Having had my Cupra since Feb 08 now I thought I would share a few random view points of my ownership experience so far.
The link below is entitled First impressions after I'd had a test drive and bought it there and then!
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=155844
First off I really thought I was going to miss my Lotus Elise much more than I have.
The Elise was like owning a mini super car; lots of attention and positive comments, great fun to take on track days as well as a racing series and loads of history attached to the marque.
Driving to work on cold mornings was now a pleasure as the Cupra's heater is far better than the best efforts of the little plastic sports car, as was the radio, headlights and interior noise levels!
I often had questioned whether I should have test driven a few rivals before buying the SEAT, i.e. Megane, Focus ST, Golf GTI and Civic Type R. However the Cupra seems so rare (I hardly ever see any when I'm driving around) and being an old bugger (43) I'm not sure I want the attention an orange Focus would attract.
My neighbour didn't even know it was a SEAT - saw the 'S' on the front and thought it was a Suzuki!!
The most pleasing aspect is the engine, which seems to get most praise from magazine reviews - it is so smooth for a four pot, pulls well through the rev range and has never misbehaved once.
Although some critisize the dash I really like the layout, centrally mounted rev counter and the logical layout of the main controls. Door plastics are a bit on the cheap side but not a major problem. The other aspect which deserves a mention is the complete lack of any squueks or rattles - I'm fairly sure every new car I have ever owned has developed a few in the first couple of years.
The seats have proved to be comfortable although I always cast envious glances at other hot hatches fitted with Recaros.
Ride and handling are on the other side of firm but as I usually drive on my own there is nobody to complain!! The wife and kids have had a bit of a moan on journeys of 2 hours or more though.
The general fit and finish of the car is as good as the day I bought it - garaged every night and washed and waxed every couple of weeks.
I've only done 14500 miles and just had a second service at a local independent in Portsmouth who I incedently found out about on here.
The two front tyres now need replacing, I keep a close eye on the oil level but the engine is loosening up nicely now and feels better than ever.
It has been interesting to see the initial comments regarding the new Cupra R - I will need to see one in the flesh and take a drive but it does not have seemed to move the game on too much further than the standard Cupra - the dash in particular does not seem as 'racey' as the current layout.
All in all I have really enjoyed the car so far and have no thoughts to changing foir anything else in the forseeable future.
If you're still awake, thanks for getting to the end of my ramblings!!
The link below is entitled First impressions after I'd had a test drive and bought it there and then!
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=155844
First off I really thought I was going to miss my Lotus Elise much more than I have.
The Elise was like owning a mini super car; lots of attention and positive comments, great fun to take on track days as well as a racing series and loads of history attached to the marque.
Driving to work on cold mornings was now a pleasure as the Cupra's heater is far better than the best efforts of the little plastic sports car, as was the radio, headlights and interior noise levels!
I often had questioned whether I should have test driven a few rivals before buying the SEAT, i.e. Megane, Focus ST, Golf GTI and Civic Type R. However the Cupra seems so rare (I hardly ever see any when I'm driving around) and being an old bugger (43) I'm not sure I want the attention an orange Focus would attract.
My neighbour didn't even know it was a SEAT - saw the 'S' on the front and thought it was a Suzuki!!
The most pleasing aspect is the engine, which seems to get most praise from magazine reviews - it is so smooth for a four pot, pulls well through the rev range and has never misbehaved once.
Although some critisize the dash I really like the layout, centrally mounted rev counter and the logical layout of the main controls. Door plastics are a bit on the cheap side but not a major problem. The other aspect which deserves a mention is the complete lack of any squueks or rattles - I'm fairly sure every new car I have ever owned has developed a few in the first couple of years.
The seats have proved to be comfortable although I always cast envious glances at other hot hatches fitted with Recaros.
Ride and handling are on the other side of firm but as I usually drive on my own there is nobody to complain!! The wife and kids have had a bit of a moan on journeys of 2 hours or more though.
The general fit and finish of the car is as good as the day I bought it - garaged every night and washed and waxed every couple of weeks.
I've only done 14500 miles and just had a second service at a local independent in Portsmouth who I incedently found out about on here.
The two front tyres now need replacing, I keep a close eye on the oil level but the engine is loosening up nicely now and feels better than ever.
It has been interesting to see the initial comments regarding the new Cupra R - I will need to see one in the flesh and take a drive but it does not have seemed to move the game on too much further than the standard Cupra - the dash in particular does not seem as 'racey' as the current layout.
All in all I have really enjoyed the car so far and have no thoughts to changing foir anything else in the forseeable future.
If you're still awake, thanks for getting to the end of my ramblings!!
Pah, what does he know about cars anyway!? 
