Leon FR 184, Cupra, Golf GTD

[Shaady]

You're going to miss the power of the Cupra for sure but it is something that you get used to.

Was in the same situation as you a couple of years ago, starting doing a 50 mile round trip for my commute and the fuel costs were just prohibitive (£300+ a month). But if you're doing motorway miles the 184\GTD will be ideal, it'll literally do that all day and return good MPG. Plenty of power for overtaking, have never felt it wanting in that department.

Unfortunately at the moment due to roadworks I am spending most of my time in average speed check zones, this does mean however on my morning commute I get nigh on 60mpg every day and almost 600 miles to a tank. Looked at a GTD before the Leon, its really lovely but having just moved house I couldnt justify the price difference!

 

[RCampbell1]

Agreed, just feels that tiny bit more classy.

A special mention goes to the seats and the LED Headlights of the Mk7.5 GTD which are awesome

 

[Bucksssss]

You're going to miss the power of the Cupra for sure but it is something that you get used to.

Was in the same situation as you a couple of years ago, starting doing a 50 mile round trip for my commute and the fuel costs were just prohibitive (£300+ a month). But if you're doing motorway miles the 184\GTD will be ideal, it'll literally do that all day and return good MPG. Plenty of power for overtaking, have never felt it wanting in that department.

Unfortunately at the moment due to roadworks I am spending most of my time in average speed check zones, this does mean however on my morning commute I get nigh on 60mpg every day and almost 600 miles to a tank. Looked at a GTD before the Leon, its really lovely but having just moved house I couldnt justify the price difference!

Hi mate, thanks for the reply. I’m guessing that MPG is the 184 FR? I feel you, these long road trips just aren’t doable with a 30mpg fuel muncher. I’ve been looking a lot online and there’s so many complaints of sounds with the GTD/184, have you noticed any annoying sounds?

 

[Bucksssss]

A special mention goes to the seats and the LED Headlights of the Mk7.5 GTD which are awesome

My next query, reckon the 7.5 is worth the extra cash?

 

[black_sheep]

184 ps Skoda Octavia previously before Cupra. Owned 150 ps FR at the same time in Germany. 0 - 80 mph, not a lot of difference between the two in terms of straight line speed, with 184 ps engine (albeit heavier car) not able to show additional power until really moving. On the twisty stuff, 150 ps FR was more agile despite Octavia having the multi link rear suspension.

184 ps is not that efficient; as above high 30s to mid 40s achieved, but similar driving in the 150 ps FR was mid 40s to mid 50s.

I guess spec is the main difference, and the GTD is not available in 150 ps guise. To be honest, I’ve been looking at the Mk7.5 GTD as a replacement for the FR. There was a post on here recently asking about the differences between pre and post FL Leon. I’m sure one of the posters describe VW Polo and/or Golf differences on there.

 

[Bucksssss]

184 ps Skoda Octavia previously before Cupra. Owned 150 ps FR at the same time in Germany. 0 - 80 mph, not a lot of difference between the two in terms of straight line speed, with 184 ps engine (albeit heavier car) not able to show additional power until really moving. On the twisty stuff, 150 ps FR was more agile despite Octavia having the multi link rear suspension.

184 ps is not that efficient; as above high 30s to mid 40s achieved, but similar driving in the 150 ps FR was mid 40s to mid 50s.

I guess spec is the main difference, and the GTD is not available in 150 ps guise. To be honest, I’ve been looking at the Mk7.5 GTD as a replacement for the FR. There was a post on here recently asking about the differences between pre and post FL Leon. I’m sure one of the posters describe VW Polo and/or Golf differences on there.

Wow I’m quite surprised at the difference between the 184 and 150 mpg wise. Tbh mate I just think the 7.5 looks so clean and slightly nicer than the FR, however in terms of money value I think the FR smashes most cars in its range for value. Yeah I saw that post, was very interesting. The new indicators on the 7.5 have got me wanting it mainly tbh, think it’s looks so smart when it strobes across.

 

[black_sheep]

Wow I’m quite surprised at the difference between the 184 and 150 mpg wise. Tbh mate I just think the 7.5 looks so clean and slightly nicer than the FR, however in terms of money value I think the FR smashes most cars in its range for value. Yeah I saw that post, was very interesting. The new indicators on the 7.5 have got me wanting it mainly tbh, think it’s looks so smart when it strobes across.

