Hello,
Right, thought I’d try and give you my honest review of my Seat Leon Cupra R after having run a 172 Cup for a year previously.
Ok, first things first, the expense. Well obviously the Cupra R cost more than the Cup. I bought the Cup with 5k on the clock last Jan for £10,500, it came with a K&N and a Scorpion back box. In all honesty, I wanted it standard, but at the time there were few Cup’s in my area and I was in the Market for one, as my last car was on its way out and I wanted to part ex before it died!! The Cupra R on the other hand cost me £16,200 with 1.5k on the clock. I got £8k for my Cup, which had just covered 18k by then. The Cupra R was standard except for metallic paint, apparently costing £400 extra and also Smart nav, which cost the dealer £700 to install and £190 for a 6 month subscription (which I had 3 months left when I bought). So the base price of the car new would have been around £19.5K roughly. Insurance, I pay £100 extra a year over what I paid on Cup. Fuel, well it roughly costs me £10 extra each time I fill up, to do the same mileage as the Cup. Obviously tyres are going to be way more expensive to change, 18” vs 16”. Servicing cost are similar.
Onto the day to day drive. My Cup was noisy! After about a month or so of ownership it developed a rattle in the scorpion mid section. Took it to powerflow and they removed the centre section and fitted a straight through pipe. It was now a fair bit nosier! Ok, don’t get me wrong, it sounded awesome for short blasts down the country lanes, or short journeys, but it just wasn’t great for those long trips on the motorway. My girlfriend and I would have to shout, if I was doing over 75 on the motorway, to be heard. The exhaust would have been fine, but sadly my life has changed, I used to live in the sticks, but now my car use is pretty much either motorway, or crawling in traffic, with only a tiny amount of back road blasting a month. So for me, the Cupra really has the edge, factor in the Aircon, MUCH better standard stereo, comfier (IMHO) seats, slightly softer ride, and general less rattles, it makes for a easier to live with day to day machine. Plus getting people in the back is so much easier, plus the cup’s scorpion exhaust used to rattle and vibrate against the suspension when I had a passenger in the back!
On the back road blast. Ok, so far I’ve not had a dry day to really put the R through it’s paces, but I can tell its no way like the cup at all. It does feel heavier, great for cruising, but not so good for thrashing. Saying that, there is one section of VERY bumpy back road as I head to my girlfriends that I used to hoon along in the cup (Yes, I know, very irresponsible!) and ok, I can’t as yet do that in the R, but I’m putting that down to only owning it a few weeks, and that it’s been crappy weather. There is one particular bump along the way that used to make the Cup hit the bump stops, the Cupra R rides this fine, not sure what conclusions to make from this, but I’m guessing it handles the bumps better? Or maybe the Cupra R has longer shocks, I don’t know!?
The real difference I find is the way they both perform. The performance figures for both these cars are pretty similar. They feel completely different. In all honesty, the R feels a lot quicker than the Cup, but that’s down to power delivery. The Cup used to just build and build the power until it was screaming towards the redline, while the R Kicks you in the back and then tails off towards the redline. I have to say, the R Is easier to live with day to day, I find it a lot easier to overtake, plus I don’t feel like the person I’m overtaking thinks he’s being overtaken by some boy racer thrashing the ass off of his Clio. The Brakes on the R are in another league to the Clio, as you would expect from brembo’s compared to Renault’s own.
Looks, well I think they are in a different bracket. I prefer the Clio to the 206 Gti, and I prefer the Seat to it’s rivals, but I think they aren’t in the same league, I like them both equally if you see what I mean.
You guys and girls bored yet?
Anyhow, I just thought I’d put my views down on what I thought on (IMO) a trade up to the next level for me. I know they aren’t a lot similar, but I just wanted something a bit more refined, with better build quality and dealer support! Plus the other reason I changed was that my cup was about 6 months away from running out of warranty, and I thought I’d get more for it now with that 6 moths left than with nothing left. Plus I wanted to sell it before the 182 Cup flooded the market.
I know you all have your own opinions on your own cars, but IMHO the 172 Cup is the best hot hatch about. It threw away functionality to give the buyer the closest thing it could to the classic hot hatch. It through out all that was not needed, did away with toys and took the driving experience back to just the driver and the Car, nothing electronic got in the way. It did exactly what it said on the tin, and it did it very well. I think it is the last of a bread of fine Reanault hot hatches, the 182 and Cup, although they are excellent cars, they now have to stand up to modern safety features, and that stops them from being truly brilliant like the Williams. I think the Cup is about as close to a Williams as can be. But hey Guys and Girls That’s just IMHO, and not what this thread is about.
I’m driving and loving the Cupra R, but I’m still thinking of the Cup!
Sorry for the essay, those that managed it this far, give yourselves a pat on the back!
Max
