Tones,
How do you find the FR compared to the sport? Was it the diesel sport you had?
Is the FR ride much harder than the sport?
I have a sport and wish I had an FR but sometimes I think I am just being silly about it and the difference is so minor and not worth bothering about.
I brought my TDi Sport at the end of 2005, so basically the model was about 4 months old (?!?)...... frankly I had nothing but grief with it....... (maybe cos it was one of the first batches off the line?!?)
a) ride was very hard, gf hated it
b) road noise was annoying
c) dashboard rattled all over the place
d) after about 10k I started getting a ticking noise in the engine after working it hard (ie driving for about an hour in hot weather) - possibly something to do with the turbo?!?
.... on top of all that
e) driver door mirror electrics broke and wouldn't open (which was repaired under warranty)
f) some runt scratched my car front to back on driver side
g) un-even wear on the tires (inside of tyres were completely worn down and outside were fine) - tracking or camber was off I think.
h) unbelievable smoke coming out of exhaust when accelerating hard.
i) hands-free bluetooth kept crashing - ie wouldn't exit the call on the MFD and radio, had to reset system by taking keys out of ignition
Took the car into service in March and got speaking to a salesman..... he was trying to flog me a new leon.
In the end after playing all the showrooms in London against each other, I got a decent deal for a trade-in and also a great deal for my FR.
As soon as I got into the car I could feel the difference.
- Ride and handling was SOOO much better (maybe cos i had 18" rather than 17")
- less road noise
- no rattling dash
- more refined drive
- gf likes the car! (big plus!)
- no issues so far with the hands-free kit
Only thing I miss from the old car is the reverse parking sensors!!
(Yes go ahead, call me a wuss.... but once you get a car with them, you'll wonder how you parked before without them!)
Frankly if you're having issues with your Sport and can afford the difference in price, then get the FR!