Thinking about buying a Leon FR

[carpyDTC]

Hello

Im pondering about buying a leon FR diesel.
At the moment i own a 57 civic 2.2 icdti, which is nice and quite nippy so long as you get the revs correct.
However comming from a fiesta ST to the civic was a little bit of a let down, i miss that instant punch of power and good handling.
The civic for me seems a little to refind and it handles like a dog.

So as topic title, im thinking about a newish FR 170, on paper its very close to the civic in terms of performance however the engine produces 30bhp more and it slightly quicker i understand.

Can anyone give me advice on which reg to go for, have there been any minor revisions ect from year to year?

Anyone went head to head with a civic 2.2?

One wierd thing is a had a loan of a leon 2.0D sport and tbh it felt quicker than the civic even though its 0-60 is a second slower.

At the end of the day im after a little more poke than the civic, will the FR do the job?

cheers people

 

[/dev/null]

Well, you won't get the "instant" kick you get from the ST unless you are in the right gear because turbo lag is a ******* on them and also first gear is pretty much useless.

 

[bmb779]

Try a 2ltr TDI Sport with a remap.No DPF to worry about.

 

[carpyDTC]

DPF?

@/dev/null
im aware of turbo lag issues, same with pretty much any diesel in first ect.

However basically in the simple form my question is,
is the FR quicker overall.
i know specs state it is, im looking for peoples opinion on the real world performance as specs can mean nothing on a normal road.

one note, how is the handling on the leon FR?
My civic is a dog on the corners

 

[Nath.]

My FR handling is impressive to me and it's as the factory intended but with 18's. Good cornering and not too harsh like the Ibiza FR was.

Also the stock ride hight goes well with the 18's I think.

 

[IanG]

Well I know it's not a 2.2 Civic but I have come from a 2.0 Type R GT in the last couple of weeks and whilst it doesn't have the overall performance of the Honda my FR TDI still has plenty of poke and the handling is very good not overly harsh like the Civic

 

[JayFR150]

my mk1 leon FR tdi eats type wRiters for dinner... but it isn't standard

 

[SteveTDCi]

I tried the 2.2CDTi Type S when I was looking to change from my Golf 140 GT TD, I really wanted to like the civic but just couldn't too many faults and although I had read good reviews about the engine it thought it was a bit gutless although as you say it should be quicker. I think Honda design it to be more like a petrol and the car seems to lack torque which is what made the Leon seem quicker too you, because you get the shove in the back it feels like a quicker car.

Have a read on here about the FR, the DPF is the main issue and if you do lots of short journeys or live in Jersey then I would go for a 140 sport.

 

[2zeroalpha]

While this thread is from 07, it might still contain a number of relevant points. It compares a number of diesel hatches, including the FR170 and the Civic 2.2
Happy reading:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=113358