and driver's memory!

Shame I got a promotion in late 2004 that involved business mileage and came with a company car or car allowance - the HMRC mileage rates just didn't make financial sense with the Cupra, so like so many others I ended up with a turbo-diesel.

Still have good memories of it though.

[AJB88]

Yeh FR+ was a roll out model towards end of production to sell them on, they also did a FR+ in the MK2 shape to sell them on.

[AJB88]

Thought I would update this, fitted some black SEAT centre caps;



Then fitted a "LCR" steering wheel;
Before


After


Bled the brakes a week or so before MOT


Only to discover the 18" LCR wheels have been touching the coilovers and have shredded the inside of my tyres


So booked it in for 2x new tyres and purchased some 5mm spaces, unfortunately the spacers turned up and weren't right so had to reorder some more which have turned up today, once MOT is done will probably throw some 15mm ones on rear as well.


While waiting for that have fixed the dodgy door module which would work when it felt like it





So hopefully it will be off for its MOT tomorrow once tyres are done today!

Next set of jobs are fit 312mm upgrade brakes, got the carriers in preparation, just need a lick of red paint now!


Also tried to fix injector #4 which shows as +2.99 all the time but the Youtube quickfix hasn't worked so looks like need to throw a new injector in there

Edited by AJB88 on Thursday 5th March 09:46

[Olas]

PD150 is good, 312mm is good, the back of the car being lower than the front is not.
Raise the back a touch or lower the front so that the distance from tyre to arch is equal across both axles, OR, so there is less gap at the front than there is at the back. It looks like you're full of passengers and luggage!

Visual pedantry aside, the Leon is my favourite 1J platform. Nice car

[AJB88]

That was fixed ages ago, the old owner had fitted OEM dampers all round and lowering springs, he then fitted cheap GSF springs up front to get it through its MOT hence why the front was higher.

Its now sitting on Coilovers, whole car is a lot lower, might raise it up a bit as it scrubs in car parks etc (splitter)

[AJB88]

Few updates, MOT failed on bottom ball joins, replaced both sides and passed.

Have fitted the following;

LED side repeaters (similar style to new AUDI lights)
PD160 SEAT Sport engine cover
MK4 Golf Auto headlight switch with sensor
Removed rear wiper


Bit of overdue maintenance!

Passenger side




Drive side




Caliper winder tool was a pain in the ass to use so took about 45 mins each side rather than the usual 15 minutes. 312mm upgrade on front next.

Also wet vacuumed my seats the other day.... oh dear is all I'm saying.

[AJB88]

Another small update!

Car had pressed plates on it when I bought it, they were battered, I used to run pressed plates on my Ibiza back in 2007 but think these are a little dated these days. Had somebody local make me some new ones.

Rear Before






Rear After



Front




A lot cleaner, Standard UK font with red bored. Yes I know its hard to see the difference when the reg is removed!!

[AJB88]

So not been many updates with this due to lockdown, sold the Porsche after doing a NC500 run. Anyway during lockdown its started smoking terribly on cold starts, white smoke which suggests over fuelling. Injector 4 still reading +2.99 as well, as the cleaning of the injector connections didn't work it was time for a new loom last week.



That however didn't resolve the issue, I also thought the cam looked worn on cylinder 4


So bought a 2nd hand injector and fitted new seals to it


Fitted the new injector, on initial start up it still smoked and still read +2.99 so took it out for a drive, the smoke went off eventually, which it always did anyway but when got back, injector 4 was reading at +1.5 on idle which its never done before, its always been +2.99, letting the car cool down all day now and and will do a cold start later again, hopefully the smoke on start up before was just left over fuel (think the old injector was leaking past the seals)

on closer inspection cylinder 4 cam looks good as well, felt it with finger and it didn't feel worn.


Proof will be on cold start up later!

I also have a Valeo SMF kit coming, when I bought the car it had an "uprated " clutch which I suspected was actually a SMF as the pedal is very heavy, but its rattling very loudly now and its not a SMF rattle so suspect its got a knackered DMF fitted.

Also had the alignment done which has mate a difference.



I need to replace the Porsche with something big enough for dogs/kid(s) so the Leon will probably be sold/traded in when I decide to buy something (currently thinking Touareg/Q7 V8/10/12)

[PetrosMaurog]

Hey, i really love the color. Could i have the color code? i

[the-norseman]

LA5U I think of the top of my head