Hi,
I had a test drive in a Leon FR TDI 170 at the weekend and I really liked it. Unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush, and the driving experience gave me such a big grin on my face I forgot to look around the rest of the car and ask the dealer (David Penman of Darlington) some questions.
Are the following worth it?
Bi-Xenon lights - considering my current car has the equivalent of a couple of water voles holding birthday cake candles for headlights. I guess the answer is YES, but how much of a yes?
Same for the bluetooth kit, I don't use my phone whilst driving (because it's naughty and I don't want any more points
) But I guess there are times when it could be useful. How well does it integrate with the phone and how does it work overall? (I have an SE k800i, which I've read is compatible so hopefully no issues there).
18" wheels. I think the one I drove had the standard 17s on. I don't think I saw one with 18s, but I'd imagine they really finish the look of the car off. If I went for 18s, what do you get in the way of spare? I've seen different reports, one was you get another full 18" alloy, but that cuts down on your available bootspace a fair whack.. the other was an 18" space saver.
I really don't like space savers. I have one on my current car, and got a nice horseshoe nail in a tyre about 2 weeks of picking the car up. I discovered my tyre was flat in the rain, in a field by the river tyne. Not much space in boot (it was full of kayaking gear) and the fullsized alloy wouldn't fit in the spare hole. Nice muddy wheel marks all over everything![[:@]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/furious.gif "Furious [:@]")
I can forgive the space saver if the alloy will fit in its place, I suppose. That being said, I do occasionally need enough bootspace to fit a drum kit in.
The other option I was considering is the usb/ipod connection. How exactly does this work, and what kind of control do you get from the stereo (and is the stereo upgraded in any way to accommodate your music player)? I can't really find much info on these, other than ipod goes under driver's seat and it all costs £75.
Oh I have an ipod nano - will that fit, or is it just he normal sized ones? and some other mp3 player that could use the USB connection I guess. Or either could just use the aux in, but i'd prefer to be able to control it via the stereo if possible.
What's the stereo like in the FR? I love my music, but I didn't have any CDs to hand when I took it for a drive, plus I didn't want to deafen the co-pilot from the dealer! I will _NOT_ be able to put extra amps/subs etc in the boot, due to space requirements/damage they would no doubt suffer if they couldn't easily be removed... but that's a faff on I don't want to have to think about anyway.
And finally, are there any other options you guys have chosen that you couldn't live without and would recommend?
Thanks for reading.
Oh, my current car is a Yaris D-4D T-spirit. I can't remember how many weaselpower it has, but i'm sure it's at most half what the Leon has. I feel I've outgrown it and want something meaner, faster (through the gears - too many people driving annoyingly slow) and a bit bigger, but not family tank-sized.
Leon so far checks all those boxes.
I am also considering an Auris 180, but it does sound like that part of your body that you sit on, and I haven't had a chance to drive one yet. Useless dealers around here don't seem to have one. I drove the 2.0 one that has 130bhp or whatever it is, but you could tell it was a toyota. It just didn't seem right without tartan rug on the back seat. I know I drive a yaris, and it's a great car. Auris = definitely better than the 'rolla, but .... maybe it needs better suspension and a beefier engine. It's also more expensive (about £1k) than the leon + all the options I think I want.
Really don't know. Leon's definitely the "nicest" car I drove. I've had a couple of Audis and Golfs recently too on test drives, and they were arguably "nicer" but not worth the extra money nicer.
I had a test drive in a Leon FR TDI 170 at the weekend and I really liked it. Unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush, and the driving experience gave me such a big grin on my face I forgot to look around the rest of the car and ask the dealer (David Penman of Darlington) some questions.
Are the following worth it?
Bi-Xenon lights - considering my current car has the equivalent of a couple of water voles holding birthday cake candles for headlights. I guess the answer is YES, but how much of a yes?
Same for the bluetooth kit, I don't use my phone whilst driving (because it's naughty and I don't want any more points
) But I guess there are times when it could be useful. How well does it integrate with the phone and how does it work overall? (I have an SE k800i, which I've read is compatible so hopefully no issues there). 18" wheels. I think the one I drove had the standard 17s on. I don't think I saw one with 18s, but I'd imagine they really finish the look of the car off. If I went for 18s, what do you get in the way of spare? I've seen different reports, one was you get another full 18" alloy, but that cuts down on your available bootspace a fair whack.. the other was an 18" space saver.
I really don't like space savers. I have one on my current car, and got a nice horseshoe nail in a tyre about 2 weeks of picking the car up. I discovered my tyre was flat in the rain, in a field by the river tyne. Not much space in boot (it was full of kayaking gear) and the fullsized alloy wouldn't fit in the spare hole. Nice muddy wheel marks all over everything
I can forgive the space saver if the alloy will fit in its place, I suppose. That being said, I do occasionally need enough bootspace to fit a drum kit in.
The other option I was considering is the usb/ipod connection. How exactly does this work, and what kind of control do you get from the stereo (and is the stereo upgraded in any way to accommodate your music player)? I can't really find much info on these, other than ipod goes under driver's seat and it all costs £75.
Oh I have an ipod nano - will that fit, or is it just he normal sized ones? and some other mp3 player that could use the USB connection I guess. Or either could just use the aux in, but i'd prefer to be able to control it via the stereo if possible.
What's the stereo like in the FR? I love my music, but I didn't have any CDs to hand when I took it for a drive, plus I didn't want to deafen the co-pilot from the dealer! I will _NOT_ be able to put extra amps/subs etc in the boot, due to space requirements/damage they would no doubt suffer if they couldn't easily be removed... but that's a faff on I don't want to have to think about anyway.
And finally, are there any other options you guys have chosen that you couldn't live without and would recommend?
Thanks for reading.
Oh, my current car is a Yaris D-4D T-spirit. I can't remember how many weaselpower it has, but i'm sure it's at most half what the Leon has. I feel I've outgrown it and want something meaner, faster (through the gears - too many people driving annoyingly slow) and a bit bigger, but not family tank-sized.
Leon so far checks all those boxes.
I am also considering an Auris 180, but it does sound like that part of your body that you sit on, and I haven't had a chance to drive one yet. Useless dealers around here don't seem to have one. I drove the 2.0 one that has 130bhp or whatever it is, but you could tell it was a toyota. It just didn't seem right without tartan rug on the back seat. I know I drive a yaris, and it's a great car. Auris = definitely better than the 'rolla, but .... maybe it needs better suspension and a beefier engine. It's also more expensive (about £1k) than the leon + all the options I think I want.
Really don't know. Leon's definitely the "nicest" car I drove. I've had a couple of Audis and Golfs recently too on test drives, and they were arguably "nicer" but not worth the extra money nicer.
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(use the search ![[B)]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/shades.gif "Cool [B)]")
in the TDI? Were you in 3rd gear all the way? 
