Golf GTI MK7.5 Performance vs SEAT leon cupra 300
Discussion
Hey Guys,
I guess this has been discussed here before but I did not find much of results to satisfy all the questions I have, sorry for opening a new thread.
I'd like your opinion on both cars as I've been struggling with this dilemma for a couple of weeks now.
I am deciding between two cars; the first a 11/2017 golf gti mk7.5 PP and second 2/2018 seat leon cupra, golf is 1k cheaper, both 15k miles.
My main comparison points: The power, exterior, interior, depreciation and reliability.
Having test driven both cars I noticed:
1- In terms of power, the cupra is sharper and pulls stronger but not like with a HUGE difference, it is quicker undoubtedly but not dramatically, the golf is quick, the cupra is even quicker (pushes you harder in your seat when flooring)
however the problem with the cupra is that unless the road conditions are flawless it is not able to put down all the power, the 300+ hp is just too much on the front wheels, even the golf sometimes struggled to find traction on a wet road however the cupra is much much worse when the conditions are not ideal. Any one driven both? what are your thoughts?
2- Exterior: Cupra dark blue, golf metalic grey. I like the cupra MUCH more, period.
3- Interior: Here's my biggest problem, I had test driven the cupra a couple of weeks earlier than the golf which I tested yesterday, when reading the internet, literally everybody said the golf is a much better place to sit in in terms of both quality and looks. I did not understand this as I found the cupra from inside just beautiful, simple minimalistic looks, a bit boring but with gorgeous alcantara bucket seats and nice digital cockpit, only the plastics were hard and felt cheap. Still yet I could not understand why everybody likes the golf more, I don't care about the badges whether it's a VW or SEAT.
BUT all that changed yesterday, I never sat in a GTI golf and my first impression was "omg now I understand". I was literally taken how beautiful the golf's interior is, pictures and even videos simply won't show you the difference unless you sat in both cars, literally everything felt nicer and more premuim in the golf, even the cloth seats seemed nicer, can't really describe why, maybe that's why I did not understand those who liked the GTI more, but now I admit the GTI is the nicer place to sit in which is more important to me than the exterior.
Also the digital cockpit and infotainment is a league ahead compared to the cupra, which felt a bit outdated.
4- Depreciation: I'm buying both cars cash, the golf is 1k cheaper. Is still the case that VW cars hold their value better than seat?
5- Reliability: I simply can't comment on this, I understand both cars share alot of components, but not sure how is with the reliability with both cars, any one with experience with both cars?
I'd appreciate your thoughts guys!
I guess this has been discussed here before but I did not find much of results to satisfy all the questions I have, sorry for opening a new thread.
I'd like your opinion on both cars as I've been struggling with this dilemma for a couple of weeks now.
I am deciding between two cars; the first a 11/2017 golf gti mk7.5 PP and second 2/2018 seat leon cupra, golf is 1k cheaper, both 15k miles.
My main comparison points: The power, exterior, interior, depreciation and reliability.
Having test driven both cars I noticed:
1- In terms of power, the cupra is sharper and pulls stronger but not like with a HUGE difference, it is quicker undoubtedly but not dramatically, the golf is quick, the cupra is even quicker (pushes you harder in your seat when flooring)
however the problem with the cupra is that unless the road conditions are flawless it is not able to put down all the power, the 300+ hp is just too much on the front wheels, even the golf sometimes struggled to find traction on a wet road however the cupra is much much worse when the conditions are not ideal. Any one driven both? what are your thoughts?
2- Exterior: Cupra dark blue, golf metalic grey. I like the cupra MUCH more, period.
3- Interior: Here's my biggest problem, I had test driven the cupra a couple of weeks earlier than the golf which I tested yesterday, when reading the internet, literally everybody said the golf is a much better place to sit in in terms of both quality and looks. I did not understand this as I found the cupra from inside just beautiful, simple minimalistic looks, a bit boring but with gorgeous alcantara bucket seats and nice digital cockpit, only the plastics were hard and felt cheap. Still yet I could not understand why everybody likes the golf more, I don't care about the badges whether it's a VW or SEAT.