Totally agree Re: Mk7.5. My preference too - also has the digital dash I believe. I would imagine that the weight of the Octavia played a big part in the difference in MPG.

If Skoda hadn’t put the fugly twin headlight front end on the Octavia, then it would have been a contender too - edit: obviously the Octavia is not a thing of beauty in the first place, but it’s one of the few cars where the FL looks worse than the pre-FL.

As a leftfield option, have you looked at the Sportline versions of the Karoq and/or Superb? Cabin is equal in quality to the Golf in my opinion.

 

[RCampbell1]

My next query, reckon the 7.5 is worth the extra cash?

100%

 

[Bucksssss]

Totally agree Re: Mk7.5. My preference too - also has the digital dash I believe. I would imagine that the weight of the Octavia played a big part in the difference in MPG.

If Skoda hadn’t put the fugly twin headlight front end on the Octavia, then it would have been a contender too - edit: obviously the Octavia is not a thing of beauty in the first place, but it’s one of the few cars where the FL looks worse than the pre-FL.

As a leftfield option, have you looked at the Sportline versions of the Karoq and/or Superb? Cabin is equal in quality to the Golf in my opinion.

Yeah Skoda definitely didn’t help themselves when they didn’t that, I have looked at a superb and drove one for work and was actually extremely impressed. I just feel the class and built-in technology is a slight different level in VWs atm. Although it’s all VAG I feel like VW are holding a lot back from their siblings and being a bit selfish I.e not putting all the tech in Skoda’s for no extras like they have mostly with the Golfs.

 

[Shaady]

Hi mate, thanks for the reply. I’m guessing that MPG is the 184 FR? I feel you, these long road trips just aren’t doable with a 30mpg fuel muncher. I’ve been looking a lot online and there’s so many complaints of sounds with the GTD/184, have you noticed any annoying sounds?

Yeh thats for the 184FR. I fill it up once every 1.5 weeks now rather than the 4 days that I used to have to do on the old car

Annoying sounds like creaks and rattles? Can't say there has been anything major, there is the odd little rattle from the dash but not enough to bother me.

I will say the suspension is crashier than it needs to be, over rough surfaces it doesnt seem to settle as quickly as it should.

To be fair I would love a Cupra. Have been looking at the 308GTI lately, 1.6 turbo but puts out 270bhp. Man maths tells me that cruising you get the economy of a 1.6 but the power is there when needed

 

[Bucksssss]

Yeh thats for the 184FR. I fill it up once every 1.5 weeks now rather than the 4 days that I used to have to do on the old car

Annoying sounds like creaks and rattles? Can't say there has been anything major, there is the odd little rattle from the dash but not enough to bother me.

I will say the suspension is crashier than it needs to be, over rough surfaces it doesnt seem to settle as quickly as it should.

To be fair I would love a Cupra. Have been looking at the 308GTI lately, 1.6 turbo but puts out 270bhp. Man maths tells me that cruising you get the economy of a 1.6 but the power is there when needed

Oh how I can’t wait for the day I’m not at the petrol station every couple of days. Yeah and like annoying engine idling noises? I’ve heard a lot of complaints about them.

The 308 looks verrrry smart tbh, so many company’s are challenging in the hot hatch section now. I like the look of the i30N tbh.

 

[beddin90]

I currently have both. I ran the 184 for 3 years which my wife now drives after i got a Cupra. Swapping between them quite a lot the 184 doesn't feel slow. Obviously it's no where near as fast as the Cupra, but for everyday driving it's plenty powerful and easy to overtake things.
I haven't had any rattles or noises, in fact its been faultless which can't be said for the Cupra.

 

[Shaady]

Oh how I can’t wait for the day I’m not at the petrol station every couple of days. Yeah and like annoying engine idling noises? I’ve heard a lot of complaints about them.

The 308 looks verrrry smart tbh, so many company’s are challenging in the hot hatch section now. I like the look of the i30N tbh.

It does sound a bit tractor\taxi on a cold start, but that soon dies off. Someone at work said to me once that they thought I had changed to the exact same car but with a petrol engine because it sounded so un-diesel like. It does have some turbo whistle which is actually quite nice with the windows down.

