Seen Leon FR & Cupra at the Motorshow for the first time, my thoughts

[CupraJay]

Yea, the main reason why i would never buy a black car. I always go for a brighter colour...Onvi yellow on my leon. Solid gold on my bmw mini. And when i was paiting my classic mini rally car i was tempted to go black...But ended up going for a Candy red.

I like seeing the lines.

 

[Clang]

I think SEAT have dropped a massive bollock by making the Leon 2 look too much like a MPV in the first place. Now the Cupra looks almost identical to the FR and there isn't anything SEAT can do about it apart from making the bumpers look slightly different (if you look at them long enough). It's just a box.

Such a shame. The Mk1 was a very distinctive car and the R looked superb.

 

[CupraJay]

But altering the bumpers can make a huge difference. For example..the optional bodykit looks incredible in my opinion. And that should have been what the Cupra looked like.

Unfortunatly, i fear they have lost alot of buyers from a younger market to cars such as the VXR and the Type R.

Maybe they'l realise they'r mistake with poor sales and face lift quickly.

The cupra should have looked like this...

 

[DanGB]

Saw the cupra today, nothing special!

 

[fivetones]

Unfortunatly, i fear they have lost alot of buyers from a younger market to cars such as the VXR and the Type R.

Do the younger market actually buy cars of this price though. I'd guess people in the market for this kind of car want sporty but still a little understated (not like that bodykit, the rear of whch looks aweful IMO).

We ordered our FR on the strength of it's sportiness but still not over the top.

(We decided against an A3 though because of the slightly staid image).

 

[CupraJay]

Younger people these days, for the first time, have the money to shell out on cars like this. And the attitude towards insurance to buy them.

Take for example. Me and my mates. None of us over 24...and in our little group theres a Cupra, vxr, evo 6, m3, 330i M sport, 2 type R's, a sierra cosworth. And quite a few other cars worth mentioning, but no need to.

Im 20, and would very much like to purchase the newer leon...But deffinatly wont be because of the In my opinion, boring styling.

I agree, that the best looking cars, are sporty, but sublte. But the new leons are just to under-stated. Especialy compared to the leon cupra R...Which in my view is pretty much perfect.

Agresive stance, sport looks, Yet it looks mature at the same time. Its as at home being driven around a track as it is parked in the parking spot of the bank manager.

 

[andih98uk]

Agreed with the above, and why they didn't put the aero kit on as standard as in the above picture i'll never know... I'm going to reserve judgement until saturday when i'm at the car show but from what i've seen i'll be leaving the Seat fold when i change.

Shame!

 

[CH1]

Looks wise I’m a bit disappointed with the new cupra doesn’t look that much different than the other new Leon’s – it would need that aero bumper kit on to give it that oomph! A few friends of mine saw the cupra at the motorshow at the weekend and they thought the interior was very poor quality plastic and thought the quality of plastic was better on the old Leons. That said, we are not buying it for interior refinement now are we, Seats have always been a bit rattle n’ shake, but it is step down I think from the previous Leon plastics.

Looks wise its still too much mpv style to me-but looks that’s the way most manufacturers are going. That said, I absolutely love the Altea –that should be Seats’ biggest seller, its good looking, smooth, spacious and can do the job it’s meant for and perform quite well. I love the rear not sure on the front grille.

Handling –I’m sure will be far far better than the current standard cupras..I can say that after a fast lap around Brands in the new Leons they handled far far better than the previous ones. Had a new Leon speed past me just yesterday they hold the road well. Not sure if the cupra @ 20K will be the best to go for a Reference Sport or FR would be equally tempting with a few mods.

 

[Snoopy]

As someone in there 30s (an ex cupra R owner) i like the new cupra i would not buy it if it had that body kit, I see a silver Leon with that kit on most days and its a maxflower nightmare on wheels to me. Understated and classy everytime for me sorry maybe when i was 17 i know i would have liked it but by 19 i had grown out of that faze.

Like most not keen on the interior especially the centre concel i still feel its a step back in materials and looks on the interior to the mk1 but i do like the black/purple Cupra exterior from the motorshows. SEAT PLEASE MAKE IT IN THAT COLOUR. Im extremely tempted but its down to what they ask for it and what deals can be done in my case.

 

[CH1]

opps! guess I haven't grown up yet

as for the aubergine colour I've yet to see that in the fleah. Its funny in some countries theres a lot of jokes about aubergine, so if I got that I'd be called a baigan (aubergine) I can't have that, no matter how good it looks

 

[fivetones]

Younger people these days, for the first time, have the money to shell out on cars like this. And the attitude towards insurance to buy them.

I forgot about the easy availability of loans these days.

Take for example. Me and my mates. None of us over 24...and in our little group theres a Cupra, vxr, evo 6, m3, 330i M sport, 2 type R's, a sierra cosworth. And quite a few other cars worth mentioning, but no need to.

So, I'm 35 have two degrees (as does my partner who's 30, she's the owner of the car really) and this is the first new car that we've bought. I know no-one who's bought a new car and personally I've never spent more than £3500 on a car including some very modified VWs.

