P1 RAJ

Hi

Friend is looking at getting the above car not the cupra r version. Any opinions would be helpful, mpg performance etc

Thanks in advance

shailet

I owned a 2001 cupra for 18months, very solid and reliable. Interior is great and has decent performance. I did a few bits to it including a remap to 225bhp and it was awesome. MPG was about 28mpg but that was alot of high speed dual carriage way driving mixed with alot of stop and start driving. Brakes are good but recommend better pads, pagids are great. Gearbox is solid but may find it a little difficult to shift quickly, alot of people recommend shortshift to help there. I had all my servicing and mods done at Jabba sport near Peterborough, cannot recommend them highly enough, they know their stuff and always do an excellent job.
Check following sites

http://www.seatcupra.net/
http://www.jabbasport.co.uk/

Castrol

After an expensive Divorce, in 2001, I traded my Impreza for a Leon Cupra 20VT. What a nightmare...

The aim was to save some money. I should've known it wasn't going to work when the best insurance quote was only £5 a month less than the Impreza PPP. Fuel consumption averaged 26mpg, and only once bettered 30. I got less than 27 running it in. £33 a month saving on juice - big deal.

Performance was okay when it wasn't at the dealer's being fixed. It has all the usual Leon problems:

Leaking door seals. The inside of the car used to smell of rotten fish

3 Coil failures (remember BBC Watchdog featuring the car?) and a 4th just after I'd traded it in

Badly chipped paint on the bonnet

Grabbing brakes

Rattle from the rear hatch

Squeak from the rear seat

Interior Trim Falling Off (Various)

Assorted rattles from the dash

Leaking/misting headlights

Misting rear centre brake light (which leaked into the boot/hatch)

Plus:

New Gearbox

Hesitation from engine

It had decent grip in the dry, despite being fitted with the dreaded P6000s. Wet grip was poor, as was the handling. Many owners I knew fitted Koni dampers to help match the springs better, as they were far too stiff for the std dampers, and on bumpy, ie UK roads, the car had a tendency to wind up, and try to launch itself off the ground. Very poor body control. Softer springs and stiffer dampers would've gone down a treat.

I found the seats comfortable for short distances, but lacked the ability to hold you during spirited cornering. I found myself using the steering wheel to stay in position; not fun. I also hated the way the centre console cut into my left leg, just below the knee; very painful!

I traded the car for a new WRX PPP after 9 months, to the same dealer group, who had Seat and Subaru garages a short distance apart. It naturally went to the Seat branch and took ages to sell - for £4K less than they gave me. Subaru depreciation? Forget it - try a Seat.

I was told the eventual new owner lost control on a bumpy road and ended up in a ditch. The car was a write off. Never again.

Cheers

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I'd say the score is one all at the mo

mg driver

i went to look at one once at a garage and was very interested ,it looked good,was well equipped and seemed well put together.....all was going well but then i went for a test drive and it all fell apart,most uninspiring ,dull, soulless engine i have ever experienced,bit of torque low down as the turbo came in and that was it .........RRRRRRRRRRRubbish with a capital R.

MBK

Similar to Castrol I had an expensive change od circumstances in 2001 that meant my P1 went and was replaced with a 1.8 20VT Leon.

And there the similarity ends - no problems with the car over 18 months/18K miles. It was a fine motor and made decent progress - the VAG 1.8T engines are nothing special in the noise department but power is delivered smoothly and there is plenty of overtaking grunt. Regularly saw 33+mpg, insurance was cheap. Also got a very good trade in so all in all a good buy.

We have owned 2 Ibizas (130 TDI & Cupra TDI) and 2 Leons (Cupra R & FR TDI) since and been very happy with them all. Dealers are not the best and fit and finish are miles away from Audi but you get good performance for what you pay. If its economy you're after you can't beat the diesels which in the real world are easily as quick as the petrol, and depreciation is miserly for any car.

As people have already said try Seatcupra.net for more info. I think being happy driving one is the key issue. If I needed fast economical transport I would take an Ibiza or Leon diesel but if its fun you're after a there are many alternatives in that price range.

Spankathon

Tell him not to be tight, and buy the Cupra R, a million times better !!!

