RE: Shed of the Week: SEAT Leon Cupra
Discussion
I had one of these prior to getting into my Focus Mk 3 Zetec S 182. Decent cars and while not exactly fast they could still make for a relatively easy overtake when needed.
I had a few issues with mine, common to all 1.8T's of this era, check for sludging in the oil pickup in the sump. This can sometimes become blocked and lead to a very rapid internal engine deconstruction. Door seals are an issue (although I never had a problem with mine) and when my exhaust back-box ended up becoming an MOT failure there was apparently no cheap third party options and it was £450+VAT from Seat or £800 for a sports thing from someone else complete with booming noise and motorway drone. So sadly it was scrapped.
Needs decent tyres on the front as a minimum. Mine came with 'Prestivo Sport' all round when I got it. No I'd never heard of them either. This made the car rather indistinct and woolly with no real feel or indication of there the limit was. Replaced the fronts with GY Eagle F1 Asy 2's and the handling and communication was transformed. Still well short of the feel from my previous car, a 306 GTI-6 though but little would ever come close to that. Generally it was pretty reliable and decent transport though and ideal for some go on the cheap.
For the record my average of mostly shortish constant speed runs and a long journey was around 34MPG. I never saw 40MPG at any time!
I had to replace the brake pedal switch too but never had any bother with coil packs. I did run it almost exclusively on V-Power at the time but towards the end it started missing and weirdly I dropped back to standard which cleared this right up. GL04UAF gone to the great scrapyard in the sky.
I had a few issues with mine, common to all 1.8T's of this era, check for sludging in the oil pickup in the sump. This can sometimes become blocked and lead to a very rapid internal engine deconstruction. Door seals are an issue (although I never had a problem with mine) and when my exhaust back-box ended up becoming an MOT failure there was apparently no cheap third party options and it was £450+VAT from Seat or £800 for a sports thing from someone else complete with booming noise and motorway drone. So sadly it was scrapped.
Needs decent tyres on the front as a minimum. Mine came with 'Prestivo Sport' all round when I got it. No I'd never heard of them either. This made the car rather indistinct and woolly with no real feel or indication of there the limit was. Replaced the fronts with GY Eagle F1 Asy 2's and the handling and communication was transformed. Still well short of the feel from my previous car, a 306 GTI-6 though but little would ever come close to that. Generally it was pretty reliable and decent transport though and ideal for some go on the cheap.
For the record my average of mostly shortish constant speed runs and a long journey was around 34MPG. I never saw 40MPG at any time!
I had to replace the brake pedal switch too but never had any bother with coil packs. I did run it almost exclusively on V-Power at the time but towards the end it started missing and weirdly I dropped back to standard which cleared this right up. GL04UAF gone to the great scrapyard in the sky.
Edited by MissChief on Saturday 10th February 21:28
I've had four Mk1 leons in the family over the years, My son had a 1.4L then a Cupra R, I had the 1.9 DTi then the 1.9 Cupra. My current one (1.9 cupra) has just clocked up 215K. The only recurring issues we have had are seized alternator pulley clutches and lower wishbone bushes. but as they are based on the VW Golf, Audi A3, many parts are interchangeable and easy to source.
Clutch pedal mechanism can break, door seals(especially the drivers door) can fail and fill up the footwell with water, drivers door sensor can fail(Typical VW part) so does not activate interior light or headlight buzzer when door is open.
I Sill get 55 - 60mpg out of the Cupra and still has the original fitment Exhaust. Which isn't bad as i do over 2K miles per month commuting.
They are rather Germanic and bland inside, but as a general work horse I cant complain.
Clutch pedal mechanism can break, door seals(especially the drivers door) can fail and fill up the footwell with water, drivers door sensor can fail(Typical VW part) so does not activate interior light or headlight buzzer when door is open.
I Sill get 55 - 60mpg out of the Cupra and still has the original fitment Exhaust. Which isn't bad as i do over 2K miles per month commuting.
They are rather Germanic and bland inside, but as a general work horse I cant complain.
Edited by Monkey boy 1 on Tuesday 13th February 13:24
Had one in the exact same colour and age as this when 3 years old. Loved it to begin with but quickly wore tired of it. Had a number of issues, leaky door seals, coil packs, drivers window seemingly not sealing when doing high speed (autobahn of course can vouch for the 140mph top speed!) window dropping into the door and i found the paint work was terrible. The front end was battered even after moderate mileage. It felt quick at the time but by modern day standards its merely average. Got rid after a year and took a hit with what i owed I was that pee'd off with it. Do I look back fondly? nope..
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