Honest Review Cupra 290 DSG 2015 - 2017

[Ladams23]

Is the FWD & traction that bad?

i've seen lots of reviews where they say the FWD & traction let it down, I'm looking to purchase one soon and any help / advice & things to look out for would be helpful! If there were a set of PS4's all around or another performance tyre all around would the traction issues still be present?

Thanks
Luke

 

[Hickery1995]

Is the FWD & traction that bad?

i've seen lots of reviews where they say the FWD & traction let it down, I'm looking to purchase one soon and any help / advice & things to look out for would be helpful! If there were a set of PS4's all around or another performance tyre all around would the traction issues still be present?

Thanks
Luke

I find tractions not to bad anyway.. only when trying to use launch control, which is pointless on a FWD car anyway, either way PS4's and dog bone mount are supposed to help with what there is.

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[Ladams23]

I find tractions not to bad anyway.. only when trying to use launch control, which is pointless on a FWD car anyway, either way PS4's and dog bone mount are supposed to help with what there is.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Cheers, If a good set of performance tyres will resolve the issue then no problems because like you said launch control on FWD is pointless.

 

[Charliessmith]

To be 100% honest with you, you will never be able to get really good traction in a FWD high performance vehicle from a standing start and the Cupra is no exception.
Once you get going you can try to lose the back end round a corner but you won't be able to because the cupra has amazing traction, just not for a standing start lol.
The tyres help a lot and the dogbone/torque mount also helps to stop wheel hop which the cupra suffers with from a standing start.
You will get use to driving the cupra just need time, you won't regret getting a Cupra trust me.

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[Ladams23]

To be 100% honest with you, you will never be able to get really good traction in a FWD high performance vehicle from a standing start and the Cupra is no exception.
Once you get going you can try to lose the back end round a corner but you won't be able to because the cupra has amazing traction, just not for a standing start lol.
The tyres help a lot and the dogbone/torque mount also helps to stop wheel hop which the cupra suffers with from a standing start.
You will get use to driving the cupra just need time, you won't regret getting a Cupra trust me.

Sent from my SM-N770F using Tapatalk

Cheers for the advice, any recommendations on decent Dogbone/torque mounts?

 

[Charliessmith]

Cheers for the advice, any recommendations on decent Dogbone/torque mounts?

I have got the Revo Torque mount which does the job perfect.
I know people on here with the Racingline dog bone mount which they say is really good as well, only thing with Racingline is that they are quiet harsh and send even more vibrations through the car compared to Revo.
Tyres are very important also.

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[CupraGeezer]

I have the 034 Motorsport insert. It works really well although it does add a little harshness at start up and idle.

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres are another must. Don't bother with any others.

 

[DigitalSushi]

In the Cupra 300 if you mash the pedal to the floor right from the off then no your traction is going to be awful. You are trying to dump a lot of power/torque and frankly physics will always win

I find that for the first stage of accelerating off the line about 3/4 pedal is the max (which is still pretty quick) usually once you are in second you can give it the beans and will grip to your hearts content. It is a bit torque steery though for the first couple of gears

Oh and as someone said don't bother with launch mode (in the dsg) its frankly comedic and should be called "smash 10000 miles off your tyres in 3 seconds, whilst you sit looking like a total numpty" mode.. The one bit I miss about manual is being able to control wheelspin with the clutch

might have to have a look at the torque mounts just to stop the tramping

 

[Tonezz]

Honest review on a DSG 280, coming from a DSG petrol MK2 FR+.

It easily hops trying to set off fast from standing, so at times you can end up getting done by a Nissan Micra. Once its on the move putting the power down is fine though. The pedal feels pretty dead setting off in any setting as well, the way they have got the good MPG figures is by trying to force you to drive sedately by making the input feel terrible and laggy.

It does handle well on corners but it only really comes alive if you are going a bit too fast for public road corners.

The same goes for the power and torque, in the DSG if you leave it in D mode its just sluggish to set off and changes up gears too quickly, you need to drive it in manual mode and keep it in the torque curve to really feel anything.

I can imagine its fun on a track because because the proper LSD really works on corners and the steering feel is good, but its only really fun when you're on the limit for public roads.

 

[beasty54]

I know it's a slightly different car but I've had my 300 for about 5 weeks and I've only got the P Zeros at the mo so as everyone says, foot to the floor from a standstill is horrendous, the wheels spin like crazy and then the hop is absolutely brutal. With that being said, i love mine, it pulls like a b***h if you take it easy (ish) in the first couple of gears and it's great fun on the B roads. The first week i had it i was reminded that you need to be a little cautious when it's wet, i forgot how much power goes through those front wheels so putting my foot down at 50mph to overtake another car had the wheels spinning like mad, i was only in comfort mode too

 

[Tonezz]

I know it's a slightly different car but I've had my 300 for about 5 weeks and I've only got the P Zeros at the mo so as everyone says, foot to the floor from a standstill is horrendous, the wheels spin like crazy and then the hop is absolutely brutal. With that being said, i love mine, it pulls like a b***h if you take it easy (ish) in the first couple of gears and it's great fun on the B roads. The first week i had it i was reminded that you need to be a little cautious when it's wet, i forgot how much power goes through those front wheels so putting my foot down at 50mph to overtake another car had the wheels spinning like mad, i was only in comfort mode too

When I bought mine they put a new set of P Zero's on the front, they are better worn in a bit but still pretty terrible!

 

[beasty54]

When I bought mine they put a new set of P Zero's on the front, they are better worn in a bit but still pretty terrible!

I doubt i'll have them much longer the way I've been driving it, i think i'm doing it on purpose so i can justify swapping to the PS4s

 

[DigitalSushi]

I doubt i'll have them much longer the way I've been driving it, i think i'm doing it on purpose so i can justify swapping to the PS4s

Yeh don't expect long life out of your tyres.. mostly because you are having fun.

Tried a few tyres.

Current tyre: Goodyear Eagle asymetric 5 - not so noisy, decent wet performance dry performance good to a point then they will break away.
Mitchelin Pilotsport 4s - best tyres imo. Good wet and dry performance, bit noisy but i found struggled in cold damp conditions
Continental Contisport 5 (i think, cant remember the exact model) - decent all rounder but very noisy and seemed to have a much harder ride to me.

Personally would stick with the mitchelins.

 

[CupraRobX]

I doubt i'll have them much longer the way I've been driving it, i think i'm doing it on purpose so i can justify swapping to the PS4s

I've just had Eagle F1 SuperSports fitted and to be honest, they give more feel than PS4S's to me. The tyre walls feel slightly stiffer which contributes to this I assume. I very very much doubt there is any appreciable difference between the Goodyears and Michelins

 

[cupra14]

To be 100% honest with you, you will never be able to get really good traction in a FWD high performance vehicle from a standing start and the Cupra is no exception.

+1

OTOH I had a high-performance RWD car and the biggest difference in a way is that the Cupra has a tendency to spin the front wheels whereas it would spin the rears...

In case tyre life is a consideration, buy a low-HP car - like I haven't!