Buying a Leon FR 1.8

[fat andy]

Hi all, unfortunately I have to give back my leased Cupra this month, I’m not leasing another due to price and 6 month lead time and I’d like to buy a used Leon instead. I’ve got 10-11k to spend and was looking at the early 1.8 petrol FRs. Does anybody have one of these or have any advice on whether it’s the right model to go for? Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Johnny Leon]

Got mine new in 2015 and now done 79k. Great engine, obviously slow compared to a Cupra but good blend of performance and economy (average 40mpg for me). Tested it alongside a 1.4 FR before buying.

 

[fat andy]

Ah that sounds good then thanks, I’ve been thinking about the 1.4 too as there seem to be more about, but might be too much of a drop in power(although hardly ever get the chance to use what the cupra’s got).

 

[adam davies]

Ah that sounds good then thanks, I’ve been thinking about the 1.4 too as there seem to be more about, but might be too much of a drop in power(although hardly ever get the chance to use what the cupra’s got).

I recommend the 1.8 i have a 2017 pre facelift owned over two years also remapped for two years running 253hp 376nm. Great car not bad economy amd goes really well.

 

[fat andy]

Nice one thanks, I’ve seen another couple of threads on here about remapping the 1.8, sounds like it’s well worth it!

 

[Jazzjames]

Coming from a Cupra will obviously be a noticeable drop in performance, but the 1.8 is still pretty nippy. It comfortably has the legs on a 1.4 tsi/1.5 tsi. My wife has a 1.5 tsi, so I've spend time in both. Not driven the 1.4 since before I bought my 1.8, but my memory is that the 1.8 is significantly more rapid. I get 40mpg as my long term average and my car's gone from 40k miles to just over 70k without any issues. Runs nice a sweet. Manual gearbox. If remapping is important, the consensus here seems to be that the manual gearbox can take more torque than the 7 speed DSG.

Also worth considering over the 1.4 is the independent rear suspension, bigger brakes and E-diff. It's quite a different car, not only the extra engine capacity.

I really like mine and want to keep it for years to come but haven't owned a Cupra so I don't miss the power of the full-fat version!

 

[fat andy]

Cheers, I hadn’t thought of the brakes and e diff! Will definitely go for the 1.8 over the 1.4 in that case, also going for the manual as the dsg box on my wife’s Altea went and cost £4k to fix!

 

[Jazzjames]

The indy rear suspension is what swayed it for me, no pun intended. The 1.8 is a nice car. The only mod I can personally recommend is to change the throttle pedal response using a carista dongle or similar. I can’t remember what it was as standard, but I think it was “proportional” and I changed it to “linear” (please correct me if wrong) and it made the throttle response more to my liking.

 

[Giuseppe Busso]

Yeah, direct acceleration is a nice feature. Have it for some days before remapping. Gradual acceleration was the standard on VCDS.

 

[fat andy]

That sounds like quite an easy fix, just need to find a good 1.8 for sale now, there don’t seem to be many about!