View Full Version : Leon Cupra tested on Driven tonight
Driven on C4 at 8:30pm test the Leon Cupra. Wonder if they'll like it?
CCC (Car and Car Conversions) magazine had a Bronze Cupra in their Track Car of the Year test - came last in lap times, but they were very, very impressed with the car, rating it the one to buy over the Pug 206GTI and Clion 172. They also said it was the car at least two of the testers wanted to drive home in that night, leaving the various Evo/WRX/Westfields etc behind. Nice
I believe its tested against the (faster) Octavia RS and the MG ZS, which I must admit, having driven a pre-production engineering hack is absolutly excelent, you can beat the sound of a modded V6:D
Neil
I'll look forward to the show then Neil.
I just can't get the memory of my boring ex neighbour in his Rover 45, out of my head. I think that's going to be MG's biggest problem - image of the original cars, or maybe the image of the drivers of the original cars...
If the MG wins, do we all have to dig out the pipes and slippers?
:D My trouble is that I have always been a Rover-MG lover, hence the reason I race Montegos (also cheaper if you smash it:) ), but I also like the Skoda too.
I think the Leon Cupra is better value for money (£15k V's the ZS180's £15.5K), but the MG is quicker as standard, and sounds great, unfortunatly tuning for the MG is sparse.
I hope they all get praise, but I suspect the Skoda will win!!
Neil
Now, where DID I put that pipe and those slippers...???;)
ibizacupra
16-10-2001, 21:13
Originally posted by Toonman
Driven on C4 at 8:30pm test the Leon Cupra. Wonder if they'll like it?
CCC (Car and Car Conversions) magazine had a Bronze Cupra in their Track Car of the Year test - came last in lap times, but they were very, very impressed with the car, rating it the one to buy over the Pug 206GTI and Clion 172. They also said it was the car at least two of the testers wanted to drive home in that night, leaving the various Evo/WRX/Westfields etc behind. Nice
Oh Dear...Drivle did'nt like the Leon...
Rover shite came top.. duh?
I had to laugh when one of the Joe Public pulled off the seat adjuster knob ! Quality MG/Rover eh?
Bill
I had to laugh when one of the Joe Public pulled off the seat adjuster knob ! Quality MG/Rover eh?
That was very funny!
well i am happy with my leon cupra, weather driven like it or not.
dave
What the F**K is going on in the world.
The country is at war, terrorists are threatening chemical warfare, the world economy is going pear shaped and to top it all 'Driven' do not like (HATE !!!) my leon.
OK, its not all bad. We all know they only wanted the british marque car to win, and we all root for the underdog like Skoda but come on !!!
Some crap parts of the 'review'
-asking people if they liked the colour didn't seem relevant!
-looks a girly car?
-someone said it looked basic inside which is a bit harsh! - what does it lack?
What do you think?
May think of more later after a drink !!! (Kidding - but a drink sounds nice...)
Steven.
:cool:
Just watched Driven and what a bad slating the Leon Cupra got! - Slower than the Skoda and the Rover, Suffers from bad understeer, a definate girlies car, lumpy steering, poor manovarability and from one dumb member of the public a basic interior!
Get real! I think the comments were a bit unfair and just goes to show how their method of reviewing cars is very limited. The poor tyre choice on the leon may be a factor for the more pronounced understeer but it is not so bad. In all the reviews I read before I got my Cupra I never heard of anyone complaining about understeer - only how good the handling is which I have proved to myself. Now to the other real grype about calling it a girlies car. This really annoyed me because that is one thing the Leon is not. Just before they voted they all agreed (the girls) how much they liked the colour of the Leon - I reckoned they voted on this alone.
As for the lumpy steering- does that female presenter have a clue what she is talking about?
There was no mention of the superb spec on the Cupra. The only comment was from the blind female who said the interor was basic!
Arrgh! This program really pissed me off!!
The worse thing is I told all my mates in work to watch this program tonight to show them what a good car I have recently bought. It doesn't bother me because I know what a good car it is and I have seen so many good reviews about it but I wish I had'nt told them to watch it !
