8bit's Seat Leon Cupra R
Discussion
Been on here a wee while now and had the car a bit longer so figured I should probably join the club. Had this almost two years, mostly enjoyable but anyone who's read my thread on seatcupra.net will know I've had possibly more than my fair share of hassle with this car. Biggest problem was having to get the turbo changed last year, to the tune of £1200 in total.
Anyway, enough doom and gloom, since then it's been great. It's not exactly standard, modifications (so far) are:
Revo Stage 1 linear remap
THS Performance turbo intake
Jetex conical air filter
Mk4 Golf R32 front anti-roll bar
Whiteline 24mm adjustable rear anti-roll bar
ECS lower engine mount
Stock alloys refurbished in titanium
Alpine head unit
Also have changed various rubber hoses in the engine bay for silicone ones.
Couple of pics from last year, after a good wash (car hasn't visually changed since then):
That's my other half's MX-5 in the background, which I enjoy driving when she lets me
Got a couple more modifications on their way and a rolling road day in a couple of weeks so will post more then.
Anyway, enough doom and gloom, since then it's been great. It's not exactly standard, modifications (so far) are:
Revo Stage 1 linear remap
THS Performance turbo intake
Jetex conical air filter
Mk4 Golf R32 front anti-roll bar
Whiteline 24mm adjustable rear anti-roll bar
ECS lower engine mount
Stock alloys refurbished in titanium
Alpine head unit
Also have changed various rubber hoses in the engine bay for silicone ones.
Couple of pics from last year, after a good wash (car hasn't visually changed since then):
That's my other half's MX-5 in the background, which I enjoy driving when she lets me
Got a couple more modifications on their way and a rolling road day in a couple of weeks so will post more then.
Cheers folks Yeah she scrubs up pretty well and having sorted most of the issues and with the mods I've done it performs and handles pretty well. Was thinking of chopping it in for something V8-powered this year but got engaged at Christmas time so the car is staying until at least after the wedding next year.
Yeah she scrubs up pretty well and having sorted most of the issues and with the mods I've done it performs and handles pretty well. Was thinking of chopping it in for something V8-powered this year but got engaged at Christmas time so the car is staying until at least after the wedding next year.
Thanks for the comments I do try to look after it, it never wants for maintenance type stuff but over winter I've been a bit lax washing it - certainly nothing like that clean right now.
@LawAys, had it logged with VAGCOM recently, that looks like around 270bhp and 296lb/ft. It's going on the rollers on the 18th, if it's in those sort of ballparks I'll be very chuffed, they are (or would be) very good figures for a stage 1 remap on stock intercoolers and exhaust.
As for the remap, the car seems fine with it. Only thing is there's a slight, very brief feeling of hesitation at about 3200rpm but I've played with the Revo settings a little bit and may be trying to run a touch too much timing advance.
The difference in torque and throttle response is blinding though, everyone driving a turbocharged car should get theirs remapped
I do try to look after it, it never wants for maintenance type stuff but over winter I've been a bit lax washing it - certainly nothing like that clean right now.@LawAys, had it logged with VAGCOM recently, that looks like around 270bhp and 296lb/ft. It's going on the rollers on the 18th, if it's in those sort of ballparks I'll be very chuffed, they are (or would be) very good figures for a stage 1 remap on stock intercoolers and exhaust.
As for the remap, the car seems fine with it. Only thing is there's a slight, very brief feeling of hesitation at about 3200rpm but I've played with the Revo settings a little bit and may be trying to run a touch too much timing advance.
The difference in torque and throttle response is blinding though, everyone driving a turbocharged car should get theirs remapped
jebus said:
Nice car, pretty sure I have seen you around aberdeen as well, and ouch on the turbo cost 
Cheers Yeah the bill for the turbo hurt a bit but when I totalled up how much it would cost to change the car (i.e. early settlement figure on the loan, difference in how much mine was worth vs. something comparable like Golf R32 etc) I was going to be cheaper keeping and fixing it than trading it in.What do you drive yourself?
Very nice! I was looking for a red one for a while but couldn't find a decent one for love not money. I settled on a lovely black 210 in the end. Was the turbo replacement a result if the remap? I've been umming and ahhing about mapping for a while but I'm concerned about potential wear from the increase load.
Is yours a 225 or 210?
Is yours a 225 or 210?
Alias218 said:
Very nice! I was looking for a red one for a while but couldn't find a decent one for love not money. I settled on a lovely black 210 in the end. Was the turbo replacement a result if the remap? I've been umming and ahhing about mapping for a while but I'm concerned about potential wear from the increase load.
Is yours a 225 or 210?
Thanks Is yours a 225 or 210?
