Well, I've been kicking around this site for a few years and am now on my second SEAT. Thought it was about time that I put up a readers ride thread!
I joined the SEAT fold a while back when I purchased a
Mk1 Leon FR+ 150 tdi. Absolutley loved that car and drove it around standard for a while before this site 'got it's claws in' and I began to slip down the modding slope!
Firstly I had this car remapped by REVO up to 180bhp and was very happy with the results, pulled well in any gear and certainly shocked a few bigger cars whilst out and about.
Whilst on a drive from Inverness to Portsmouth I noticed the clutch start to slip and by the time I had arrived, it was pretty goosed.
Luckily I discovered a little place called JKM so popped in and had a SACHS Clutch and Flywheel fitted along with a 312mm front brake upgrade and uprated Eibach ARB's front and back.
What a difference this made to the car, always felt the 288mm's on the front were a little too weak (especially with the extra power) so the 312mm felt brilliant. The ARB's really transformed the feel of the car too, especially the rear end.
Anyway, I ran the Mk1 for a while until I started getting restless and wanted a bit more power. Would love to know where the car ended up after it got sold!
After a bit of browsing on the internet I found this car for sale @ Letchworth Autoways. After a few phone calls and a testdrive more locally to me I put down a deposit and I couldnt wait. The car had already been lowered on Eibach Sportlines and had a Forge DV, Pipercross Performance Panel Filter, and Stage one AMD remap all fitted/provided by AMD Essex.
Booked my flights from Inverness to Luton to go and collect the car and began counting down the days. The day before my trip down South I got 'stitched' with a week of night guard so my initial thoughts were that I wouldnt be able to get the new motor!
Luckily a mate came to the rescue and offered to do one night for me so I could go South and collect it.
Arriving at Letchworth, the guys there were aware that I had to drive North immediately so had everything ready to go, so within 30minutes of arriving I was in sat in the new motor with 7 days complimentary SEAT insurance thrown in for travelling so far to get it!
The 500 mile drive North was ace, I loved every minute of it and it was a brilliant way to get used to the new ride as it had a mixture of A roads, Motorways and finished up with a blast across the Highlands near the Cairngorm mountains! Holy
this thing was fast compared to the Mk1!
A few pic's of the car afer the drive back up parked next to a Nimrod!
Gave it a bloody good clean.
Settled at its new house.
I have to say that I was very happy with the car so it stayed like this for a couple of months before I started playing around again.
I dedcided on the following Cosmetic Mods.
Fly Eye's kit for headlights
Badgeless Front Grill (with
K1 badge)
AMD
Cupra Sticker (front bumper)
SCN
Sticker (rear screen)
Decided after a couple of days that I hated the badgeless front grill, took my head for a s**t, removed it and replaced with the original
K1 grill. Left the fly eye's on as I didn't mind them and they also protected the lights from the constant grit on the roads up in North Scotland.
Couldnt do anything to the car for a while due to cash flow and also having to deploy to this lovely place.
To fly around on this old beast!
Whilst out in the sandpit I started thinking about what to do next to the motor. After more than a few PM's with Al (on here) and Ben@AMD I decided to take the plunge and jump to Stg 2+!
Managed to get my car booked in to AMD so upon my return it went in and was fitted with the following.
AMD Stg 2+ map.
Autotech HPFP.
ITG Maxogen CAI.
RS4 Fuel Valve.
Full Milltek Non Resonated Turbo Back Exhaust and Downpipe.
Sachs Uprated Clutch from a group buy over on MK5GolfGTI.com (ED@APS)
Pic's of the RR after mapping comparing the AMD Stg 1 and Stg 2+.
I loved how my car now drove and sounded. The midrange torque was now immense and the engine could rev much more freely due to the ITG and downpipe.
The car stayed this spec for a while and I was more than happy with it. The only thing I added was a dedicated cold air feed from behind the
lower nearside
K1 grill to the ITG using some Powerflex air feed.
A while later whilst I was in the middle of a house move down South due to getting posted my Autotech Fuel Pump failed and kindly added Shell V-Power to my oil!
![[:@]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/furious.gif "Furious [:@]")
Luckily for me I was literally 5 minutes away from Awesome GTI so I rang them up and they fitted me straight in.
Was a pretty expensive drive down after having to have an Oil Change & Engine Flush carried out before having an APR HPFP and new Cam Follower fitted.
