Adam M

Basically see title.

I would like to buy a four/five door car which can still be fun for under 10k.

These seem to be great value and come with all the toys. does anyone have any relevant experience they can share?

Thanks in advance.

jbwrx300

I had a test drive in a remapped one when they first come out and you get a lot of car, good gadgets and comfort along with decent performance for your money. They aren't particularly quick standard but can easily be breathed on - however the resultant power gain is let down by front wheel drive imho.

Consider the alternatives
An MY01 newage impreza
Skoda Octavia vRS year old for 10k
If your not bothered about practicality, Evo VI?

On the other side of the coin, what about a diesel
All the VAG mid sized cars leon, golf, fabia, ibiza etc do a warm variant which can be startlingly quick when they are up and running.

Choices, choices.

currymonster

Excellent cars. My cousin had a low mileage 03 car. It has had the 270 revo remap and felt significantly faster than my STI 5. The standard Brembos on the Leon were so much better than the APs on my STI. It still did about 30 mpg. All in all an excellent car, the reliablity of a VW, quite exclusive as you dont see many about, and the arsewipes who just like labels stay away from them as they're a SEAT, you really cant fault it!

So to recap, quicker than my old STI in most situations barring pi$$ing it down, cheap to run, awesome brakes and tidy handling, an excellent and underrated car.

Cal

A'K

I’ve owned an 225 cupraR now for over 4 months and its been great love it, like said above they aren’t many about which I like cos I don’t like going with the crowed. Performance wise there great as std IMO, and for 500 quid you can push it upto 270bhp with a re-map.

I took mine up the ¼ mile with the trail Revo software (which is free for 5hrs) and got a 14.44 which is dam good I think, that beat the new golf GTI that was there and most civic type R’s

On my daily motorway drive I get on average of about 32-36mpg.. Servicing is cheap to..

marklemac

Bought the missis an 03 yellow Cupra R 210 a few months ago.

Very nice. Smooth, pratical, excellent mpg, and quick in standard trim.

And, good prices.

currymonster

Oooh by the way, unless I'm mistaken you'll have trouble finding one for under 11K without high mileage,

Cal

marklemac

Got ours for £11k, 18k miles, one owner.

Spankathon

Cracking motors, mate has one, APR'd to over 250bhp, very quick indeed. Quick check through ebay and Autotrader there are some for about £10K to £11K.... probably need to be quick for these though.

currymonster

foot in mouth disease, lol, nice

mightyyid

Quality cars, but while remap is great in dry, in wet shocking handling due to amount of power (too much) to the front wheels, and even in dry the torque steer is very evident. If you can live with this, fine, but it can get trying after a while. I think they're a bargain car and while not the greatest chassis in the world, better than the Golf's MK IV chassis by far!

SiDHEaD

Test drove one when i was last car shopping - was great car, despite the FWD. Suspension didn't seem quite stiff enough for me tho - bit too much roll round the islands etc - was like being in my classic scoob!!

Remster

They are great cars.

I have owned mine since Nov. 03 after owning an S2000, STI Type R and a UK Impreza. The Cupra R has proven a match for my previous cars in many areas whilst being more practicle, 5 doors, and MUCH cheaper to run, 30+mpg etc.

We are expecting our 1st child in November and i'm considering buying the obligatory MPV and something more sporty for the weekend.
If you are after a good 1 owner Cupra R then please read on.

03 Reg. Seat Leon Cupra R

- Metalic Black
- Recaro interior (£1500 option)
- 32,000 Miles
- Full Seat Service History
- REVO upgrade 268Bhp / 270lb/ft
- REVO SP2 Switch (allows switching between stock map and REVO)
- Forge 007p dump valve
- Climate Control Air Con
- ESP Traction Control (can be switched off)
- Manufacturers Warranty until March 2006.
- CD Autochanger (x6)
- Goodyear Eagle F1 Tyres x4 (best tyres for the Cupra R)
- Brembo Brakes (New pads fitted at last service - June '05)

£10,500 ono.

I am located in North Leicestershire. (J21a M1)

With the REVO turned on, the car is easily STI quick yet will still return 25+ mpg on a mixed driving run.

Any interested parties, please don't hesitate to contact me by PM for further details.

sjah555

Had my MY04 225 LCR for around 4 months now, coming from lightly modded MY99 UKT. Takes a bit of getting used to drivetrain switch, but as most people have said it has plenty of toys, cheap to run and can still give a lot of much more expensive machinery a good run for their money..

Just need that remap now !

-Sal-

homerjay

i test drove a new Cupra R the same day i test drove a WRX, and the differences were amazing.

IMO the cupra is more refined and easier to drive, were the WRX takes more concentration and suffers from obscene lag in comparision.

But the Cupra didnt excite me, the way i thought it would. Although a trip to ADS may have solved that...

Steve vRS

But don't you loose your warranty once you have REVO'd the car?

The dealers can detect the code if they need to before everyone says that you just turn the car back to standard.

Steve

dpb

vision out the rear window would put me off..

Lack of, that is.

Remster

Steve,

I have had new Brembo Brake calipers replaced under warranty on my car due to the paint lacquer peeling also other minor niggles looked at. None of this was a problem for my dealer. Free courtesy car also.
Seat dealers advocate the REVO treatment and have leaflets in their showrooms. If you read on SeatCupra.net, you will see that there are usually no problems with warranty claims, unlike Subaru IMHO. I do switch the map when taking mine in for service etc which is done inside the car in seconds with the SP2 switch. Also, in the winter it can be advantageous to go back to the stock map as REVO is very aggresive when it comes on boost.

Steve vRS

Have Seat replaced any gearboxes or engines under warranty on a remapped car? If they have then all well and good but I'm of the opinion that if you modify your car then you must be prepared to loose your warranty.

What is Seat UK official line on mods? I know Skoda UK didn't entertain them at all.

Steve

Remster

Engines & Gearboxes have a good reliability record on VAG cars, especially the 1.8T unit which can be tuned safely to 300+Bhp. There are many 1.8T cars that have covered upwards of 50k miles having been REVO'd, Jabba'd etc. etc. IMHO it is only when a manufacturer experiences numerous warranty claims for engines/gearboxes (i.e. when No.3 piston fails ), that they become more cagey when dealing with claims.

Cupramax

Gearboxes are sh1te, I had 2 on my Revo LCR, be aware 2nd and 3rd synchro's fail with alarming regularity. If you buy one take it to above 5000rpm in both second & third to make sure it doesn't crunch on changing.... Overall though it was an unbeatable package for power, practicality and value. Ran mine for 2 and a half year and still mis it.

Edited to say the gearbox problem is not just LCR's its TT's S3's Leon Cupra's all use the same VAG 6spd...

Patt@firstime

My sister might be looking for one, I've just sent her the linky

Matt

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

I went from an MY97 (with mods) to a 210 LCR (remapped by REVO). Couldn't stand it. Didn't inspire any confidence in it's cornering ability unlike the Scoob which never felt anything less than glued to the road.
If you're buying one to go up and down the motorway (or smooth A roads) then it'll be fine. Just don't expect to get in it and blast down some twisty B-Roads.

Remster

Never had a problem with my gearbox although at 33 i'm more sympathetic with the changes. With regard to handling, mine was uninspiring untill I had a 4 wheel geometry check and set-up + changing all 4 tyres. It is now almost as chuckable as a 205 GTi despite it's extra weight and PAS.