Castrol

I was very happy initially; it's the car that changed my mind. I was even a Moderator in CupraNet.

Owner's reports get better on 2003 models - pretty poor before it:

http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Seat_Leon.html

Brit_in_Japan

Had a new Cupra for about 2 years. Nothing went wrong. Smooth delivery, but no real kick in the back because of the flat torque curve.

Fuel consumption wasn't great, never saw the official figures. About 30mpg was the best from a tank, dropping down into the teens with hard use. If driven enthusiastically day in, day out, expect the front typres to last 12-15k.

Very easy car to live with, but seems like there's 2 tyres of Leon Curpa, those which run faultlessly and those where everything seems to drop off it. If you get one of the former it should be a pleasurable experience.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

I think they are great little cars. Mine seemed to have a nice kick at just over 2krpm (admitadely the engine lacked power as it revved) and it was a nice nippy daily driver IMO.

I had the dark grey with electric leather etc, seemed good value to me compared to the audi a3. It was more powerful and had 6 speed over the audi 1.8 T.

addy

Had one before my impreza, did have a paint problem but alll done free of charge by the dealer.Wish they did a 4 wheel drive one over here but only in spain.Good car

BOB.T

Mind your head when you get in! A lad at work has one and the check strap arrangement is well over the top, I was getting in it one day when the door slammed itself shut with my head between the door frame and the roof!

Other than that, it's ok, nothing too inspring but to be fair I haven't driven it.

P1 RAJ

Thanks for the replies, I will past the info on to him,

I told him he should go for one but he's just concerned about the MPG, is 30 mpg the average???he only does 15 miles a day to and from work.

StiX

iTrader: (4)

I have one as well as my MY00 UK Turbo.

Its a 2002 Platinum Grey 20VT with only 36k.

Had no problems with it at all, had it for a year but only done about 7k.

Echo many of the above comments, apart from Castrols where everything seems to have gone wrong!

Decent power, but no Impreza - very smooth, but runs out of puff high up rev range.

Good handling, good brakes - much better 'bite' than the scooby.

MPG - not brilliant, but better than Imprezas.

Interior much better, good spec - Climate control excellent, as is the 6 speed box.

BOB.T

Actually, I thought the interior space was rubbish! The legroom is limited with the large dashboard and the wheel arch / well coming into the passenger compartment. It's even tighter if there's some one in the back! Also, the OE CD changer goes in the glove box leaving no room for anything else.

StiX

iTrader: (4)

I wasn't really on about the amount of space, more the quality and standard equipment of the interior.

Agree about the glovebox too - waste of time.

Spankathon

Why bother about mpg if thats all he's doing.....??

Rich2006

I too would also recommend going for the 225 Bhp Cupra R over the Standard.

I've not had mine for that long , but it has been a pretty fantastic vehicle so far.

The build quality is not quite as good as the VW or Audi variants (A3 or Golf), but in practical terms you will not really notice the difference. The only niggle I've had was a little rattle from the glove box lid, which is easily remediated by the use of a torque screwdriver to adjust it. Other than that its perfect!

If you get the 180 Bhp and re-map, you will get 225 tops, and possibly a little less on average. Also you will get high fuel consumption figues compared to the standard R engine. It is worth pointing out the re-map costs £400 or so anyway. Many standard 225 cupras have been found to develop much more than that (235 etc) when tested on the rolling roads. Maybe Seat play down the figures on purpose. I have yet to test mine but will do shortly.

I can't really fault the ride and handling on my car; when you consider it is front wheel drive it is some achievement that it handles it all so well.
Maybe it is because my car is one of the later models, (July 2005) but it just doesn't seem to suffer from any of the usual problems reported here and on a few other sites such as seatcupra.net.

So I would dig deep into those pockets and get a newish Cupra R, and never look back!!

satilaboy

I've got the leon cupra 180bhp (remapped to 210ish) at the minute. Decent car for a decent price. the remap is a must. I've had it about 10 months now and no problems so far.

Average fuel consumption with mixed driving on bp ultimate over 100 hours/3000 miles was 30.3. Have since remapped and changed to v-power, averaging 29ish but i've been flooring it some days and pensioner driving the next so pretty mixed.

short shift is essential!

if anyone wants any info on the LC just give me a shout