StuRS
Guest
Wow, thanks for all the responses and the extra information from my questions. I will have a search on the forum for the faults that are mentioned
I would guess my budget will be somewhere in the region of £12-13k. The LCRs local to me seem to be in the £12500-£14000 mark (all 04 & 54 plates) at SEAT dealers. The only FR+ that I have seen is just under £14k, however there are some Cupra TDIs around £12.5k but they dont have that great front bumper.
If I was to get the tdi I would probably consider chipping it, the LCR would stay standard.
Slick, thanks for the offer, I may well take you up on that but I would need to let you know a suitable date. I dont mind driving down to Basildon, I could meet you at the FLP.
I had a quick look around the FR last Saturday and may well try to see the LCR this weekend and possibly get a test drive and see how it feels. I will let you know how I get on
Thanks again for the replies
I would guess my budget will be somewhere in the region of £12-13k. The LCRs local to me seem to be in the £12500-£14000 mark (all 04 & 54 plates) at SEAT dealers. The only FR+ that I have seen is just under £14k, however there are some Cupra TDIs around £12.5k but they dont have that great front bumper.
If I was to get the tdi I would probably consider chipping it, the LCR would stay standard.
Slick, thanks for the offer, I may well take you up on that but I would need to let you know a suitable date. I dont mind driving down to Basildon, I could meet you at the FLP.
I had a quick look around the FR last Saturday and may well try to see the LCR this weekend and possibly get a test drive and see how it feels. I will let you know how I get on
Thanks again for the replies
There you go slick.... I can now say you could buy an LCR and use the change from not buying an FR+ to modify it 
StuRS - Have fun test driving them mate! Do let us know how you get on
StuRS - Have fun test driving them mate! Do let us know how you get on
There you go slick.... I can now say you could buy an LCR and use the change from not buying an FR+ to modify it
StuRS - Have fun test driving them mate! Do let us know how you get on
Ok Rob, dont rub it in...
Stu, FLP is fine mate, I'm going to have this weekend and next, free so feel free to PM me or email me to say if your going to pop down...
![[B)]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/shades.gif "Cool [B)]")
StuRS
Guest
Hi
Unfortunately I didnt have time to test drive either but I did have a good look around both a Cupra R & FR+
The Cupra R (£11995, not at a Seat dealer) felt very nice and my wife prefers the look over the std Cupra (I'm not sure though?) The interior felt very solid and the doors shut with a nice clunk. The seats felt very nice and I was overall very impressed. The car was a red 03/53 plate and tbh was better condition than I expected. There were a couple of marks on the body work but wasnt too bad. The gear knob looked absolutely battered? which made me think it may have had a hard 29,000 miles behind it. I didnt get much of a chance to speak to the dealer afterwards as he was with someone else. I liked it, my wife didnt really like the red.
Next on the list was the black FR+ (£13995 @ SEAT). Due to lack of time I didnt sit inside, but it didnt look miles apart from the seats. The body work was quite shocking for a 55 plate, there were scratches all over the paintwork, a couple of scuffs on bumpers. I would have expected it to have been pretty mint for that money (the red one was better imo). I have owned a black car before and this pretty much said that Black is not for me.
I have been thinking about the options of diesel or petrol and am actually finding it hard to decided. If its a diesel I will want a remap, then probably a clutch, all in an extra £1-1.2k is needed. To make that back in expenses and fuel savings on 6k a year I am looking at 3 years in the Cupra R.
If I get the diesel I will want leather, which reduces my market further still. Cupra R's seem to be more plentiful and the Dealership which my Fiat Coupe came from is now a SEAT dealer and has 2 although the one in my budget is black
Am I right in saying that the Std Cupra petrol was the 180bhp version, and the R was 210 and 225?
Unfortunately I didnt have time to test drive either but I did have a good look around both a Cupra R & FR+
The Cupra R (£11995, not at a Seat dealer) felt very nice and my wife prefers the look over the std Cupra (I'm not sure though?) The interior felt very solid and the doors shut with a nice clunk. The seats felt very nice and I was overall very impressed. The car was a red 03/53 plate and tbh was better condition than I expected. There were a couple of marks on the body work but wasnt too bad. The gear knob looked absolutely battered? which made me think it may have had a hard 29,000 miles behind it. I didnt get much of a chance to speak to the dealer afterwards as he was with someone else. I liked it, my wife didnt really like the red.
Next on the list was the black FR+ (£13995 @ SEAT). Due to lack of time I didnt sit inside, but it didnt look miles apart from the seats. The body work was quite shocking for a 55 plate, there were scratches all over the paintwork, a couple of scuffs on bumpers. I would have expected it to have been pretty mint for that money (the red one was better imo). I have owned a black car before and this pretty much said that Black is not for me.
I have been thinking about the options of diesel or petrol and am actually finding it hard to decided. If its a diesel I will want a remap, then probably a clutch, all in an extra £1-1.2k is needed. To make that back in expenses and fuel savings on 6k a year I am looking at 3 years in the Cupra R.
If I get the diesel I will want leather, which reduces my market further still. Cupra R's seem to be more plentiful and the Dealership which my Fiat Coupe came from is now a SEAT dealer and has 2 although the one in my budget is black
Am I right in saying that the Std Cupra petrol was the 180bhp version, and the R was 210 and 225?
Standard Cupra is 180bhp
Cupra R was 210bhp up to 2003 and 225 from the end of 2003 onwards
FR or Cupra TDi are 150bhp
I have to say that the Cupra R you looked at is overpriced by quite a lot. A 2003 Cupra R with 30k on the clock will be closer to £10.5 than £12k, especially if it's a private sale.
