Post Pic's of Your Mk3 Leon In Here

[ArchNemeziz]

@ArchNemeziz Looking good! How do you like the DO88 intake?

It's the V2 and it's great. Gave the upshifts a nice sound despite the closed box design and it's overall much better for airflow compared to the original with all the twists and turns.
I did do the turbo muffler delete and turbo inlet pipe swap as well when I installed the intake.
Intake was a prequisite for stage2 tune also so glad I had that already done. The do88 IC is currently being fitted and with the DP+stage2 should be done on thursday. Power gains won't be huge compared to current stage1 due to stock IS38 limitation but should get better throttle response and sound hopefully.
The IC swap for this is really important though since it gives massive IAT gains resulting in much more stable power delivery at high RPM.
Likely won't do much performance changes beyond stage2 as then it gets incrementally more expensive and the car is not really lacking power as a daily driver anyway.
I did get my winter set of rims repainted recently though and likely will do the same for the currently fitted summer ones since Estonian climate and road salting really kills the top coat over 5 years or so. Added pics of the freshly painted winter set.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

@ArchNemeziz thats a very lightweight and expensive winterset You should rock that as your summerset! I had the Ultraleggeras on my MK1 Cupra

I had the DO88 on my list a very long time, but I caved once I noticed the RamAir intake with the mega intake tube. I think both are good options, the DO88 probably a little better as it allows for pressurizing the intake better (direct path from incoming air) compared to the RamAir.

I fully agree with the powerfigures as its also my daily. I had big stage 2 plans, but I adjusted them to stage 1+ (381hp). The Cupra is a fast platform and is already fast in stock form, let alone in stage 1 or 2. I also dont have 4Drive, so 380hp is more than enough for me.

Keep reporting back once you have more updates !

 

[ArchNemeziz]

@ArchNemeziz thats a very lightweight and expensive winterset You should rock that as your summerset! I had the Ultraleggeras on my MK1 Cupra

Yep I love how light they are. Honestly I would even do that, but they are 18" and I bought the set specifically for winter initially when I got the car and since higher tire profile is better in snow I went with 18" over 19" which are the stock ones I use for summer. I prefer the 1" larger for summertime since the lower tire profile looks nice .

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Yep I love how light they are. Honestly I would even do that, but they are 18" and I bought the set specifically for winter initially when I got the car and since higher tire profile is better in snow I went with 18" over 19" which are the stock ones I use for summer. I prefer the 1" larger for summertime since the lower tire profile looks nice .

Haha same, I also love the look of 19", but I personally think the Cupra can use a little more comfort from 18s with a little more sidewall (I have stock DCC suspension). On the Cupra MK1 I went from 22.5kg per wheel to 18.5kg per wheel, that made a major difference in the feel of the car. Fun video: Tyrereviews made a video about it, objectively not that much difference, but subjectively a lot of difference!

 

[ArchNemeziz]

I hadn't seen that one about wheel weight, quite good info and I've noticed it as well when going from the summer set to winter but I always blamed it on the tires. I guess the wheels matter that much for the road feel!

Also cars at the shop right now and I was let know that they had to order new EGT sensors because the old ones were rusted into the DP so bad they couldn't get them out intact
That's another 400-500€ to the bill
Will be in until next Tuesday now although I was originally going to get her back this Thursday.
Additionally turned out the climate system only had 200g of gas left of 600g it should have. Checked all my service bills since I bought her brand new in 2020 and not once was there a line added for refrigerant refills... Not surprising it's low but 200g is a bit extreme. They did find a friction damaged lower side climate pipe but it's not broken (unknown if micro fractures). So I told them to refill with coloring instead so we know for sure if and where it's leaking. New A class pipe is 300€ so unless it's actually that pipe then I didn't want to instantly start swapping it.
AC for me was seemingly working fine with the 200g but I probably didn't notice the slow degradation over 6+ years.