It's a 225, late 2005 model so one of the last registered in the UK.No, the turbo replacement came before the remap. I think it was an oil pressure issue that took out the old turbo, I had the oil pressure warning come up on the dash one day when I was out for a blast. Nursed it home and had it towed to a garage who dropped and cleaned out the sump, they said it was full of sludge which blocks the pickups and causes oil pressure drop.
A few weeks after that I started noticing this strange sound, a bit like a distant police siren, which changed according to engine noise, much like the turbo sound does but below the boost threshold. Over time I started seeing blue smoke on overrun and then eventually whenever on boost. Another garage who specialise in track and rally cars diagnosed turbo seal failure, certainly there was a lot of play in the shaft when I was handed the old one back.
There are loads of people with stage 1 and 2 maps on seatcupra.net still on their original turbos. Providing you take proper care and maintenance of the car then there should be no problem. My new turbo was originally on a Seat sport LCR used in a one-make championship and was rebuilt with stronger internals by Turbo Dynamics.
I do like black ones, I almost didn't go to see mine when it appeared at a local garage cos the red didn't look nice in their photos, but I was going there anyway to look at a Celica and when I saw the Leon in the metal I fell in love with the colour
That's good to hear. So far as I can tell, my turbo is still solid and pulls well after nearly 66k.
Yeah turbos on their way out don't half make a racket. Had a turbo go at work recently - made a terrible high pitch squeal at higher revs.
Photos can be deceptive. I saw a few before this one and they looked great in the photos, but they were nasty beaten up crocks in the metal. This one had higher mileage than I would have like (58k) but it was the most solid and well presented and would have a new waterpump and cambelt on pickup to boot.
The Leon is certainly the better hot hatch from that era! Keep up the good work!
Yeah turbos on their way out don't half make a racket. Had a turbo go at work recently - made a terrible high pitch squeal at higher revs.
Photos can be deceptive. I saw a few before this one and they looked great in the photos, but they were nasty beaten up crocks in the metal. This one had higher mileage than I would have like (58k) but it was the most solid and well presented and would have a new waterpump and cambelt on pickup to boot.
The Leon is certainly the better hot hatch from that era! Keep up the good work!
wilbo83 said:
Very nice, that colour looks great. Do these suffer from wheelspin at all? Seems a lot of power to the front wheels.
Thanks, yeah the red comes up well when clean, the dark wheels make a difference too - I swear the red didn't look that deep when the alloys were the standard silver colour.With no power modifications it's not too bad so long as you've got decent front tyres and keep them inflated right. I got the remap in December and I'm still on fairly worn summer tyres so yeah, at the moment it's pretty happy to spin up the fronts. Will be getting fresh rubber soon for the spring and summer so hopefully that will contain the wheelspin. The ECS dogbone engine mount makes a difference too, stops the engine rocking back and forth in the engine bay, which helps retain traction.
So, had a couple of deliveries of late. First, some new silicone upper boost hoses and NGK Iridium spark plugs:
The boost hoses replace the standard, narrow, rubber items for a less restrictive path for charge air from the turbo. I got one fitted at the weekend past there but ran out of free time before I could get the other one on so hopefully will finish that off this weekend, weather permitting.
Changed the plugs a couple of weeks ago, idle and low-range response seem a bit smoother, particularly when cold. I was seeing a bit of timing pull across all cylinders under load after the remap, a lot of folk recommend running a colder grade plug to reduce this. The 1.8T runs a pretty high compression ratio for a F/I engine so keeping timing pull down is worthwhile but tricky.
Next, a Badger 5 80mm turbo intake:
The stock, rubber intake is prone to collapsing in on itself under high boost once remapped. I actually changed it for a THS Performance silicone one shortly after I got the car but these 80mm ones are appearing now which allow a fair bit more air intake to the turbo which should mean better response and boost. Again hopefully this will get fitted on Saturday
The boost hoses replace the standard, narrow, rubber items for a less restrictive path for charge air from the turbo. I got one fitted at the weekend past there but ran out of free time before I could get the other one on so hopefully will finish that off this weekend, weather permitting.
Changed the plugs a couple of weeks ago, idle and low-range response seem a bit smoother, particularly when cold. I was seeing a bit of timing pull across all cylinders under load after the remap, a lot of folk recommend running a colder grade plug to reduce this. The 1.8T runs a pretty high compression ratio for a F/I engine so keeping timing pull down is worthwhile but tricky.
Next, a Badger 5 80mm turbo intake:
The stock, rubber intake is prone to collapsing in on itself under high boost once remapped. I actually changed it for a THS Performance silicone one shortly after I got the car but these 80mm ones are appearing now which allow a fair bit more air intake to the turbo which should mean better response and boost. Again hopefully this will get fitted on Saturday
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