Ibiza FR TDi

[jcc-gttdi150]

Looking at maybe getting one of these. I used to have a Golf 25th Anni TDi which was mapped and it was huge fun What these like in comparison against a PD150?

Standard what they like? Suspension, brakes, performance and such. this is the car I'm looking at- it was on for £4999. I know it shows as sold as the finance company jumped the gun and arranged for the dealer to remove from sale before I'd test drove it or anything.

I'm coming from an Audi TT 225 to a diesel and my missus liked the Ibiza. I have VAGCOM so will scan and log sensors as best I can on test drive. Gonna ask about timing belt, servicing and what not on it. No fade at all which is unusual on an Ovni

Plans would be- 312mm front brakes, lowering springs, decat exhaust, spacers and maybe different wheels, better air intake, cupra bushes and remap. Worth a front mount at all?

Other consideration is an Astra 1.9 CDTi 150 which tbh I dunno about- dash seemed very high and passenger seat had no height adjustment (missus is short so likes her seat high up ). Hated the Vectra driving position so ruled that out and no Leon Cupra TDi local to me I like.

So, be gentle about liking the Astra but opinions are welcome.

 

[thePHILosipher]

personally, i prefer them to the leon/golf as i think they are more chuckable round the country roads etc, the golf and leon are probably better cars but that is sort of the ibiza's charm.

tune it, map etc and it can be a barrel of laughs.

Honestly though for a 75k pre-facelift i'd say thats on the high side, mines a facelift on 95k and is worth £3700 at a dealer so £5k is certainly top end

 

[thePHILosipher]

o and on the other points:

standard suspension is awful. SEAT believe a sport suspension just needs to be hard, but the end result is its very choppy. You get used to however.

brakes are fine on a 100% standard car, but you might want to put better quality discs and pad on

Standard performance is fine, can surprise a number of other cars, but frankly if you want performance its the wrong car.

FMIC is only needed for a high state of tune and you'll very little benefit on a stage 1 or non mapped car.

Frankly, the cupra is a better buy for performance reasons and come with 75% of the things your thinking of adding but running costs tend to be a bit higher (insurance and maintenance)

 

[jcc-gttdi150]

Cheers for the reply mate. I thought the same about the price- I'd say nearer the £3800 mark for it is about right from a dealer. Insurance isn't an issue for me tbh being 30 and paying £410 fully comp for my TT but my missus is only 22 and a learner so the FR makes more sense as she'll be added to my policy.

 

[thePHILosipher]

Cheers for the reply mate. I thought the same about the price- I'd say nearer the £3800 mark for it is about right from a dealer. Insurance isn't an issue for me tbh being 30 and paying £410 fully comp for my TT but my missus is only 22 and a learner so the FR makes more sense as she'll be added to my policy.

considering the misses is on it, it makes sense then for the FR, if it was just you, get the cupra, i still think even after 4.5 years of my FR i should have stumped up the extra few grand and bought the cupra as i've spent well over the difference getting mine to the state of performance of a mapped cupra, but it has been fun getting here though.

 

[jcc-gttdi150]

Tbh it wouldn't bother me being an FR over the Cupra as I could put my own stamp on it and have it exactly how I wanted it without breaking the bank then let the missus have it after I decide to move on.

You have any knowledge on the Astra's at all? Need a test drive really to compare but I'm involved with a remapping company so that would be a must-do first mod on either and the "dual map" feature on the Astra appeals to my situation but it's not a VAG

 

[thePHILosipher]

Tbh it wouldn't bother me being an FR over the Cupra as I could put my own stamp on it and have it exactly how I wanted it without breaking the bank then let the missus have it after I decide to move on.

You have any knowledge on the Astra's at all? Need a test drive really to compare but I'm involved with a remapping company so that would be a must-do first mod on either and the "dual map" feature on the Astra appeals to my situation but it's not a VAG

i dont but i have taken a 150cdti sport hatch with the XP pack on for a long test drive last year when i was considering selling this one.

put simply i didnt like the feel or finish of the interior and I hated having to push the sport button to get it to drive and respond properly, it just felt cheap frankly, its why the car I've set my mind to (once i find the spec i want) is the Volvo C30 D5, smart, comfy, well equipped, quick with 185bhp as standard, feels like a quality product , looks ace and cheap to insure (its £120 cheaper to insure than my Ibiza?!) slightly more to buy but they hold their value very well and places like Shark are tuning them to a great standard and performance parts are readily available from abroad.

 

[lee_fr200]

Astra is cheap feeling!