Original Cam follower was in pretty good condition though for 25k miles!
As the weather was beginning to heat up as we moved into the summer, I noticed my car pulling back the timing occasionally during WOT if it was a hot day so began thinking about fitting an uprated Intercooler. After quite a lot of discussion with Paul @ Revo HQ I got booked in for a visit.
After a frankly crap drive down there they all made me feel very welcome and kept me fuelled with plenty of coffee and Gran Turismo action!
Not only did I get flashed with the stg 2+ software but I also had a THS i/c fitted and it was all done within 3 hours! After sitting down and chatting with Kev he decided to add the linear throttle map to my car and I really cannot thank him enough for that decision. I loved it! I thought it might take a little getting used to but it just feels so natural and in fact, the way it should've been from the factory!
The car felt like it was running much smoother on the REVO map than previously and as Kev set my car up to a fast but safe setting I am very happy with the results. It's was set up to run B 9, T 6, F 6 and feels great. It was initially set to T 7 but Kev decided to change it to 6 in the end. I run mine daily on much milder settings but this map is always fun for a good blast out on a sunny day! Altogether a brilliant service from all the guys down at REVO HQ.
Next up on the agenda was a Gloss Black Vinyl wrapped roof as I had seen a few about (TFSI_Mike's) that I loved the look of. Managed to find a guy in Lincoln to do it for me at a very reasonable price.
I was very happy with how it turned out, loved the look it gave the car and only one of my mates didnt like it but I think that was due to me being faster than his 'new' M3!
Nothing changed for a while with the car and it just plodded me around the country having fun here and there!
I finally got around to sorting out the numb feeling these
Mk2 Leon's have. As I was already running on Sportlines I booked the motor in to have a WALK, front and rear Eibach ARB's (4x Laser Wheel Alignment) and THS Engine & Gearbox Mounts fitted. Its went into the garage under the guise of its 30k service so as not to arouse suspicion in the wife! I really hoped that these mods would
help the feel of the car as it just didnt feel positive enough for me when 'pushing on'!
I had these bits fitted by LVS (Lincoln Volkswagen Specialist) who are brilliant and so keen its unreal. They're always more than happy to show you around the workshop at some of the awesome VAG motors being worked on! The guy who runs the place is always attending Track days with his motor and working on it there so it really fills me with confidence!
Was really happy with the results of these mod's as the car now feels like its on rails. The WALK and THS mounts really helped eliminate weel hop under acceleration and added a pretty cool noise to the cabin of the car. The ARB's will really
help me out when I finally get this thing out on a track day soon!
Decided to buy a cheap Engine cover from an Internet Auction Site and after some elbow grease it was altered to fit over my ITG. This really didnt do anything apart from hide the ugly TFSI engine from my eyes everytime I opened the bonnet!
Added a bit of paint and some 'Sponsorship!'
Next on my 'to do' list was a LSD. I shopped around and managed to secure an awesome deal on a Quaiffe LSD so booked the car in. I also started to notice a bit of noise coming from my Clutch and wasnt too sure if it was the DMF or release bearing. I got it into the garage and they said that I'd caught it just in time as they said the DMF was in a pretty bad way. The Sachs Friction and Pressure plate were both totally fine but I managed to get an awesome deal on a Helix Clutch kit with SMF so went for that option!
As the Sachs bits were in such good condition I sold them on to another Forum member to keep the cost of their own build down!
Helix bit's on right, standard bits on left.
The best bit was that as my gearbox was coming off to fit the LSD the garage didnt charge me anything to fit the clutch!
When I got the car back from these bits being fitted I can safely say that I was shocked with the difference in the drive of the car. The diff was very counterintuitive to use but once I had my head around it the benefits became clear! The Helix clutch is nice to use too, with a very OEM feel. The SMF however is a little noisy on overrun but I knew it would be so its nothing that I can't live with. If only VAG made a reliable DMF that could handle the power of Stg 2+!
I recently managed to get my car back into the rollers at AMD as I wanted to see how the car was running on the same rollers that its always run on.
I was very happy with the results and to see that the car is still pulling strongly and appears healthy. Was a flying visit but did see some lovely looking motors at AMD as usual.
Few pic's of how the car is looking at the moment.
Well, I think I've waffled on enough now for my first post!
Looking forward to hear peoples thoughts/comments/ideas/criticisms.
More updates to follow once funds allow it!
![[B)]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/shades.gif "Cool [B)]")