BUT all that changed yesterday, I never sat in a GTI golf and my first impression was "omg now I understand". I was literally taken how beautiful the golf's interior is, pictures and even videos simply won't show you the difference unless you sat in both cars, literally everything felt nicer and more premuim in the golf, even the cloth seats seemed nicer, can't really describe why, maybe that's why I did not understand those who liked the GTI more, but now I admit the GTI is the nicer place to sit in which is more important to me than the exterior.
Also the digital cockpit and infotainment is a league ahead compared to the cupra, which felt a bit outdated.
4- Depreciation: I'm buying both cars cash, the golf is 1k cheaper. Is still the case that VW cars hold their value better than seat?
5- Reliability: I simply can't comment on this, I understand both cars share alot of components, but not sure how is with the reliability with both cars, any one with experience with both cars?
I'd appreciate your thoughts guys!
I have a Cupra 290 and don't suffer from wheelhop that much, you just have to roll into full throttle rather than just stamping on it.
I was in a similar situation but went for the Cupra because I preferred the handling, extra power and it came with a better spec than the golf.
I didn't find the golf interior that nice. It's certainly better plastics than the Cupra but the screen being lower makes it more difficult to use (imo).
The scratchy plastics don't bother me, as I don't tend to drive along/sit there feeling the interior of the car (and I came from a E90 with extended individual interior and that was quality)
You can all but remove the wheelhop with a £50 hybrid bush a decent set of tyres.
I was in a similar situation but went for the Cupra because I preferred the handling, extra power and it came with a better spec than the golf.
I didn't find the golf interior that nice. It's certainly better plastics than the Cupra but the screen being lower makes it more difficult to use (imo).
The scratchy plastics don't bother me, as I don't tend to drive along/sit there feeling the interior of the car (and I came from a E90 with extended individual interior and that was quality)
You can all but remove the wheelhop with a £50 hybrid bush a decent set of tyres.
Edited by Dannbodge on Friday 9th August 08:18
I'm in a similar position OP, considering a nearly new Golf PP as my next car because my Cupra 300 is soon to go back from a 2 year lease.
The Cupra has been good, 100% reliable so far and plenty quick or economical enough when the situation requires, which was just what I wanted from a daily driver. Prior to the Seat I had a 2015 Golf R for a couple of years, admittedly not the same as a GTI but similar in many ways, and the Golf felt just that bit better in most areas. They were both lease cars and so no options specced on either car, the Cupra has satnav and adjustable dampers over the Golf, but that's not strictly fair, as I think the 2017 R was better equipped out of the box AFAIK. The interior on the Golf felt better from a materials perspective with a more logical layout IMO, but the Golf does have inferior boot space if that's important to you.
The Cupra does frustrate with the lack of traction in low gears in less than ideal conditions. It can be managed easy enough but it's not a particularly satisfying experience when the front wheels are thumping about, not just in the wet, as that's pretty obvious that traction will be poor, but uneven or broken surfaces in the dry are just as bad. Once it's rolling and into the higher gears it's fine and has plenty of overtaking ability. Overall though it just feels a bit looser, less controlled, than the R before it. Clearly the 4wd of the R makes a big difference with the same engine output.
I'm thinking GTI next as I'm hoping (not driven one yet) that there's just enough power for the front wheels to cope with while the interior and standard kit should be an improvement. I could be way off though!
The Cupra has been good, 100% reliable so far and plenty quick or economical enough when the situation requires, which was just what I wanted from a daily driver. Prior to the Seat I had a 2015 Golf R for a couple of years, admittedly not the same as a GTI but similar in many ways, and the Golf felt just that bit better in most areas. They were both lease cars and so no options specced on either car, the Cupra has satnav and adjustable dampers over the Golf, but that's not strictly fair, as I think the 2017 R was better equipped out of the box AFAIK. The interior on the Golf felt better from a materials perspective with a more logical layout IMO, but the Golf does have inferior boot space if that's important to you.
