Newbie- basic Q's on me new motor!
- Thread starter Zoot
- Start date
Hi Dan, thanks a bunch for that. Hmm.. I was wondering what those 4x whatnots were at the back of the seaty areas.
It does look a bit 'you're not supposed to do that' when he ripped out the seat foam tho! And nothing in the manual, or I'd not have needed to ask.
I need an extra 3" in height you see, to get a small armchair in that I spotted FS locally, for my 89 yr old Dad.
But when you fold the backs down (the split seat backs) there's then an annoying hump where they're just resting upon on the seat bases (which is removed in your youtube clip), unlike my golf4 where you tilt the seat bases fwd to hit flush against the front 2 driver/ passenger seats.. then when you fold the seat backs down.. they go right down kinda into where the seat bases were. Maximising height. This Leon doesn't look as well designed.
In theory all I need to do, is remove the seat backs & I can get the chair in. Not remove the seat bases, which I don't -think- will mean the seat backs will go any further down, should I be able to whip out that long seaty bit like in the YouTube clip.
Does that make any sense?
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I have removed my rear seats completely (fitted a rear roll cage) so yes you can take the upright seats part out but I seem to recall i had to take out the bottom part first to get the bolts holding the uprights in place.
Yeah that makes sense, the 4 plastic clips are the isofix anchor trim pieces( child seats attach to the bars inside the trim and its meant to be a solid connection to the car structure)
I am just wondering on 2 options: do you have any friends or family with a taller car( a car like a citroen berlingo would be perfect) that you could borrow to collect the chair would be better rather than having to take your car apart OR
Can the legs come off the armchair then you might be able to fit the base of it in the boot area and the armchair seat back can go across the Leon's folded seats so it goes over the ridge of the folded seats.
Hopefully that makes sense
Aha. So you can do this removal, but you're 'kinda not supposed to'.
Right I'll have another look tmrw- I don't want to risk pulling & unfettling xyz, just 2 weeks having owned it. I need some brave hairy chestedness for that, & I've only got newbie bumfluff right now
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Ooh. Another yes another question chaps.......
I notice a bit (mercifully only a few drops) of water ingress onto my driver seat, clearly dripped from the closed door frame/ water ingress I think the weak spot is at the vertical edge of the door, at the top. Where it closes onto the central door pillar. Defo a tiny issue, not just rain got in whilst opening the door.
Seriously wet area here in west wales, & winter almost here, so I need to address this. Is it a known minor fault?
Definitely no sign whatsoever of water-damp smell, when I test drove it, nor at any time within the 2 weeks I've had it. No stains on the seat either, so a little bit odd to find this today. Alot of heavy rain overnight you see.
Thanks once again. Zoot
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Yeah that makes sense, the 4 plastic clips are the isofix anchor trim pieces( child seats attach to the bars inside the trim and its meant to be a solid connection to the car structure)
I am just wondering on 2 options: do you have any friends or family with a taller car( a car like a citroen berlingo would be perfect) that you could borrow to collect the chair would be better rather than having to take your car apart OR
Can the legs come off the armchair then you might be able to fit the base of it in the boot area and the armchair seat back can go across the Leon's folded seats so it goes over the ridge of the folded seats.
Hopefully that makes sense
Kind thinking there, many thanks. No my Dad lives 100m away near Worcester. And I'm not so fortunate to have anyone to help should I only need to haul it 20m. I moved out (very) rural west wales 10 yrs ago, & to be brutally honest, got no friends.. in the whole fkn country!! Haha (I laugh at myself, but also don't give a jot I'm fine living here like so, tho most couldn't & would be wusses & feel all terribly sorry for themselves!
)No I've measured the b'stard thrice & even on it's back, sliding in, the chair is hampered by the fold-down seats protruding annoyingly 3" high.
Roll cages? Is that like a sporty numnums thing-?
Yours, Zoot
I would monitor it for now if there were only a few droplets - they could have easily landed on the seat as you opened the door, the thing to watch out for (and this isn't subjective just to Leons) is for damp carpets which could indicate a leak in the door seals, a blockage in the drain holes of the scuttle near the bulkhead just to list a couple of things.
The other thing to check would be that the window is completely closing.
Hopefully this helps
The other thing to check would be that the window is completely closing.
Hopefully this helps
Kind thinking there, many thanks. No my Dad lives 100m away near Worcester. And I'm not so fortunate to have anyone to help should I only need to haul it 20m. I moved out (very) rural west wales 10 yrs ago, & to be brutally honest, got no friends.. in the whole fkn country!! Haha (I laugh at myself, but also don't give a jot I'm fine living here like so, tho most couldn't & would be wusses & feel all terribly sorry for themselves!
No I've measured the b'stard thrice & even on it's back, sliding in, the chair is hampered by the fold-down seats protruding annoyingly 3" high.
Roll cages? Is that like a sporty numnums thing-?
Yours, Zoot
No probs, that's a fair distance then, is there anything else you need to take/collect to make hiring a van worthwhile?
