Hope you can help me with this one...

Seen one of these locally on an X-plate with naff-all mileage in metallic blue which looks the b0ll0x...

From what I know the spec is pretty good and they have the VAG build quality etc.. just wondering if anyone has driven one and could pass on any opinions/experiences etc...

I've heard that the original 1.8 16v from 1996/7 and the later 2.0 16v were great - is this later/more grown up model any better/worse ?

You help would be much appreciated !!

Cheers,

John

p.s. Are there any Ibiza (the car not the Island !:D) forums !?!

www.seatcupra.net

The guys over there are very friendly and helpful.

The 1.8t is a great engine (I have an octavia with the same unit), can't comment on the Ibiza tho.

Ian.

Apparrantly the Ibiza's handling is a bit poo, so you'd probably want to address that, most opinions sway to the Leon as being a far better car. Still 12,995 new for the Ibiza cupra is a bit of a steal for the 1.8T unit powering it!

Drove a Ibiza Cupra R while living in Spain. It was tremendous fun for the price. :)

Shame it was yellow :rolleyes:

Get onto www.seatenthusiasts.co.uk/forum and you'll get heaps of info on there...

AFAIK, the Ibiza Cupra is a great car and far better value than the Mk4 Golf 1.8T

I used to own an Ibiza 20VT, tweaked up a bit to 200+bhp.
I think its a good alround package for the money, plenty of flexible grunt although when chipped torque steer is a bit of an problem as the chassis is less able to cope with 200 horses than the Leon/Golf/A3 platform (oh did I forget the Skoda RS ;) ).
The effect is amplified by uneven roads.

The interiors are nice, ride is harsh on bad tarmac, handling not brilliant but not bad either. Fairly foolproof and chuckable.
Acceleration, particularly in the mid range was superb.
Of course wet weather traction is a big issue when chipped, the power to weight ratio is on a par with a modified UK Impreza Turbo but you can't really use full throttle unless its dry or the TCS will kick in all the time.

Yes the Leon Cupra is a better car but until the recent facelift I didn't like the looks, and of course it cost a couple of grand more and weighed more.

Also owned an Ibiza 2.0 16V in the past, which is quite a different car - feels dated in comparison to the 20VT and peaky power delivery but has more character. Not bad if you're on a budget and want something different from the normal choices.




[Edited by TurboBoost - 1/6/2003 5:41:35 PM]

Thanks for the prompt replies guys !!

You can always count on the Scoobynet boys'n'gals to come up trumps !! :D:D:D:D:D

Scoobyjawa,
When you say the handling's "a bit poo" is it due to torque-steer or something else !?! Anyone know where I might find a magazine review (i.e. Evo or Tog Gear back-issue etc..) I've heard some say the handling suffers because the chassis struggles with the power, but other have said that its smooth and composed at speed and its handling inspires confidence !?! Suppose I'd better just go and drive it !! I could go for a Golf mk4 but they're soooo common and they're a lot heavier.... this is a little different

I've heard that they can adequately seat 4 six-footers (I'm 6ft 5ins !) - what's the interior quality like ? Up to VW standards ?

Turboboost,

Thanks for the info m8 !!

Few questions - Is the Traction Control switcheable ? Much body roll ? refinement - much noise in cabin when pressing on ? Reliability - any probs ? What are the service intervals - pretty boggo standard ?? Standard fit ICE any good ? Fuel economy any good even when playing ?

I'm still holding out for a 'classic' shape MY99/00 Scoob but I'm considering this 'cos the missus liked it too... Her Golf Cabrio 1.8 is a bit sluggish and could do with replacing soon.. If fuel prices go silly I might have to stick with the Cupra and put the Scoob on hold.... don't really fancy £1 per litre and 22mpg !!

Cheers,

John :D:D:D:D

Turboboost,

You've been a legend so far m8...

A few other silly max-power-ish questions...

You mention that the mid-range (on boost) acceleration was pretty good... would the quoted 0-60 times of late-7s be pretty realistic..cos they do vary in most mags. I thought that the fact that it had the new 20v turbo'd VAG engine with nearly 160bhp and only 1150kgs would mean that it would be a bit faster than the previous Cupra 16v... is the powerband broader now its blown !?

If i got bored is it easily tweakable ? I.e. would a few hundred squid get me a bigger grin on me boat-race ? :D

I look at it as a small golf for bargain money (less than £10k for an 18 month old car with under 20k on the clock !) and its a bit different too - If space wasn't an issue what would you have - boggo 1.8GTI T Golf afew years older or an Y/reg one of these ?

The standard alloys look okay, though I'd fancy some 17's :D:D:D

The "official" 0-60 is barely different to the 2.0 16V, and at 156bhp it only has 6bhp more than the 2.0 16V.
However in most "real world" acceleration bursts the 20VT feels a quicker car as the turbo comes in early and provides plenty more torque across a broad rev range.
Incidentally at a track day with some accurate timing gear we got standard 20VTs to clock 0-60 in a range of times from 7 to 7.5 seconds.
A good chip will give you around 195bhp, add a better exhaust, and other bits and bobs and you can bust 200bhp. Plenty of tuners out there (RSD, AmD, APR, Jabba Sport etc) offer chips.
A chipped car will do 0-60 between 6 and 6.5 seconds as long as you get the take off right.

Enough to annoy those pesky Focus RS's, thats if you don't torque steer into one another. ;)



[Edited by TurboBoost - 1/6/2003 7:20:11 PM]

Cheers M8 !!

A play is on the cards methinks !!

Thanks for your advice !!

John

A mate of mine has one and it's a great car. :)

For the money the Seat's are a fantastic deal and I would have one...

