Buying advice required. 1.8t fr vs cupra.

[johnny77]

Hi folks, i'm looking into buying a mk4 Ibiza, it has to be a 1.8t but I can't decide to go for either the fr or the cupra. Ideally i'd like a cupra, but they seem few and far between in the colour I want (yellow), and they command so much more monies than the fr. I'd consider an fr if one came up, but wanting to do some tuning, how far can I go with the 150bhp vs the 180bhp cupra?
What are the engine differences between the 2 versions? How far can I tune a, the 150bhp version, b, the 180bhp version. Ideally i'd like to get a reliable 2-220 bhp, will the 150fr handle this?
Any sensible input/advice welcomed.

 

[krussel]

Welcome Johnny.

This has been worked over many times on here and if you search you should be able to get all the info your after.

In a nutshell.

The FR will be cheaper to insure and a little cheaper to run. The Cupra is faster stock but will cost you more.

If you intend to mod heavy then its prob best to start with the Cupra as its already got many of the things you need such as the bigger brakes etc.

If you can afford it go for the Cupra. If your on a budget then get the FR and mod as funds allow.

 

[johnny77]

Thanks Mate, I did have a search but didn't get very far. (kept getting distracted with other seat related stuff lol) I don't intend to mod "that" heavily, I was thinking full exhaust, panel filter, intercooler and suitable re-map. The car will be used daily so needs to be sensibly modified. I'm 36 and have already priced the insurance, there's only a few ££ between the 2 models, so the decision on which car to get will end up being made on the actual spec/condition of car in question. I would love the cupra, but like I've said, finding one in yellow ( I won't consider any other colour, i'm picky) with good history and lowish miles is proving difficult lol. There seems to be more yellow fr's than cupras.

 

[johnny77]

Also could anyone tell me if the 1.8t petrol has the larger seatsport intercooler? have tried googling and searching, but search results are predominantly diesel.

 

[Crafoo]

The Cupra has a Seat Sport FMIC, the FR has a small SMIC

 

[johnny77]

The Cupra has a Seat Sport FMIC, the FR has a small SMIC

Cheers

 

[Crafoo]

220bhp is certainly achievable from the 150bhp FR I know because mine was running 220bhp and had been for about a year or two before I sold it, no problems running that kind of power.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Chino_UK]

I wouldn't let the yellow be the be all and end up, you'll struggle to find one that doesn't already have lacquer peel and they all end up doing it at some point. Get a Cupra, as said you get the brakes and Fmic as standard. Bear in mind you'll need to buy, fit then declare them as mods on insurance on an fr which negates any initial cost saving.

 

[Chino_UK]

As for power on fr mines been running just under 240bhp for four years. No problems.

 

[Crafoo]

It's all about how deep your pockets are really, for me the only real differences other than price are the Seat Sport FMIC and the far better brakes that the Cupra comes with.

In reality some decent brakes £200 (Audi TT upgrade is fairly common), a FMIC £500, and remap £250 and you've got a 200+bhp car, the FMIC isn't a have to have, you can get by with the stock cooler but it's a good idea as the standard SMIC on the FR is pretty poor and suffers to the heat quite easily, especially if you go for a stage 1 map.

All comes down to money, is there more £1k difference between the cars your looking at, because that's roughly what you'd be spending to get where you want to be if you went for the FR.

EDIT - As for getting a yellow one, I wouldn't personally worry about lacquer peel, that should only really have happened if someone hasn't looked after the car, and if that's the case you want to be walking away anyway, my yellow FR I recently sold was 6 and a half years old and the paintwork was perfectly fine save for a few stone chips etc that you can't really avoid.

 

[mjstokes85]

What I would say is don't settle for something you don't 100% want. It took me around 6 months to find the exact car I was looking for, checking autotrader and pistonheads every day. If you want yellow, wait for the right car in yellow to turn up, because if you buy a red one, then next week a yellow one, with the exact spec you want turns up on autotrader, you will kick yourself.

 

[Crafoo]

What I would say is don't settle for something you don't 100% want. It took me around 6 months to find the exact car I was looking for, checking autotrader and pistonheads every day. If you want yellow, wait for the right car in yellow to turn up, because if you buy a red one, then next week a yellow one, with the exact spec you want turns up on autotrader, you will kick yourself.

Definitely agree with that, don't be put off by having to wait, that's the thing buying second hand, it's rare to get what you want straight away, but the wait will be worth it when you find the one you're looking for.