First week driving impressions

cejsmith

Full Member
Mar 19, 2004
86
7
Milton keynes
I got my new 290 lux on Monday and thought I would share my first impressions. Firstly it would appear I’m lucky as it took under 3 weeks between order an delivery ( it would have been quicker if I hadn’t had a week away).

1. It certainly seems quicker than my gti pp that I had before.
2. Runs fine on 95 Ron fuel ( didn’t realise it should have 98)
3. Seems to be quite noisy , not sure though if it’s tire roar.
4. The electronic dash seems to occasionally to flash up with another car on the left.
5. It’s a pain that you have to reset your driving settings each time you restart.
6. All in all a great little motor and certainly better than MK1 cupra diesel was .
 

Cookie12

Active Member
Mar 26, 2019
47
29
In terms of point 3 I had the same issue. Picked mine up on Friday 7th june. Have read numerous posts about said tyre roar noise and I checked tyre pressures.

Mine were all 42psi!! Tyre pressure sticker says 42 is for full load of people and luggage. Which 99% of the time it's just me. Strangely no guidance as to what they should be on the sticker when only driver. Took a few psi out of each and road noise was drastically reduced. I run now 38 front and 35 rear.
 
May 3, 2019
9
1
In terms of point 3 I had the same issue. Picked mine up on Friday 7th june. Have read numerous posts about said tyre roar noise and I checked tyre pressures.

Mine were all 42psi!! Tyre pressure sticker says 42 is for full load of people and luggage. Which 99% of the time it's just me. Strangely no guidance as to what they should be on the sticker when only driver. Took a few psi out of each and road noise was drastically reduced. I run now 38 front and 35 rear.

Exactly the same, mine were all 42. Was losing fillings with each speedbump.
 

Stoob

Active Member
Apr 21, 2018
165
38
Firstly it would appear I’m lucky as it took under 3 weeks between order an delivery

Guessing it was a car from stock they had lieing arorund then? No way it was built to order lol

Also, i get the horrendous road noise, but always thought higher pressure reduced road niose, so left at 42.
 

Cookie12

Active Member
Mar 26, 2019
47
29
Guessing it was a car from stock they had lieing arorund then? No way it was built to order lol

Also, i get the horrendous road noise, but always thought higher pressure reduced road niose, so left at 42.

Road noise was definately reduced when i reduced tyre pressure. Depends on your usage i suppose. The car tyre pressure sticker says 42 with 4 passengers and luggage.

Maybe it works either way, too high or too low a pressure then you get excessive tyre noise?
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,278
Guessing it was a car from stock they had lieing arorund then? No way it was built to order lol

Also, i get the horrendous road noise, but always thought higher pressure reduced road niose, so left at 42.
Tyre noise also varies between different tyre brands. I’ve always found ‘hard as nails’ Bridgestones to be quite noisy.

Road noise was definately reduced when i reduced tyre pressure. Depends on your usage i suppose. The car tyre pressure sticker says 42 with 4 passengers and luggage.

Maybe it works either way, too high or too low a pressure then you get excessive tyre noise?

Too high or too low a pressure might also result in increased / uneven tyre wear, although I think these days many car manufacturers err on the side of higher pressures for reduced rolling resistance and better fuel economy.
 

ChrisM75

Active Member
May 10, 2019
423
182
My Astra has 3 settings for tyre pressure monitoring. It varies from 32 to 39. 32 is more comfortable and quieter, but I can feel its more lose on the road. It also has Bridgestones as standard.

I suspect the Seat will be similar. Unless frequently in Cupra mode something a little softer would be best, around 36 maybe.
 

Stoob

Active Member
Apr 21, 2018
165
38
Tyre noise also varies between different tyre brands. I’ve always found ‘hard as nails’ Bridgestones to be quite noisy.

Yeah unfortunatley I have Bridgestone Potenzas on. Noisey as buggery and not very grippy either.
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,278
Yeah unfortunatley I have Bridgestone Potenzas on. Noisey as buggery and not very grippy either.
VW / Audi group must’ve negotiated a really good deal with Bridgestone and screwed them down on price, as lots of VAG performance models come with Bridgestones from the factory.

The hard compound might mean they last forever, but the big downside - as you’ve pointed out - is the poor grip. Lots of negative comments over on golfgtiforum.co.uk on Bridgestones being fitted to the Golf GTI; poor grip - especially in cold weather, noisy, axle tramping and wheel hop when pulling away. Some owners get rid of them from almost day-one and replace them with something more befitting of a performance car. Michelin PS4 and PS4S seem to be popular choices at the moment.
 

Stoob

Active Member
Apr 21, 2018
165
38
Im trying like mad to scrub the rubberr off of these so i can justify buying some new ones, but, ive just passed 6k and they look as good as new :(
 

KXL

KXL
Dec 15, 2016
1,581
197
London, UK
New cars always seem to come with the max permitted tyre pressure, when I asked the dealer (Seat and non-Seat) why is this the case, they said when this is because during transport (on ship or on car transporter) they are strapped down. it's especially bad with low profile tyres (the discomfort of rough roads). Anyway, it's always easier to reduce pressure than needing to put more tyre pressure.
 

Deathjam

Active Member
Aug 24, 2015
134
57
Leeds-ish
VW / Audi group must’ve negotiated a really good deal with Bridgestone and screwed them down on price, as lots of VAG performance models come with Bridgestones from the factory.

The hard compound might mean they last forever, but the big downside - as you’ve pointed out - is the poor grip. Lots of negative comments over on golfgtiforum.co.uk on Bridgestones being fitted to the Golf GTI; poor grip - especially in cold weather, noisy, axle tramping and wheel hop when pulling away. Some owners get rid of them from almost day-one and replace them with something more befitting of a performance car. Michelin PS4 and PS4S seem to be popular choices at the moment.


my fr had Bridgestones from the factory, as do alot of other fr's i've seen, and yes they are ****
my cupra has Continental ContiSportContact 5Ps, as do alot of other cupra's i've seen, and yes they are **** too
 

Oddmanout

Active Member
May 19, 2019
121
48
At least the previous owner of yours didn't replace the worn Bridgestones with.....the same damn Bridgestones just before you bought it. I now have to wait for them to go before replacing them as the wife doesn't see why I should change perfectly good new tyres :( thankfully this was only on the front as I replaced the rears myself after purchasing. Hopefully being on the front the Bridgeys will wear quickly. I live in hope.
 

Legojon

I only wanted a remap
Staff member
Moderator
Jul 7, 2015
5,284
2,713
I now have to wait for them to go before replacing them as the wife doesn't see why I should change perfectly good new tyres :(

"Sorry honey, gonna be late home... got a puncture... they reckon it's going to need a new tyre and they can only replace them in pairs". I've never done that twice before!
 

Legojon

I only wanted a remap
Staff member
Moderator
Jul 7, 2015
5,284
2,713
Devious, I like it haha

I've learnt the keyword is "safety". "Did you feel that pull to the side then? See, it did it again... dammit it's going to need a Wavetrac limited slip differential... it's not cheap but I can't drive an unsafe car like this till I get one". What's got two thumbs and a wavetrac limited slip diff??? :thumbup:
 
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