Stevep

Top car!!
Think I can just about afford one on personal lease.
So my mind is just about made up.
I have a test drive in the Civic Type R on Saturday, but have already been in one and they feel to twitchy for me.
But you never know they are the same sort of monthly payment so i will see.
Has anyone else driven one?

Steve

mik

a few on here

a j riley

Go for it you wont regret it
Ive done 5000 miles in mine now & it gets better by the day

Fun to drive
lots of toys
fast(once off the mark)
Easily & cheaply chippable to 260BHP
Rare (only ever seen 1 other on the road)

ANDY
Red Cupra R with Recaros
MY00 door(gone)

Reffro

I see you are out having fun with the test driving. Just as an aside to what we were discussing last week, I know the owner of a Seat dealership, come buying time, and if the Leon is still top of the list, I can talk to him and see what he can do, if you like.

Dave T-S

Trying a Cupra demo this Saturday, plus a 255bhp "R". Drove a Focus ST170 last Saturday (without ESP), VERY disappointing - poor body control and gutless!

Stevep

Thanks milk, Thanks a j,

Reffro,
Cheers I may well do.

Dave, You will have fun, the acceleration will bug you compared to the STI though.

Thanks again.

Steve

mista weava

i know the seat dealer on the isle of wight (where i live) - he was trying to work one into me, but i did'nt seeit as a step up from impreza. interesting to hear of people chopping in scoobs for them thought. comparable? i have my doubts, although they are clearly very fast.

weava

Stevep

Mista,

I am not chopping a scoob in for a Cupra R.
I used to have one but got a company Ford Focus, and now I'm opting out 3years on and want something with some oomph and the R is what I can afford.

Stevep

mista weava

fair enough - sorry thought tou were an impreza man steve.

the leon is purported to be better tha the rs focus i have heard. better drive.

enjoy the machine if you choose it, 200bhp + = big grins would have one over all the VW range if purely on style! seat is the way forward for hot hatches in general at the moment imo.

weava

stan

Unfortunately they are only "shower proof" and not "storm proof". At least that's what the service manager told me at the Seat dealer when I took my Leon Cupra in to get the puddle in the footwell fixed. Funny thing was there was someone else in at the same time with exactly the same problem and she was in on her third attempt at a repair. I had the door seals changed but sold the car before it happened again.

Stevep

Stan,

I have heard that but that surely it can't happen with all Leon's? Can it?

Steve

mik

click me

Doesn't look too clever, but read some of the posts.

More recent cars seem better, but some still encounter leaks....

jonmorris

"the leon is purported to be better tha the rs focus i have heard. better drive."

The Leon doesn't have great handling and has instead opted to be more refined instead, with very soft suspension that hardly allows for very fast or controlled driving.

There's nothing wrong with that though as it's a fast car that is smooth, nice for cruising and fitted with lots of toys for very little money. A car to appeal to the mass market. The Cupra R is a step beyond but not much.

I was very close to buying one at one time (the 4WD version on import) but the rear end was always a problem for me. If we had got the 4WD version and the 2.8l V6 version, as Europeans had for less money than our standard Cupra, things may have been a lot different. You may well have found Seat selling many more Leons and the Cupra R (which is only slightly quicker than the V6) rather redundant in standard, unmodified, form.

I respect them just as much as a Scooby or indeed any other car in the "Focus RS" class. All good cars that suit different tastes. I would however insist that the Focus RS is a better drive than a Leon (at least the standard 1.8T versions I've been in), although I guess I'm somewhat biased!!

Dave T-S

Stevep

It won't compare to my STi PPP! It's just for a cheap runaround second car

rich uk300

i wouldn't put the scoob in the "focus RS" class,focus is a hot hatch and the scoob is a supercar

Toonman1

"it can't happen with all Leons"

It did with mine, along with many other faults. Sold it after 9 months. Hi Mik!

Cheers

Mike

Cupramax

And conversley to Mike (Toonman) I've had two and neither of them have leaked....

Also have to dissagree with John Morris re the car not handling, you obviously haven't driven one for very long or in anger....

