Cupra 280 Pre-Purchase Questions

[andrewpain]

think you're right about 18s.
Sound symposer can be VCDSd off. Can also tweak other odditites like self-park mirrors automatically on lock...
some people on here felt it was too powerful for FWD and have gone/are going back to Evos and Golf R as a result.
LED lights came in for some stick too.
make sure you give it a thorough try-out before shelling out!

 

[Ocularis]

I think compared to the lights on my current car which are like a tealight candle anything will be an improvement haha

The demo car had the staging and lap timer on it, so i think the dealer had either changed it or they are on by default now. also had that carbon effect background which i think some people wanted. Also the start/stop was disabled from the outset which i didnt think you could do without a change... so if i get one, ill ask for the same hacks

Yep me and the wife are going to rack some miles up this weekend - gonna do a run to work and back, see how it runs on a typical daily basis. TBH i didnt think it was that quick, deaf didnt surprise me when i nailed the loud (or fake loud) pedal. Just seemed like a decent amount of power and handled it well enough.

Ive had a scooby before my current car so i know it doesnt match the grip of one of those, but neither does my current car (torque steer anyone!).

I appreciate all the feedback... friendly helpful bunch you are

 

[KenTT]

I had a TT before my Leon and yes you can't launch the car of the mark under greasy conditions as you would with AWD, but 2WD is a lot more weight and friction saved at the fuel pump

Coming from Xenon lights, I'm impressed by the LED lights, although I have not lived with them for very long so early days.

I hope the conditions are favourable for your 24Hr test.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[AndrewJB]

I love the lights compared to the HID's I had fitted on my MK4 Ibiza and MK2 FR TDI and even the Bi-Xenon I had on my MK2 LCR.

 

[Ocularis]

Well part of the way through the 24 hour test drive...

The power delivery is awesome, even in comfort mode you can overtake with ease and the engine note sounds good (better than with the fake sound). Steering is precise and i really like that, although does have little feedback. comfort of the suspension is actually really good - i flicked between cupra and comfort over the bumps and you can really feel the difference.

Love the look and you can see people look and say things about the car which is always good.

They had the stop/start permanently disabled somehow but i wanted to test it to re-enabled it... now i cant turn it off by default when i start the car (anyone know how to disable it by default?).

Climate control is just doing its own thing, cant work it out (RTFM?).

MPG isnt looking great. My vRS gets around 35mpg on a work run, this got 25mpg :S But i did expect this to be less than the vrs but was hoping closer to 30mpg.

Adaptive cruise control is amazing!

Brakes are epic, and when my wife drove there were a few headbutting the dash moments lol.

Off out again in a while when it gets dark to try out the lights and stuff (and go out without the missis so i can really throw it around!).

 

[simonali]

You won't be able to throw it around at night coz you won't be able to see where you're going!

 

[AndrewJB]

You won't be able to throw it around at night coz you won't be able to see where you're going!

Most of my driving is done in darkness and I have no issues at all.. I think there lights are better than the Bi-Xenon on my previous MK2 LCR.

 

[Ocularis]

So i went out on my own in the day (nice and dry, lovely conditions) and just now in the dark.

Country drive on my own... WOW that car drives well, its almost like the scooby where you start to get a little understeer but have to keep your foot in and know it will take you round the corner. Was really impressed, clearly conditions were near perfect and i wouldn't drive like I stole it in the wet that's for sure.

Night drive was to get some petrol (oops, its a thirsty beast!) and the lights are pretty good. Better than my current setup but i had an audi go past with full xeons and his were a bit better i thought. But i was impressed with how defined the light pattern was and how bright it was where it was lit (little more distance would have been nice i guess). Did have someone flash me, either cos they didnt like my driving or they thought i had my full beams on.

So currently overall im very impressed - even the wife said it was "alright" hehe. Think I might be a bit poorer after tomorrow :S

 

[Snah]

Well you did the best thing you could do: drive it for a day before you decide!
I had a 2007 FR-TDI and a 2010 FR-TDI with xenon and the last one was a good improvement but the LED's are quite an improvement again (tbh very good) and I drove 230.000 miles with xenon and now 14.000 miles with LED's and they are superiour to the xenon's.
I drove through whole of Europe with the xenons in bad weather, middle of the night, high speeds (120Mph+) etc. and also already a lot with the LED's. So 7 years with xenons and 1/2 year with LED's!
This is REAL experience and not having driven the neighbours car with xenon...!

 

[simonali]

I wish I'd secured a 24 hour test drive as the headlights would've put me off buying. I'll definitely only be buying my cars in the winter from now on so I can see how they drive in the dark and/or wet.