Imperial blue Leon Cupra
Yes, I also told everyone to watch that S***e - and so did my girlfriend (shhhh gordon !!!).
GRRRRRRR !!!:mad:
Steven.
:rolleyes:
Ah, now do you all really care what Driven says? No, course not.
I'm not rushing out to cancel my order in favour of the £1400 more expensive Rover (sorry MG...), that was falling to bits on the test (not a good sign), or spring the extra dosh for the Skoda (to watch residuals freefall from day one - even if that's a market problem rather than a car one).
Besides, if we need the reassurance of road tests, wouldn't we all rather trust the likes of Evo, CCC, Autocar, Autoexpress, Car etc etc, than the 3 from C4?
Matt Turbo
17-10-2001, 00:38
Annoyed at Driven? I have some insider info...
The bronze Leon they tested has been on the Seat Press fleet for some time now - I should know, I'm amotoring journo by trade! What's more I've just bought an '01 Leon Cupra in Arctic grey.
I helped at at CCC mag's Track Day car of the year recently and I think we had the same Leon. Press cars always get a hard time, and the bronze car was tested hard at Anglesey with CCC (hence the 'lumpy steering'?).
What's more, I think it was the same Skoda on Driven that Autocar speed tested. Results? 0-60 in 6.7 secs, top speed 144mph! So, it has the same power as the Leon (180bhp), is 40 kilos heavier but is 1.3 seconds faster to 60 and 14mph quicker at the top end? Don't think so - good old chips huh? (probably!)
In fact in the current Autocar (10 Oct) the guys test a Leon Cupra against a different Skoda (whicj was slower then the car they originally tested, which was on Driven) plus a Golf 1.8T and A3 1.8T Sport. The Leon won. Happy now?
better still, they didnt use a plate of jelly to compare the cars!!
There seems to be alot of bias here towards the Leon (understandably), and I'll be the first to agree that the Leon is far from basic, it has the best interior of all of them, and is very stylish on the outside, but....and its a big but..... I've owned 3 Nissan Prmeras, and driven an Pre-production Engineering Hack MG ZS180 that had enough stone chips on the front to prove it had been hammered constatly for over a year, and both easily out handle the Leon, and thats what counts when you spend many miles behine the wheel.
The MG press cars have also spent endless hours at Anglsey in the hands of press and MG club personel. I'm not trying to cover for them, but the way I see it, it can only help.... I'm sure manufactures take note of what is said, and maybe they will adjust the suspension settings to give a bit more lift-off over steer, and less under steer.
Don't beat me up to much, I'm still a very happy Leon owner, but someones goht to defend the MG.......haven't they??:D
Neil
MG, Seat, Skoda? I must confess to not going anywhere near an MG dealer, but I did check out the Skoda, which felt slower than the Seat (as Autocar said last week), and I didn't feel was the complete package ride and handling wise. I was horrified at the expected residual value after 2 years and it got worse at 3 years plus. I actually prefer the look of the Octavia RS to the Cupra, although my Wife doesn't. As an overall deal though, the Leon was by far the best in my opinion.
However, aach to his or her own I say. My pals laughed at me for buying one of the 1st Impreza Turbos in the UK - 07 April 1994 - comments about ploughing fields and rust and so on. Most stopped laughing when they saw it and all did after been driven for about 20 feet in it...
My grumble about the Driven test was that it seemed to be biased against the Seat. The comments made by the presenters weren't always reflected in the points given to each car. I've noticed this before when they've tested other cars and I'll be honest, car nut that I am, I usually don't watch the show, as I feel it's quite a poor effort.
HenryCupra
19-10-2001, 18:57
Also what was the point of the presented having a heart rate monitor?
Hey if the leon only roused her by 78bpm at least i can feel happy in the knowledge that my gran wont have a heart attack when the leon is chucked it into the sort of corners as seen on driven.
Basic interior indeed, I think joe public were looking at the cameras more than the car....