Yes it is refined for a hot hatch but a hell of a lot of work was done to improve the handling over the standard Cupra. Complete new front subframe, harder bushes, lowered suspension at the rear, different spring rates with uprated dampers, quicker steering rack, 18" wheels, Brembo brakes, bla bla bla, the list goes on. Having had one for 6 months now I cant fault the way it drives.

Toonman1

Hi Max

You've got to face it though, lots (and I mean lots) do. The "fixes" from Seat UK didn't work either, despite the best efforts of the dealer. Shame.

Cheers

Mike

Toonman1

I've also got to agree with Max. I thought it handled well - decent body control, plenty of grip etc, and is a huge improvement over the std Leon Cupra, which was dreadful.

Cheers

Mike

Toonman1

Andy (A J Riley)

I've seen 3 Cupra Rs in the Teesside area, including a Red one at the Retail Park about a month ago - Friday afternoon around 2:30pm, near Homebase. Yours by any chance?

Mike

Cupramax

Not disputing that theres quite a few that do leak. Only thing is you dont here from those that dont so its always going to sound worse than it is.

SEAT aren't the only one with major design faults if my memory serves me right though. I seem to remember a major recall on Audi's for part of the subframe breaking... and mini's with earthing problems on the fuel fillers leading to explosions... I know which I'd rather have given the choice between a water leak and my suspension falling appart or the car exploding when you refill it...!!!

Stevep

"It's just for a cheap runaround second car"

Dave,
It's alright for some eh?
I would be just about scraping the barrel to get one of these.


Steve

Dave T-S

Steve

LOL - didn't mean to sound snobby

We aren't using both STi's except at weekends, so may as well get rid of one (Carolyn's ) and have something cheaper to use to the station every day, and use the cash difference towards ripping our kitchen out and replacing it

RB5#295

I must be ill; I thought I saw Toomnan post something positive about a Leon on the last page

Fen

Stevep

Tis ok Dave,

One day I will win the lottery and then I won't have to worry about what i do with my money.

---------------------------------
SITTING HERE DREAMING OF THAT DAY
---------------------------------

Steve

Toonman1

"I must be ill"

You must be (or I am) Fen. Will edit the posts and take back the comment...

Cheers

jonmorris

Having just read up on the Seat media site, you are right. I wasn't aware of quite how many modifications were made on the Cupra-R.

I've not been in a Cupra R, just the normal Cupra (and various other Audi 1.8T powered cars) so I think most of what I said applies to the original Cupra. However, I don't think the ride is anywhere near as raw as the Focus RS or any older Impreza.

Considering a lot of people don't like cars being like this, it's not necessarily a bad thing!

And the Focus RS may not be a "supercar" but it IS a super car.

jonmorris

Cupramax, the biggest problem with these recalls is they're usually for things that are potentially quite serious but REALLY unlikely to affect most owners.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be recalled (especially if the problem is something like a chance that the car blows up!) but a lot of niggly faults go unfixed because the car makers - and they all do it - figure most people will not make a big fuss and put up with the problems.

Rather than do a proper recall that fixes the problem, dealers end up trying to fix the problem through guesswork and trial-and-error.

TurboBoost

I can confirm the Leon Cupra R is much better than the standard one in the way it handles, grips, steers and brakes. And goes - although it still feels like it can handle more power so I'd deffo get it chipped (whereby it gets roughly the same power to weight ratio as an STi 7
The steering rack is a nice fast ratio, its heavy on low speed trundling about but I really liked it. Its a really beefy feeling car and the cornering was excellent.
You can't complain for the money, its affordable firepower. I think evo chose it over the RS due to the more composed way it handles the bumpier British B roads rather than for outright excitement. Add a chip though and it goes up a whole level in fun.


[Edited by TurboBoost - 2/20/2003 10:35:01 PM]

FreeT

" whereby it gets roughly the same power to weight ratio as an STi 7 "

and no 4WD transmition losses with it, just not nearly as confident in the wet twisties as the STi7 (but then again its £9k cheaper)