SCN are visiting SEAT UK to see the new LCR
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- scn seat seat leon cupra r visiting
Really hope your going to come back and tell us what an amaizing car this is! And hopefully with some pics
jamiebennett81
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a sensible question from me:
"with the Brand, loyalty, enthusiasm and following as seen on this site, does Seat have any concrete plans or strategies to give something back (other than its sporty models) to the SCN community to recognise its massive following from the hardcore fans?"
"with the Brand, loyalty, enthusiasm and following as seen on this site, does Seat have any concrete plans or strategies to give something back (other than its sporty models) to the SCN community to recognise its massive following from the hardcore fans?"
can you ask please if they will consider asking us enthusiasts our opinions and input as to what we would like to see for future models etc rather than them taking a hit and miss approach as to wether or not the community will like what they have come up with.
The fact that they designed the entire Leon/Toledo/Alhambra range from base model to the top end with near identical looks doesn't bode well for SEAT to step out of the mass market styling and bring something special to the market. The Bocanegra is a great step forward - why couldn't the Mk2 Leon look more like that? If the new Leon Cupra R had Bocanegra styling they'd be onto a winner, but from the images of the new Leon Cupra R shown so far they are onto a very bland loser.
Making good time on one of beardys Pendalinos. Not often I use public transport they are a bit swift these trains.
Will update more later if I can. But for quicker updates see my Twitter feed, link is in my signature usually.
Plus we will try to put updated on SCNs Facebook page.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Will update more later if I can. But for quicker updates see my Twitter feed, link is in my signature usually.
Plus we will try to put updated on SCNs Facebook page.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RobDon said:
The bottom line the designer of the Ibiza Boc had nothing to do with the Leon range. As ai said earlier it's a 5 year old design by someone else.
The Mk3 will be the same guy who designed the Boc. I don't believe we have a long time to wait to see where he aims to take the Leon. It's an important car for SEAT one of their strongest sellers.
There may even be a surprise at Geneva but I think we could see something conceptual before the year is out.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A very positive day down at SEAT, enjoyed the drive in LCR, I'll go into a lot more detail about the car when we do our review. Need time to digest it all and collaborate with Syphon and m0rk to produce an interesting article in the next day or so.
But generally the simplest way to put it across is that this isn't just a Cupra with an R badge. SEAT UK have worked closely with SEAT Spain to produce a more exclusive R that will only be available here in the UK. Not too radical a look, I know it might not set everyones world alight but thats why we have free choice. However imo the subtle tweeks works very well and even the leather interior grew on me as the day went on. The colour was a bit loud for my personal taste, though it was fun to get more noticed!! I would love to see it in Grey/White/Blue with black/grey or silver wheels.
Under the skin too, the car has been tweaked more than I expected and its chassis is stronger and feels much tighter and poised while further improving the overall handling. Its very drivable, loves to be thrashed and feels a bit more focused and sharper on the road than a stock Cupra. Power pull is strong, tuned to be more torquey than the stock Cupra it has no trouble getting towards triple figures in a rapid progression.
Its fast and its got that remapped get up and go butt dyno feel, and if were being honest we believe SEAT have been conservative with the published figures its got to be pushing more than 265PS.
The sounds it expels are one of its defining details, from the tuned induction noise to the lovely raspy note and burble from the R32 style exhaust. You couldn't help but smile when you open the taps.
I would of liked to see details like Brembo's make a reappearance, but unfortunately the economics involved are more complicated than the average punter expects. Its easy to say its not got this and that but the competition has, and everything has its price and market forces are already squeezing this car pretty hard. I know its hard not to be negative about the controlling influence that VAG have over SEAT's products but at the moment its what they have got to work with. Even if the Mk2 doesn't shake your tree, I truly believe that SEAT is getting its mojo back with the recent Ibiza and I like where the design team is aiming to take the brand.
The market has caught many of us by surprise and the price of this car has shocked many including myself. But taking a look at the competition the R is being competitively targeted and SEAT are in a better place economically speaking compared to its much larger competition and obviously want to remain so.
To tell you a little about the people involved, SEAT UK are passionate motoring enthusiasts, they love cars like we love cars and they are not sat scheming every day to make their products less appealing to us. You only need see the offices, lots of huge images on the walls an open environment. Even the Head of SEAT UK sits open plan along with everyone else but he gets a leather chair. Our views are appreciated and the feedback is making it to the people best placed to conduct a change...but change takes time to achieve.