 

[robin cur]

Never had Bi-Xenon only cars with standard bulbs, to Me the LED lights are miles ahead of standard bulbs.

 

[Ocularis]

Never had Bi-Xenon only cars with standard bulbs, to Me the LED lights are miles ahead of standard bulbs.

me neither, and i agree they seemed better than normal bulbs, but ive only used them short term during the test drive. Guy at work has LED's on his lexus and says they are pretty good but found his xenons on his beemer better.

 

[Stever750]

Well part of the way through the 24 hour test drive...

The power delivery is awesome, even in comfort mode you can overtake with ease and the engine note sounds good (better than with the fake sound). Steering is precise and i really like that, although does have little feedback. comfort of the suspension is actually really good - i flicked between cupra and comfort over the bumps and you can really feel the difference.

Love the look and you can see people look and say things about the car which is always good.

They had the stop/start permanently disabled somehow but i wanted to test it to re-enabled it... now i cant turn it off by default when i start the car (anyone know how to disable it by default?).

Climate control is just doing its own thing, cant work it out (RTFM?).

MPG isnt looking great. My vRS gets around 35mpg on a work run, this got 25mpg :S But i did expect this to be less than the vrs but was hoping closer to 30mpg.

Adaptive cruise control is amazing!

Brakes are epic, and when my wife drove there were a few headbutting the dash moments lol.

Off out again in a while when it gets dark to try out the lights and stuff (and go out without the missis so i can really throw it around!).

I had a remapped octy vrs before my 280, and this blows it away, it's manic above 5k and addictive. I was worried in your earlier posts about it not being quick, obviously you've since discovered it's pretty rapid. I'm getting mine custom remapped in a couple of weeks, I don't want to destroy the handling after all it is only fwd, so I'm looking to get around 50-60 hp increase nothing more, with the same characteristic progression as the OE map. The octy is a distant memory already....

 

[kmanmx]

I had a remapped octy vrs before my 280, and this blows it away, it's manic above 5k and addictive. I was worried in your earlier posts about it not being quick, obviously you've since discovered it's pretty rapid. I'm getting mine custom remapped in a couple of weeks, I don't want to destroy the handling after all it is only fwd, so I'm looking to get around 50-60 hp increase nothing more, with the same characteristic progression as the OE map. The octy is a distant memory already....

Definitely agree with speed above 5k point.

When I first drove mine rather sedately, I was thinking "well this is pretty quick I guess". Then a few days later I finally decided to put it in sport mode, and push the pedal all the way past the kick down point. It took me by surprise so much I panicked and thought i'd broken something

As for the LEDs. They seem fine. I'm just coming from normal halogens on ab Ibiza. I wouldn't say these LEDs are spectacular or anything. They light up the road sufficiently as so it's certainly not dangerous, I can definitely see everything I need to see. That said I feel like if everything they lit up was 50% brighter they would then be very impressive. I have a suspicion there are differences between cars depending on who the supplier is though. I actually used an LED torch a while back that was brighter than my headlamps, but then the torch was over £200 and is quite literally using several top end state of the art LEDs (the model was an Olight SR96 if you want to take a look).

 

[Ocularis]

I think its how it delivers its power rather than it not being quick... it was all very smooth no "OMG IM GONNA KILL YA" type speed, but look down at the speedo and your gonna get in trouble quickly (also love the fact that 60mph is 1/4 of the way round the dial... brilliant haha).

I think it wasnt until i took it on a country route on my own so no one nagging that i was really able to feel how fast this car was not just in a straight line but into and out of corners... amazing fun.

(oh my vrs is a fabia, not an octy so wasnt anywhere near as fast as your one! still, has a great twincharger engine in it...).

The only thing i was surprised with on the LED's was that they didnt brighten up more distance. they seemed very focused and clear right in front of your, but i expected a bit more range i think.

 

[Stever750]

It's like no other fwd I've experienced. It's almost like a rwd balance in that to counteract understeer you apply a bit more throttle, the LSD just finds grip and pulls you round.

 

[chrisjgill]

Getting the demo car for a 24 hour drive this weekend to show the missis and let her have a drive.

Did the dealer offer 24 hour test drives as an option?

 

[Stever750]

I'm getting a custom remap at the end of the month which should help liven it up a bit more.

 

[AndrewJB]

I'm getting a custom remap at the end of the month which should help liven it up a bit more.

Stage1 really opened it up.. Stage2 is a massive power jump though.

The difference between Stage1 and 2 on these is like the difference between Stage1 and Stage2+ on the older TFSI engine.

 

[GrahamFR]

when are they releasing the map Andrew, id be interested to see the figures. APR have only released stage 2 for the 1.8 and its a massive 5bhp jump in power over stage 1...