Seat Leon Cupra R Colour??

[Poverty]

...and breathe

I blame the iPhone

 

[warren_cox]

I blame the iPhone

I blame the Friday afternoon that the design team of the new LCR Mk2 had a long lunch, came back beered up, and signed of the design without realising they had done nothing.

On Monday morning in panic they decided to own up to the extra 20bhp the car has always had, found some R badges and 19's; problem solved, jobs-a-goodun

 

[ZBOYD]

I blame the iPhone

I don't

I blame the Friday afternoon that the design team of the new LCR Mk2 had a long lunch, came back beered up, and signed of the design without realising they had done nothing.

On Monday morning in panic they decided to own up to the extra 20bhp the car has always had, found some R badges and 19's; problem solved, jobs-a-goodun

If I was to read between the lines, cash reserves being tight and the next gen still a few years off the chief designer who wasn't even responsible for the Mk2 but was tasked with changing it. Seems he decided it was probably a wasted exercise and was restricted by accountants to do much else with it, obvious that in its home markets too its not really an important product. This is why they really need to focus the models to the market sector they want to sell them in. Which to be fair to SEAT UK, they have at least acknowledged the fact the car was going to struggle in Euro spec, so they managed to get some changes made.

My personal feeling is they should of kept the R brand retired until they were in a position to do the model real justice. I don't think sales will be high, though dealers maybe able to shift a few of their demo cars. I think the cars are now not due to debut until the end of June, when first orders were originally expected to land this month. It maybe indicative of low customer orders, and they maybe hoping to sell more on the back of dealer test drives in the coming months.

However in its defence the car is different to a Cupra in both handling and performance, in stock guise at least, whether its enough of a difference to warrant its extra money is open to personal experience and choice.

If your a mod junkie then its probably not going to appeal, but if your not keen on the expense and warranty issues that mods bring with them, then its a more focused driving experience than you'll get from a boggo Cupra with a few extra styling bits added and leather if that's your bag.

Costs are reflective to the rest of the market, but I don't see this model doing as well as it could of if it was a few grand cheaper.

 

[warren_cox]

If I was to read between the lines, cash reserves being tight and the next gen still a few years off the chief designer who wasn't even responsible for the Mk2 but was tasked with changing it. Seems he decided it was probably a wasted exercise and was restricted by accountants to do much else with it, obvious that in its home markets too its not really an important product. This is why they really need to focus the models to the market sector they want to sell them in. Which to be fair to SEAT UK, they have at least acknowledged the fact the car was going to struggle in Euro spec, so they managed to get some changes made.

My personal feeling is they should of kept the R brand retired until they were in a position to do the model real justice. I don't think sales will be high, though dealers maybe able to shift a few of their demo cars. I think the cars are now not due to debut until the end of June, when first orders were originally expected to land this month. It maybe indicative of low customer orders, and they maybe hoping to sell more on the back of dealer test drives in the coming months.

However in its defence the car is different to a Cupra in both handling and performance, in stock guise at least, whether its enough of a difference to warrant its extra money is open to personal experience and choice.

If your a mod junkie then its probably not going to appeal, but if your not keen on the expense and warranty issues that mods bring with them, then its a more focused driving experience than you'll get from a boggo Cupra with a few extra styling bits added and leather if that's your bag.

I'm just bitter as I was hoping to return to the fold in 2010!! After 3 years of Audi I was quite looking forward to that buzz I'd got from the last 'R'.

Don't get me wrong, still think the new one is a very good car, just not £27k good when I can get an S3 with discount for less (not that I'd want another necessarily).

Like you, feel the 'R' should have been shelved for now, and they'd carried on knocking out special editions.

I've never felt in such limbo wondering what to buy next. Happy to sit put, but TBH at 40k miles don't want the S3 when it starts to become too costly (as it's out of warranty). Someone on ASN forum has just paid £5,400 for repairs on a 3.2 A3 lump and had same error code next day!!! Audi MD now involved. Audi franchise dealer couldn't care less.