Cupra R was 210bhp up to 2003 and 225 from the end of 2003 onwards
FR or Cupra TDi are 150bhp
I have to say that the Cupra R you looked at is overpriced by quite a lot. A 2003 Cupra R with 30k on the clock will be closer to £10.5 than £12k, especially if it's a private sale.
AndyCole
Guest
Been there and asked all the same questions. Got an LCR and surfed this forum!!! thats when it all starts. If you follow Steve Rudd's guide you will end up with a really quick well handling car. Then invest in a trackday, and see what it really can do, you will be suprised!! You will be glad you didn't get a Porsche
Soft plastic trim on the Gear knob gets caught by rings, watches etc.....it then peels off to leave white patches......I went through two (under warranty) in 50k miles.
Surprisingly soft plastic but easy to replace with a nicer looking aluminium, carbon or leather one from the Seat Sport range
Did you try the mod's yourself? must admit I was always very please with how it went......
Really?
The guied on info base makes it look like a bit of a ballache to remove...
my "knob" looks shite so I was interested in this.
Also, doesn't 60 quid seem a FECKING OUTRAGEOUS price for a gear knob. Considering you can almost get HID's for that price, it winds me up I'll have to pay that just to replace a small bit of trim...
The guied on info base makes it look like a bit of a ballache to remove...
my "knob" looks shite so I was interested in this.
Also, doesn't 60 quid seem a FECKING OUTRAGEOUS price for a gear knob. Considering you can almost get HID's for that price, it winds me up I'll have to pay that just to replace a small bit of trim...
Standard ones are much less than that, less than £20 I think. It's the add-on Seat Sport ones that are a bit pricer.
True if you can live with the existing knob spend £60 towards getting a short shifter
now there is a mod worth the money..........
Next on my shopping list too I think... well, other than a 40k service, dogbone mounts and possibly a remap. Ahem....
£60 for a gearknob is cheap compared to a replacement wooden one for my current 1991 MX5. Hold your breath guys...
...the cheapest wood replacement gearknob came in at £120 (EXCLUDING VAT). Extortionate or what? Needless to say, I have the original gearknob (slightly worn and battered) and spent the money on a full service.
Back to your original question - the LCR has to be the one to go for as you'll spend the extra trying to get the FR upto LCR standard. Just get the LCR because you'll regret not getting it when you get the FR. Plus you have a lovely budget.
Cheers - Cobraman2007
...the cheapest wood replacement gearknob came in at £120 (EXCLUDING VAT). Extortionate or what? Needless to say, I have the original gearknob (slightly worn and battered) and spent the money on a full service.
Back to your original question - the LCR has to be the one to go for as you'll spend the extra trying to get the FR upto LCR standard. Just get the LCR because you'll regret not getting it when you get the FR. Plus you have a lovely budget.
Cheers - Cobraman2007
AndyCole
Guest
RUDDMEISTER
Working through the mods list you have done, so far Revo stage 1, Concept Racing Front Mounted Intercooler, Ds2500 pads, motul RBF600 fluid, short shifter, Dogbone bushes, and Goodyear F1's. It gets better all the time. Koni FSD's and anti-roll bars next.
OOPS sorry I think I hi-jacked this thread,
Working through the mods list you have done, so far Revo stage 1, Concept Racing Front Mounted Intercooler, Ds2500 pads, motul RBF600 fluid, short shifter, Dogbone bushes, and Goodyear F1's. It gets better all the time. Koni FSD's and anti-roll bars next.
OOPS sorry I think I hi-jacked this thread,
I bought my 05 (very late 05, 10 days from being a 55) FR+ for that price over 6 months ago and it was in perfect condition. So you should be able to get one much cheaper imo.
Although like most people have said, it's not really a contest when you only do 6k miles a year. Get an LCR, I definitely would with that kind of mileage
StuRS
Guest
I bought my 05 (very late 05, 10 days from being a 55) FR+ for that price over 6 months ago and it was in perfect condition. So you should be able to get one much cheaper imo.
Although like most people have said, it's not really a contest when you only do 6k miles a year. Get an LCR, I definitely would with that kind of mileage
Thanks for the advice. It sounds silly but I am hoping that the Leon will be a long term car suitable for future family etc which is why I am also considering the tdi. When I had my Fiat Coupe I didnt tend to drive fast if I had a passenger but liked to enjoy myself if I was out for a drive on my own, even so I didnt find I needed to go much past 4k revs most of the time, unless I was in a real hurry (not very often). The thing is the tdis have really turned the tables in the performance stakes. The standard tdi150 doing 0-60 in 7.5 and someone on here posted a Revo'ed tdi doing various runs in impressive times especially up to 80mph. I cannot really ignore that a Revo'ed tdi is quite close to std LCR performance on the move but with better Mpg. I think I mentioned in the first post that the LCR would cost about £400 more to run a year. Until I drive both I wont really know which one I feel is right for me.
Once I have that decided I have the trouble of finding one in the colour I like
. Both myself and the wife like Platinum Grey, but I would settle for Arctic Grey. I have seen a couple of Cupra Tdi's and and FRs in Platinum or Arctic with leather for around £11k (within 60 miles), but LCRs for sale are mostly Black or Red 
I have only seen 2 LCRs in platinum but I think they were about 150+ miles away. Purchasing privately is difficult at the moment as I have an Astra on finance which I would need to part ex. although I am thinking of getting a loan to pay it off so it would enable me to sell privately. Towards the end of the year I could actually just give the car back.
So as you can see I do have a few things to sort before I will be ready to buy, but am very keen to get one, just not sure which model
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