As long you don't do this
Yes its a safety feature for when you are out on track and provides and anchorage point for the harnesses (eg seatbelts)
I am in the process of fitted a rear seat delete kit so that I get a full level floor all the way.
Haha! I'm sorely tempted to squash the sod in like these two!No probs, that's a fair distance then, is there anything else you need to take/collect to make hiring a van worthwhile?
As long you don't do this
View attachment 51782
Well we had another heavy rain night, & nothing thankfully found on seats. Hmm.. odd. I'll monitor & fingers crossed like you suggest, possibly just me being a dimwit.
There is a small gap where I mentioned with door closed: maybe just resit the seals, if I do find more leaking here.
Many thanks, Zoot
Wowzers that's pretty serious looking..
I've been having alot of fun in my 'humble' 150hp FR, so I'd imagine that car's an absolute blast. But doesn't the weight of adding such a roll-bar, assuming it's tubular steel, not kinda sonewhat defeat the idea of tracking-up such a car? Or do you just offset it by adding an extra I dunno 80hp or something.
ha ha yes I have many more horses than it came out of the factory with but I also have bucket seats which are much lighter than the original ones, plus no rear seats but the most important part is if I roll the car or have a big crash I am protected which is more important.
Aha I get it. It's interesting to know that the chassis on these must be good enough to track. I mean that's my assuming you'd not have 'tracked-up' that aspect of the mk3.
One thing I'm really impressed with, is the brakes. They're just std, but extremely good & strong (so yours must be off the scale I'd imagine). Kinda feels like the car's nice & light too. Really good balance to it. On my ridiculously good b-roads, it's like I've got a new toy, even being cautious on all bends/ never pushing it here, as my tyres aren't the the best I read (ceat sport drives) & with it being very wet & slippy. Feels pretty 'flat' in the corners all the same.
Always wanted a Seat too, I just always admired the understated factor about them: my red 'FR' badge blending in inconspicuously with my red car body colour helps too.
All good so far. And as for that battery/ ignition glitch, well I'm not tempting fate I hope to say bar that one time with me here, it's not done it again. Touch wood.
Thx Zoot
Yes these are very well sorted motors the MQB Platform is fun to drive.
I have stiffened up the chassis in a number of places including the anti roll bar and the stock cupra brakes were very good but again safety first I upgraded to reduce the risk of failure / brake fade as you can imagine they get very hot when used in anger for long periods of time.
But the stock cars are a joy to drive (regardless of the size of the engine) so just enjoy it.
I have stiffened up the chassis in a number of places including the anti roll bar and the stock cupra brakes were very good but again safety first I upgraded to reduce the risk of failure / brake fade as you can imagine they get very hot when used in anger for long periods of time.
But the stock cars are a joy to drive (regardless of the size of the engine) so just enjoy it.
But beware, you might be tempted to dish out some money to some much needed upgrades 
Hi again.
I have had a strange thing happen today. Need help.
In town I was waiting behind few cars, & selected 1st gear to gently pull away. But it went into reverse.
Into neutral, tried 2x more & each time it went into reverse instead of 1st gear. Thankfully no-one behind me.
4th time trying, it went into 1st. But I was concerned: I 100% definitely didn't press the gear lever down by mistake & push slightly leftwards, of 1st position by accident. Definitely not.
1/2m onward, I noticed a nasty burnt smell. Was it a fire locally I was smelling? Hammering down with rain, very likely not. It occurred to me that it seemed to possibly be connected with this gear issue. It then went away.
I also thought I saw feint white smoke from exhaust, as I then drove the 10m home in my rear view mirror. But was this road water spray from road/ normal?? Was this just spray onto the exhaust/ normal?? No idea, but I was panicking a bit.
Never in 39 years of driving have I had anything happen like this.
Thanks, Zoot
I have had a strange thing happen today. Need help.
In town I was waiting behind few cars, & selected 1st gear to gently pull away. But it went into reverse.
Into neutral, tried 2x more & each time it went into reverse instead of 1st gear. Thankfully no-one behind me.
4th time trying, it went into 1st. But I was concerned: I 100% definitely didn't press the gear lever down by mistake & push slightly leftwards, of 1st position by accident. Definitely not.
1/2m onward, I noticed a nasty burnt smell. Was it a fire locally I was smelling? Hammering down with rain, very likely not. It occurred to me that it seemed to possibly be connected with this gear issue. It then went away.
I also thought I saw feint white smoke from exhaust, as I then drove the 10m home in my rear view mirror. But was this road water spray from road/ normal?? Was this just spray onto the exhaust/ normal?? No idea, but I was panicking a bit.
Never in 39 years of driving have I had anything happen like this.
Thanks, Zoot
My initial thought is that the component that allows you to push down and select reverse was stuck so as you went for first it was sliding across to reverse. It then released.
The smell could be clutch, however I may have missed what engine you have but if its diesel it could also be the DPF regenerating which gives a burning like smell.
Do you have a local garage you trust just to give the whole car a once over?
I recently heard a similar problem from a friend in his Golf 7. I don't have the details but as I recall, solution was readjustment of the shifter linkage.
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