The Cupra does frustrate with the lack of traction in low gears in less than ideal conditions. It can be managed easy enough but it's not a particularly satisfying experience when the front wheels are thumping about, not just in the wet, as that's pretty obvious that traction will be poor, but uneven or broken surfaces in the dry are just as bad. Once it's rolling and into the higher gears it's fine and has plenty of overtaking ability. Overall though it just feels a bit looser, less controlled, than the R before it. Clearly the 4wd of the R makes a big difference with the same engine output.
I'm thinking GTI next as I'm hoping (not driven one yet) that there's just enough power for the front wheels to cope with while the interior and standard kit should be an improvement. I could be way off though!
Are the cars both manual?
If so the Cupra will very likely need the clutch replacing in your ownership as they are a known weak point.
Personally I prefer the styling, interior, image and build quality of the Golf however the extra performance of the IS38 turbo in the Cupra one the day for me.
Traction can be an issue however a powerflex dog bone mount @£37 and some good tyres will help a great deal and remove wheel hop (My Leon has 359 bhp and put's the power down surprisingly well) in my experience the FL cars have better traction (I have a FL 2019 Cupra and my brother has a 2016 PFL car which doesn't get the power down as well)
If so the Cupra will very likely need the clutch replacing in your ownership as they are a known weak point.
Personally I prefer the styling, interior, image and build quality of the Golf however the extra performance of the IS38 turbo in the Cupra one the day for me.
Traction can be an issue however a powerflex dog bone mount @£37 and some good tyres will help a great deal and remove wheel hop (My Leon has 359 bhp and put's the power down surprisingly well) in my experience the FL cars have better traction (I have a FL 2019 Cupra and my brother has a 2016 PFL car which doesn't get the power down as well)
it may be relatively simple, but your average Joe isn't going to swap a Turbo and it's certainly not common and isn't really what the OP was after.
If I was looking to swap the turbo on a GTI then I may as well get a Clubsport.
Littco, TT V4 and V5 upgrades are much more common on the Golf R and Leon than the GTI
If I was looking to swap the turbo on a GTI then I may as well get a Clubsport.
Littco, TT V4 and V5 upgrades are much more common on the Golf R and Leon than the GTI
Maybe so.
One of my friends has the leon used for development of TTE turbos and he changes them on his driveway in flip flops in 2 hours
We also have 2 other GTIs in our group one with is38 and one with a Litco hybrid.
Not everyone wants the 4wd experience.
I'm just saying don't discount the Gti purely for wanting more power when you can get a drive in, drive out service done at any number of quality companies , for not very much money (relatively) to boost the figures using all Oem parts. :-)
One of my friends has the leon used for development of TTE turbos and he changes them on his driveway in flip flops in 2 hours
We also have 2 other GTIs in our group one with is38 and one with a Litco hybrid.
Not everyone wants the 4wd experience.
I'm just saying don't discount the Gti purely for wanting more power when you can get a drive in, drive out service done at any number of quality companies , for not very much money (relatively) to boost the figures using all Oem parts. :-)
Mr911lover said:
But if powers your thing then you would go for the Leon out of the box rather than faffing around!
I quite fancy a Littco 450 for my Cupra but that wont be until next year, getting an Airtec fitted on Tuesday so looking forward to tweaking my JB4 setup.
Yes I can agree with that , however it's a lot easier to change a turbo than it is to increase the interior quality.I quite fancy a Littco 450 for my Cupra but that wont be until next year, getting an Airtec fitted on Tuesday so looking forward to tweaking my JB4 setup.
One of my best friends has a Leon Cupra 290. It's nice but the interior is miles behind even my f21 m135i (and he also agrees).
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