If I was able to change now I would be looking at a 308 for sure. The i30N is lovely, from what I have heard though they might be a bit too stiff to use as a daily

 

[Bucksssss]

I currently have both. I ran the 184 for 3 years which my wife now drives after i got a Cupra. Swapping between them quite a lot the 184 doesn't feel slow. Obviously it's no where near as fast as the Cupra, but for everyday driving it's plenty powerful and easy to overtake things.
I haven't had any rattles or noises, in fact its been faultless which can't be said for the Cupra.

Brilliant, thanks for the info. There’s obviously going to be a pull difference but as long as it still doesn’t feel slow, that was my main concern.

It does sound a bit tractor\taxi on a cold start, but that soon dies off. Someone at work said to me once that they thought I had changed to the exact same car but with a petrol engine because it sounded so un-diesel like. It does have some turbo whistle which is actually quite nice with the windows down.

If I was able to change now I would be looking at a 308 for sure. The i30N is lovely, from what I have heard though they might be a bit too stiff to use as a daily

Yeah I’ve heard it’s pretty noisy on a cold start, but motorway wise It’s pretty quiet I hope? Yeah the i30N hurts your ass after an hour or so and is just too stiff. Beautiful to drive though, so fun.

 

[bgb]

For motorway mile muncher a GTD is great, having owned one. Replaced with a Cupra that arrives Thursday.

Word of caution, my long term average on GTD was 37mpg.. worth it??

I've seen people on here with recent copper 290's hitting maybe 40+mpg on motorway runs? Unless I've gone over 50+miles on a run in my GTD, the return usually sat around 43mpg on a motorway run..I'm sure a sensible foot in a Cupra will return a smidge under, but a bigger smile on a B-Road

Of course, these were MFD read outs so we all know it depends on the mood the coding engineer was having that day as to how accurate they are!

GTD was a brilliant car though, heavy front nose for speedy roads fyi.

 

[Bucksssss]

For motorway mile muncher a GTD is great, having owned one. Replaced with a Cupra that arrives Thursday.

Word of caution, my long term average on GTD was 37mpg.. worth it??

I've seen people on here with recent copper 290's hitting maybe 40+mpg on motorway runs? Unless I've gone over 50+miles on a run in my GTD, the return usually sat around 43mpg on a motorway run..I'm sure a sensible foot in a Cupra will return a smidge under, but a bigger smile on a B-Road

Of course, these were MFD read outs so we all know it depends on the mood the coding engineer was having that day as to how accurate they are!

GTD was a brilliant car though, heavy front nose for speedy roads fyi.

Oh wow I’m quite surprised and rather underwhelmed at your gtd mpg was most your driving on A/B roads? You’re right, 37mpg is dangerously close to Cupra MPG :/

 

[bgb]

Oh wow I’m quite surprised and rather underwhelmed at your gtd mpg was most your driving on A/B roads? You’re right, 37mpg is dangerously close to Cupra MPG :/

That was probably due to towards selling it, i used less motorway etc in all honesty! For me, the pirce at pump, plus my journeys and how long an oil burner took to warm up made me switch to petrol. Plus i used to get 'rewarded' at work for a green car, as the GTD when i brought it was only £30 tax, but they quietly increased its CO2...wonder why haha

 

[Bucksssss]

That was probably due to towards selling it, i used less motorway etc in all honesty! For me, the pirce at pump, plus my journeys and how long an oil burner took to warm up made me switch to petrol. Plus i used to get 'rewarded' at work for a green car, as the GTD when i brought it was only £30 tax, but they quietly increased its CO2...wonder why haha

So do you think you’re actually better off with the Cupra? Saving money on MPG will be the main reason I switch tbh so that’s slightly worrying. Was it a hatchback or estate you had btw?

 

[bgb]

I dunno, 20K+ miles a year is a huge amount for any normal car owner. So you may reap the benefits of it! For me, the draw of a 'performance' oil burner dwindled the more i realized i was gaining very little in favor of a fun petrol hot hatch!

The GTD will be a good car you cant deny that! It will eat miles while still having enough go for a spurts of fun. The amount of cruising you do may return a good overall figure.

 

[Bucksssss]

I dunno, 20K+ miles a year is a huge amount for any normal car owner. So you may reap the benefits of it! For me, the draw of a 'performance' oil burner dwindled the more i realized i was gaining very little in favor of a fun petrol hot hatch!

The GTD will be a good car you cant deny that! It will eat miles while still having enough go for a spurts of fun. The amount of cruising you do may return a good overall figure.

Thanks very much for the reply hopefully the GTD will munch on those miles, going to miss the 290 though