I'm not sure which one of us is more representative of the car buying public . Possibly somewhere between the two which is why Seat (and VW for that matter) produce fairly understated vehicles these days.

 

[sjtscott]

I forgot about the easy availability of loans these days.



So, I'm 35 have two degrees (as does my partner who's 30, she's the owner of the car really) and this is the first new car that we've bought. I know no-one who's bought a new car and personally I've never spent more than £3500 on a car including some very modified VWs.

I'm not sure which one of us is more representative of the car buying public . Possibly somewhere between the two which is why Seat (and VW for that matter) produce fairly understated vehicles these days.

I agree with prefering somewhat understated styling i.e. not too laxx power.
However as I already stated I simply don't like the job SEAT have done styling the new Leon.
The Q car look definately does it for me now.

oh btw all these youngers and their nice cars.. you have to ask the question, living at home with Mum and Dad per chance or renting in cheep student style house share? I bet not one of em own their own property or should I say spend the majority of their income each month on a mortgage like some of us!
I had my own transport at 18 when I was a student but no one I knew could afford to own anything nice unless it belonged to someone else! I agree its a sign of the times when you can get loaned up to the hilt easily.

 

[Russc]

Saw it today as well. I was looking forward to it and, at first, if they hadn`t put cupra on the number plate and boot i might have dismissed it as the FR.

Not nearly aggressive enough for car it should be. Liked the steering wheel though, although that says a lot really.

Needs the "optional" bodykit to be the actual one.

Shame, was looking forward to seeing it "in the flesh"

 

[siwel]

I saw it yesterday, didn't look that different from my TDi sport, I did like the dials and they way they changed colour when the lights were turned on.

Loved the interior of the new civic, very different from most of the run of the mill standard interiors, made me wonder if I'd made the right choice getting the leon, then I got out of the civic and looked at it again from the outside and remembered why I didn't buy one, to me the outside looks terrible.

Probably in 3 years I'll part ex my TDi and go back to something quicker, I can only hope there'll be a Cupra R by then, maybe a 4WD 260-280bhp would get my interest but the current one, not interested.

 

[Darth Tater]

Saw the Curpa yesterday and was unfortuately as dissapointed as I thought I might be

Jumped in and think the Seat girlie on the stand thought she had a customer. I then sat in the car my head off for about 5 mins with the dissapointment of it all with my mates killing themselves laughing on the outside

Seats were nice but still not as good for under thigh support as they might be (no other cars were either to be fair ) and the rest of the interior was rotton. Again I did however notice that most of the competitors were also pretty shabby internally. Seems £20k doesn't buy you as much quality as you might expect

Externally it's just not different enough from the FR as I thought from the pics that have been posted. Yellow gave more defintion than the aubergine but simply don't like the design. Rear still looks bulbous too

Tried to sit in all the competitors that were there. Unfortuately VW weren't present so no opportunity to check out the GTI or R32. Next time round reckon I'll be going for the Focus ST in black dependant on how it drives as I've not been in one on the move as yet

Will be sad to leave the Seat fold but I think Seat have dropped the ball on this one

 

[andih98uk]

Went to the car show yesterday and agree entirley with whats already been said. I think the design will grow on me but the FR & Cupra just aren't different enough from the rest of the range to consider. In fact if it wasn't for the fact they had FR and cupra written on seats, reg plates etc i'm sure i wouldn't have been able to tell any of them apart whereas the difference in the current range is plainly obvious.

I'm really hoping Seat give this cupra a last minute reprieve and inject some spanish flair into it before it goes on sale otherwise i'll be test driving the focus very soon!

 

[FAZ]

Again I was at the motorshow yesterday and like everybody else I,m disappointed mainly with the interior, somebody at Seat should have a wander over to the Honda stand and make notes on the new Civic interior, the basic models have a better interior than the Leon.

I am leaning sadly to the Focus ST, if you shop around you can get the ST3 for £18500 and unless they change the Cupra, the ST offers alot more for your money......please SEAT do something, stop us from buying FORDS.

Incidently the person I spoke to said the new Cupra could possibly cost 21-22k
Too long under those bright lights I think.

 

[jonv]

Saw it at the motorshow on Friday. The new Leon does need to be seen in the flesh.
The understated looks are a plus point for me - although the looks of the car are not that important to me (older than a lot of people on here). Hopefully road tests will convert a few of the sceptical people.
Could see myself upgrading in a few years time when they hit the second hand market.

 

[CupraJay]

I agree with prefering somewhat understated styling i.e. not too laxx power.
However as I already stated I simply don't like the job SEAT have done styling the new Leon.
The Q car look definately does it for me now.

oh btw all these youngers and their nice cars.. you have to ask the question, living at home with Mum and Dad per chance or renting in cheep student style house share? I bet not one of em own their own property or should I say spend the majority of their income each month on a mortgage like some of us!
I had my own transport at 18 when I was a student but no one I knew could afford to own anything nice unless it belonged to someone else! I agree its a sign of the times when you can get loaned up to the hilt easily.

I never said anything about lax power...As i am not a fan. But, just compare it to the old LCR..that was sporty and classy...a perfect mix and a car pretty much anyone could adore.

The new leon, its bassicaly a giant Wet Fart.