They love the enthusiasm we all share for the brand, they love that we as owners are pushing the boundaries and personalising our rides.
On the subject of modifications, as enthusiasts they would like to offer performance packs etc, but back on the issue of economics they can't officially warrant it and it seems unlikely this will change at the moment unless there is a radical re-think within the whole VAG group.
Its a VAG wide issue and not something that can be solely pushed on SEAT UK, they are not preventing dealers offering remap services to the customer. Yet conveying that the group can't be responsible to warrant such upgrades and those parts directly affected can not be warranted. They would still honour repairs to non related parts but essentially a remap will invalidate much of the engine and drivetrain.
I think the dealers who do offer these services need to be a little more transparent with what is covered overall and it would be interesting to know how they would handle claims should problems arise.
My own ethic has always been that if you modify then you alone have the primary responsibility for the negatives should they happen. Its a choice for the owner to make and SEAT support the concept of what owners do and celebrate the fact that we have this passion to personalise our cars but economically they can't warrant it and its unlikely to change at the moment.
On the subject of involving the enthusiasts more, we have had a good chat about what we would like to see from the brand and Club SEAT. The marketing focus has now shifted somewhat from the motorsport and the current boss of SEAT Spain wants to concentrate on lifting the brands overall recognition. The motorsport program has reached far and wide and overall it has met its marketing goals with back to back world championships. The recent deal with UEFA means more TV coverage for the brand alongside the targeted TV advertising to introduce the products to a wider audience.
We expressed our feeling that though Club SEAT is promoting the brand image, its not always supporting the enthusiasm for its products and the experience of enjoying those products. I recognise the importance of giving the brand a wider remit to increase market share, but it can't be at the cost of ignoring your established customer base.
The Vauxhall VXR approach we shared with them in the past week has sparked their interest, and this is something they intend to discuss internally with marketing and Club SEAT representatives and work towards a closer involvement with enthusiasts. As we have discussed recently they also consider the VXR idea to be a narrower concept with it excluding other enthusiasts. Should something like this move forward it would have to be all encompassing.
I have mentioned events such as greater involvement in the PoP and GTI International is also something that was mentioned by SEAT, as well as driver focused events such as track days or auto-test driver training events. The ball is now in their court and we'll stay in touch and hopefully its something that we can all help to develop. Overall the meeting was a valuable experience and SEAT have been very receptive and interested in what we all have to say.
But generally the simplest way to put it across is that this isn't just a Cupra with an R badge. SEAT UK have worked closely with SEAT Spain to produce a more exclusive R that will only be available here in the UK. Not too radical a look, I know it might not set everyones world alight but thats why we have free choice. However imo the subtle tweeks works very well and even the leather interior grew on me as the day went on. The colour was a bit loud for my personal taste, though it was fun to get more noticed!! I would love to see it in Grey/White/Blue with black/grey or silver wheels.
Under the skin too, the car has been tweaked more than I expected and its chassis is stronger and feels much tighter and poised while further improving the overall handling. Its very drivable, loves to be thrashed and feels a bit more focused and sharper on the road than a stock Cupra. Power pull is strong, tuned to be more torquey than the stock Cupra it has no trouble getting towards triple figures in a rapid progression.
Its fast and its got that remapped get up and go butt dyno feel, and if were being honest we believe SEAT have been conservative with the published figures its got to be pushing more than 265PS.
The sounds it expels are one of its defining details, from the tuned induction noise to the lovely raspy note and burble from the R32 style exhaust. You couldn't help but smile when you open the taps.
I would of liked to see details like Brembo's make a reappearance, but unfortunately the economics involved are more complicated than the average punter expects. Its easy to say its not got this and that but the competition has, and everything has its price and market forces are already squeezing this car pretty hard. I know its hard not to be negative about the controlling influence that VAG have over SEAT's products but at the moment its what they have got to work with. Even if the Mk2 doesn't shake your tree, I truly believe that SEAT is getting its mojo back with the recent Ibiza and I like where the design team is aiming to take the brand.
The market has caught many of us by surprise and the price of this car has shocked many including myself. But taking a look at the competition the R is being competitively targeted and SEAT are in a better place economically speaking compared to its much larger competition and obviously want to remain so.