The shop likely isn't lying to me either since it's a reputable local tuner they don't have anything to win from a small customer like me so I'm letting them do their work.

 

[ArchNemeziz]

Finally got her back yesterday!

Took almost 2 weeks in the end due to another issue that was kind of an unfortunate accident. One of the coolant tubes near the alternator belt was slightly loose and was pushed by dyno airflow into the belt and it ruptured. Luckily the leak happened after a pull during idle and temps didn't skyrocket.
But it meant ordering a new tube and waiting a bit more again. My luck was that it didn't spray over the entire dyno and the leak was small so I didn't have to pay any cleaning bills

But the results are so noticable. She has a nice audible attitude now on Cupra mode and stays nicely timid on comfort which was exactly what I was going for. There's slightly more vibrations at idle and especially noticable during a cold start while revs are higher, but calms down once engine warms up. Might also change over time as the cat gets warmed up more (although I imagine it's already driven in by the dyno).
The crackle in Cupra mode when letting off before an upshift at 3k RPM is really satisfying and I think I even heard a turbo flutter somewhere once. I hadn't noticed the flutter before with just the intake swap. Maybe it's an effect of the lower IAT or I simply hadn't noticed before.

For anyone thinking about similar mods total cost of going from stage1 to stage2 including the labor and materials plus do88 intake and RM motors DP with HJS 90603494 200 cell cat was just shy of 5k €. But since the intake modifications were also a requirement for stage 2 and I had swapped myself earlier lets call it a round 6k . Not a cheap hobby haha

Added graph of the tune with original stock pull from some years back (surprisingly 235kw stock) plus stage1 and the new stage2 result. Power gains not huge over stage1 which was expected, but stability and no more power loss after continuous pulls due to lower IAT are a huge gain.
Any further power gains would require upgraded turbo and with that would also come other requirements due to more power=more wear=better parts elsewhere

Next things are maybe new plugs and ignition coils, but I don't know if its needed. Fresh OE plugs might be fine/best since the tune was validated and there were no issues with them. I added some follow up questions to the workshop regarding that and what they suggest.
I should take a break from spending on the car for a while heh

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Whats not to love

1 more pic here: https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/nd-photo-nl-s-seat-leon-st-cupra-280.477591/post-5105176

 

[ArchNemeziz]

Ah yes that makes me want to do an exhaust tip and rear valence mod
I long for quad tips and a glossy valence like Maxton V3

 

[nd-photo.nl]

@ArchNemeziz An aftermarket diffuser is a must have if you ask me, makes a big difference to the looks. The stock tips look underwhelming. Just replacing them with bigger ovals is already so much better!

Stock tips / stock diffuser

Ovals / stock diffuser

Round tips 101mm / stock diffuser

Round tips 101mm / Rieger diffuser

Round "burnt" tips 101mm / Rieger diffuser

 

[gege28]

@ArchNemeziz An aftermarket diffuser is a must have if you ask me, makes a big difference to the looks. The stock tips look underwhelming. Just replacing them with bigger ovals is already so much better!

Stock tips / stock diffuser

Ovals / stock diffuser

Round tips 101mm / stock diffuser

Round tips 101mm / Rieger diffuser

Round "burnt" tips 101mm / Rieger diffuser

personally , I find that oval shapes look classier .

 

[ArchNemeziz]

personally , I find that oval shapes look classier .

That's why I'm looking to get quad oval tips similar to the cupra R and carbon

 

[nd-photo.nl]

personally , I find that oval shapes look classier .

100% agree, currently Im driving around with the oval tips and they look awesome (+classier). Combined with the Rieger diffuser, it looks like a stock solution (as it shouldve come from factory).

But I will probably end up with the dual 101mm tips again in the end

 

[Zx7R]

 

[tracktoy]

Great motor but I do like the Engine bay, looks very smart

 

[amartin]

My mk3 fr 2.0 tdi remapped and panel filer

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

major bump but what splitter is this? thanks