LukeK

Active Member
Oct 20, 2012
410
0
Preston lancashire
I was thinking of changing my leon cupra 1.8 T 180bhp to a leon diesel. Main and only reason is fuel costs. Was wondering what people think weather it's worth changing for the saving of a couple quid. Or is the fuel consumption ALOT better?
 
I did a similar swap

Octavia vrs 1.8t 180bhp (esentially a cupra) to a leon fr tdi!

Weekly fuel bill has dropped from £80 to £40-£50! Tax is also a lot cheaper!

Glad i made the change
 
Hmmm. Il have to have a look round for a fr tdi then. What's the difference like performance wise ? The diesel Feels alot slower than the cupra?
 
I had my octavia mapped to 210bhp

So i went to the fr tdi and it felt like a pancake with 150bhp - soon sorted that though - now rocking 198bhp and 323lb/ft and she flys!

A mapped 150tdi will feel and go better than your 180bhp cupra so its really a win win!

Doesnt feel as fast as a stage 1 180bhp (210bhp) but still goes well
 
Trouble you will have is the money you loose selling the LC you probably won't gain by the time you payed the extra cost to buy a diesel in the first place..... Sometimes unless you buy a bargain a no/win situation...


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Yeah the initial outlay!

But id rather that than getting robbed each week at the pumps!
 
The cupra I have at the moment is faultless Realy. I think it's been remapped also as on my boost gauge it's peaking 20 psi. Il have to have another think about this situation thanks lads.
 
It's a difficult one Luke! (apologies for long reply!)

Alike jasc1988 I recently had the same thought process - had a faultless Audi TT (225bhp 1.8T - same as LCR but running quattro) did naff all miles per gallon and had to consider how much more an FR tdi was than the TT's sale value before even looking, also had to take in to account how long I was planning to keep the Leon (to see if/when i'd break even) and if I would be more bothered by the one off bigger payment for the Leon or by the seemingly constant refuelling of the TT (just like jasc1988 again!) - you should ask yourself the same questions!

Personally, I rather swiftly decided it was the day-to-day running which was pissing me off so that was my decision made, in standard guise the FR Tdi isn't a bad drive but will feel sluggish coming from a mapped 1.8T, not a particularly involving drive but plenty of torque to pull you out of any sticky situation! I would strongly recommend a remap as it'll liven the engine up tenfold and make it much more drivable while still returning epic mpg, it's a bit of a weapon on the motorway :D

Just so you know - mine is a 2005 150bhp FR mapped up to 190bhp (ish), pulls like a train, in car display says I average 60mpg on a 80 mile commute of which 30% is through crap London traffic, get about 600 miles from a tank dependant on just how bad the traffic is (the TT managed 300 miles at the very most from a full tank!)

Do some thinking, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with a diesel :)

Hope that helps,

Jack
 
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Here's my 2p:

i) Standard PD150 will feel slow so you'd need to get it mapped. Remapped will feel fast, but watch the torque - standard clutch does not like over 300 lb ft and a worn clutch might not like 300.

ii) Bit noisy and rough when revved compared with a petrol or more modern diesel.

iii) WORST fuel economy I've had on a long run was 44mpg, and that was thrapping it a bit complete with several sections of running at 100-110mph and hard acceleration. Obviously will be less on a short run but driving gently it's still possible to get over 50mpg on short urban trips. Typical for a long run at 70-80mph is 52mpg. Best ever was 57mpg but driving unrealistically gently.

iv) Not much grunt below around 2000rpm.
 
Don't think a derv won't pull like a train. I've ran against some at Santa pod , and I struggle ( lc stage 2 revo ) . Don't think you will disappointed .
 
I find myself in the same position Luke. I'm a little bit of a hypocrite though. I need higher MPG, but want scope for a bit of engine modding all the same.

All - with diesel re-maps, do you lose a lot of MPG?
 
If you have a well sorted motor at the moment I HIGHLY recommend sticking with it, secondhand cars are a lottery most of the time, and its not a risk I would want to be taking if I didn't need to.
 
Depending on whether you live near a station that sells LPG, an LPG conversion might be another option? I think LPG is about 75p a litre so it would take about 3000 litres / 60 tanks of fuel to start paying for itself.
 
Depending on whether you live near a station that sells LPG, an LPG conversion might be another option? I think LPG is about 75p a litre so it would take about 3000 litres / 60 tanks of fuel to start paying for itself.

Thanks for the suggestion mate. I've had an LPG conversion in the past... I ended up ripping the system out because it was causing me trouble. It was on a BMW coupe. All the electronic sensors just Basicaly failed. When I went to a Machanic he said 'its strange to have a LPG conversion on what's Basicaly a sports car, you shouldn't want to be converting it' weather he was right or not it made sence. So I don't want to be doing that.
 
If I was to buy a fr tdi I think I would defonatley Benefit from buying one that's already been remapped. As a good map costs around £300? So for a good tdi and a map it would cost 4300. I would proberly get 2500 in an ideal world for my cupra. So it's a hard decision. At the moment I'm not traveling far for work, but I'm looking at a job 26 miles from home. Only down side is the fuel costs.