To tell you a little about the people involved, SEAT UK are passionate motoring enthusiasts, they love cars like we love cars and they are not sat scheming every day to make their products less appealing to us. You only need see the offices, lots of huge images on the walls an open environment. Even the Head of SEAT UK sits open plan along with everyone else but he gets a leather chair.
Our views are appreciated and the feedback is making it to the people best placed to conduct a change...but change takes time to achieve.They love the enthusiasm we all share for the brand, they love that we as owners are pushing the boundaries and personalising our rides.
On the subject of modifications, as enthusiasts they would like to offer performance packs etc, but back on the issue of economics they can't officially warrant it and it seems unlikely this will change at the moment unless there is a radical re-think within the whole VAG group.
Its a VAG wide issue and not something that can be solely pushed on SEAT UK, they are not preventing dealers offering remap services to the customer. Yet conveying that the group can't be responsible to warrant such upgrades and those parts directly affected can not be warranted. They would still honour repairs to non related parts but essentially a remap will invalidate much of the engine and drivetrain.
I think the dealers who do offer these services need to be a little more transparent with what is covered overall and it would be interesting to know how they would handle claims should problems arise.
My own ethic has always been that if you modify then you alone have the primary responsibility for the negatives should they happen. Its a choice for the owner to make and SEAT support the concept of what owners do and celebrate the fact that we have this passion to personalise our cars but economically they can't warrant it and its unlikely to change at the moment.
On the subject of involving the enthusiasts more, we have had a good chat about what we would like to see from the brand and Club SEAT. The marketing focus has now shifted somewhat from the motorsport and the current boss of SEAT Spain wants to concentrate on lifting the brands overall recognition. The motorsport program has reached far and wide and overall it has met its marketing goals with back to back world championships. The recent deal with UEFA means more TV coverage for the brand alongside the targeted TV advertising to introduce the products to a wider audience.
We expressed our feeling that though Club SEAT is promoting the brand image, its not always supporting the enthusiasm for its products and the experience of enjoying those products. I recognise the importance of giving the brand a wider remit to increase market share, but it can't be at the cost of ignoring your established customer base.
The Vauxhall VXR approach we shared with them in the past week has sparked their interest, and this is something they intend to discuss internally with marketing and Club SEAT representatives and work towards a closer involvement with enthusiasts. As we have discussed recently they also consider the VXR idea to be a narrower concept with it excluding other enthusiasts. Should something like this move forward it would have to be all encompassing.
I have mentioned events such as greater involvement in the PoP and GTI International is also something that was mentioned by SEAT, as well as driver focused events such as track days or auto-test driver training events. The ball is now in their court and we'll stay in touch and hopefully its something that we can all help to develop. Overall the meeting was a valuable experience and SEAT have been very receptive and interested in what we all have to say.
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Dakota Red Metallic Boc. yes I did. We saw loads of SEAT's today.
You drove past me at the station - red S2000 right at the end of the station parking
I did wonder if it was you. was waiting for my mate on the train from Crewe 
You drove past me at the station - red S2000 right at the end of the station parking
Not often I get spotted, which is surprising ![[B)]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/shades.gif "Cool [B)]")
Aye so do I once we've written it.
It might be a couple of days for the review, but I'll post a few high res pics up in a bit for you all to digest. Happy to answer questions though in the meantime we have got a few facts and figures about the R.
oh dear. just realised. last time i read one of your reveiws an order was placedAye so do I once we've written it.
It might be a couple of days for the review, but I'll post a few high res pics up in a bit for you all to digest. Happy to answer questions though in the meantime we have got a few facts and figures about the R.
Evo mag did a test in Jan involving the latest Cupra R in a mega hatch test.
they took it to Rapid GB's DD dyno and it put out 274bhp apparantly!
EVO Mega Hot Hatch Test
they took it to Rapid GB's DD dyno and it put out 274bhp apparantly!
EVO Mega Hot Hatch Test
Aye I had seen this on the forum a few weeks back and now having driven the R and comparing it to my knowledge of my own Cupra it doesn't surprise me, the Ford being rather over-rated it would appear.
We actually discussed this with the guys at SEAT and they brought up this article and the fact that they prefer to under-rate their figures, seems that Ford have chosen to over-rate their figures.
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