ScoobyJawa,

Cheers for the info m8 !!

All very useful to know ! :D:D

John

I owned an Ibiza Cupra 1.8 20v T, I'm a member of seatcupra.net too so know lots of other Seat owners. My words to describe the Ibiza, nice try but could do better.

It was a quick car but you have to rag it to get the best out of it.

Turn the TCS off if you buy one it’s much more fun!

Suspension - Awful!

VW Build Quality - Brollocks! Awful, squeaked, rattled, and failed lots. I'm had definite problems, like I went to Peterboghorror for a weekend going to a Seatcupra.net meeting and lost all boost on the way up for no reason, then magically it came back again on the way home.

It was going back twice monthly for bits to be changed or fixed, it was silly annoying things that broke most of the time, things like the boot handle wouldn’t go back down. The driver’s electric windows kept packing up etc.

Brakes - Need sorting out big time.

Styling - Really like it, nice looking car.

Dealers - What Seat dealer is it from? The ones down here aren’t very good.


I made a few mods to mine, like hurricane induction kit, Forge DV, Momo strut brace, tinted windows.

The warranty seemed very good but to be honest, it had to be cos of how many things that failed.

I had a 2000 X, this is the model with the first version of the 20 VT, late 2001 model has a revised engine. If you gonna make changes do a lot of research 1st. The MAF sensor on these cars a very fragile so be careful.

Hope I havent put you off, more given my point of view being an EX- seat owner.

Regards

Dan

Jerry, my guess is that the car you are about to buy is probably £8k+, personally I'd spend a little extra and go for a leon cupra @ circa £9k or a classic 99/00 scooby @ £9.5-11.5k if you can :)

A 2001/early 2002 Ibiza Curpa vs 1999/2000 Impreza is the dilema that I am facing. Was going to sell the Golf so I could start saving properly for this... but just can't make up my mind. Both can be had for around £10k from dealers... Just don't have a clue!

Mike,

I know what you mean m8 !!

I had set me heart on a MY99/00 Scoob for ages and my desires weren't helped by the fact that I work with Rum* who changes his Scoobs more often than his socks !

I may be buying a house shortly and that will certainly affect how much I have to spend on a car... like you say, both can be had for around the £10/11k mark (though the Ibiza would be newer) and both offer pretty good performance.

The Scoob is a great car and the MY99/00 was by far the best looking Scoob out there IMHO. The problem lies with costs of running - The Scoob would need to be serviced every 7500 miles and every other service is a silly expensive one - but costs like these come with the territory.. Insurance is generally silly and most need trackers. They are becoming a major target for theives too, especially around West Yorkshire..I'm not sure I'd feel safe at all. I'm beginning to feel a little unsure about the Mk1 Impreza's image too.. alot of them are falling into the hands of to55ers.

Also we are hearing of probable major hikes in fuel prices and we all know how Scoobies like to drink.

Part of me says that if I don't get one soon, I'll never get one - and another part of me is really boring and screams CAUTION !!

Its a bu99er !!

The Seat offers decent space for a 6 footer, better than average build quality, decent performance for the money/insurance, decent standard spec, and they're a little bit different (how many have you seen on the road today ?)...

I have promised myself a Scoob one day, but at this rate it may not be just yet...

AAaaaaaaggghhh !!

Another question anybody..

Does the Ibiza Cupra 20v VT have brake discs and front and rear or just at the front ?

Front and rear disc's ;)

On the MY99 you have a bigun at 30k, then a cheaper 37.5k then a bigun at 45k, then a cheaper 52.5k then a bigun at 60k and then they are all cheapo's again until the 90k which is a double bigun ;) :D

Oh for god sake, thats the 3rd corner I've taken and missed now :rolleyes:

I'd say the interior is not quite up to VW or Audi standards yet, you get the odd squeak and rattle although thats in part due to the firm ride. However its better built than any French car.

I didn't find torque steer much of a problem with a standard 20VT unless you really abused it in first gear. High speed handling is fine on smooth roads, but if the tarmac is bumpy the chassis is shown up a little as the ride is not as fluid as, say a 306 GTi6
(or for that matter a Leon Cupra or Audi 1.8T Sport)

You might find under really hard cornering it starts to understeer sooner than you might expect, as it lacks any form of passive rear steer which some of the above have.
I upgraded to bigger wheels with 205 width Goodyear F1s - this helped quite a bit.

TCS is switchable, which is good as in the dry it can be intrusive (i.e. bogs you down) when you get back on the gas when exiting a roundabout or a really tight bend.

Fuel economy - being chipped and I drove mine "enthusiastically", so mid 20s typically.

Body roll - hardly any compared to the A3 I'm in at the moment.

Servicing - feck all really, once every 10k miles.

Reliability - a few electrical gremlins fixed under warranty.

Refinement & noise - very refined compared to the 2.0 16V. Almost too much so (always going faster than you think).

Ice - OK-ish, had the 6 CD changer, Rear speakers crap - replaced them and left it at that.

[Edited by TurboBoost - 1/6/2003 6:05:07 PM]

John,

TurboBoost has said it all already ;) Sorry I didn't reply sooner. But yes, understeers quite early and the chassis is simply ok, upping the power it will struggle a bit. Nothing a good suspension kit won't sort though ;)

However - a VERY good package for the price :D and I quite the looks too, much rather have one than a Golf.

Edit to say though, that the Cupra R was a total rip off. Vastly more money for not that much difference IMHO. Seat got it right with the Leon R though ;)

[Edited by ScoobyJawa - 1/7/2003 12:27:03 PM]