I love my FR tdi and mine is for sale although I do have someone already currently interested, just away for the next 4days,

The fr is a cracking car it rly is things that let it down is mmmmmmmm can't think if anything actually

 

[cupra.al]

id have the ibiza over the leon all day i went from a 20vt ibiza cupra to a pd150 leon and now an ibiza cupra tdi.
the leon just felt slow compared to the the cupra tdi and the leon was mapped although the suspension on the leon was comfy it felt a bit barge like.

i would never own a pd150 leon again although it was a great car i never felt the love for it like i do the ibiza as well as the ibiza being nice to look at they go well and handle really well too.

ive not heard many good things about the astra diesels from what ive heard the things that go wrong are rather pricey and there not all that economical this although none of this is from first hand experience.

 

[metakim]

I got a 2004 sport tdi 130 (i.e. the same as the FR but with none of the sporty trim) and can attest to it being a very nippy wee car once mapped. The FR looks nicer but with the sport it really looks like a standard 1.2 petrol run about especially in glacier blue, so there is potential for embarrassing much bigger cars.

Couple of faults with it: the suspension does indeed suck, its bumpy and harsh and yet doesnt allow for any more confidence in the corners than in similar cars. Closely relating to that point, I don't think it corners particularly well, and I got good tyres on there (Michelin Pixaltos) And I guess it's a characteristic of diesel cars but it is really slow at pulling away, i.e. 0-30 but after that it's a rocket.

Issues to look out for is when remapped the intercooler hose likes to pop off especially if it has done a few miles already (mine was on original hose when I bought it at 58K and it popped off a week later...)

 

[secret.squirrel]

I have an '08 FR TDi, had it remapped down at JKM about 18 months and 16k miles ago, and the map transformed it. Booked it in in a couple of weeks to get coilovers fitted to sort out the suspension, the stock stuff is good but a bit too unforgiving to have the confidence to really chuck it in. After that it will be a RARB, and I think I'll leave it alone and enjoy it for a while. Great looking car, and reasonably inconspicuous, and I haven't seen to many others about on the road which is also nice. I disagree with metakim over the pulling away comment, its sluggish if it's not on boost, but give it some right boot and it will take off like a scalded rat much to the embarrassment of "better" cars (porker boxters are a prime target)

Cambelt and waterpump service is every 4 years/30k miles whichever comes first, mine was just over £350 from JKM. If you are worried about having two maps Revo do an SPS switch so you can flick between a stock or tuned map etc.

Squirrel.

 

[metakim]

By pulling away I definitely find first gear to be very slow compared to other less powerful cars I've driven, of course after that it is very quick for what is essentially a diesel economy car. I've embarrassed a couple cars myself (not quite a boxster though but a 735 was a fun victory)

 

[secret.squirrel]

The solution to that is keeping your foot in

Squirrel.

 

[jcc-gttdi150]

Well, went to test drive the Ibiza today. IF you can call a quick spin around the supermarket grounds a test drive. Battery was flat as a fart and had no power steering when it was running. This EML was on the dash too-

But the attitude of the dealer has changed my mind about this Ibiza and I'd strongly advise anyone against using this dealer.

He had taken the car off sale after my enquiry as the finance company said I definately wanted it. But I had only told them I was interested depending on figures. Then when I was looking at other cars around the site, Astra and Fabia vRS, the dealer came up to me and started shouting at me asking what the f*ck I was playing at and accusing me of wasting his time. An argument ensued and I was told I was a time waster and that if he had his way, I'd be thrown off the site and barred! So, even though I have finance in place and was only wanting to be 100% certain before buying, I'm now a time waster. I suspect they're desperate to shift this one for some reason.

So, not buying that one then and I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Still, it's a buyers market and plenty more cars about

 

[cupra.al]

bloody hell not sure how i would react to that happening i know it wouldnt be a good reaction though.
there are some nice frs on auto trader at the moment being sold from traders rather than private sales.

 

[thePHILosipher]

Well, went to test drive the Ibiza today. IF you can call a quick spin around the supermarket grounds a test drive. Battery was flat as a fart and had no power steering when it was running. This EML was on the dash too-

But the attitude of the dealer has changed my mind about this Ibiza and I'd strongly advise anyone against using this dealer.

He had taken the car off sale after my enquiry as the finance company said I definately wanted it. But I had only told them I was interested depending on figures. Then when I was looking at other cars around the site, Astra and Fabia vRS, the dealer came up to me and started shouting at me asking what the f*ck I was playing at and accusing me of wasting his time. An argument ensued and I was told I was a time waster and that if he had his way, I'd be thrown off the site and barred! So, even though I have finance in place and was only wanting to be 100% certain before buying, I'm now a time waster. I suspect they're desperate to shift this one for some reason.

So, not buying that one then and I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Still, it's a buyers market and plenty more cars about

what a jack ass, thats a sale lost then, if he was smart he would have moved with you to find another car you wanted, not chase you off site. Car sounds like a pup thats for sure, best avoid it like the plague

 

[thePHILosipher]

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classi...rds/fr/radius/1500/postcode/nn141sn?logcode=p

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classi...postcode/nn141sn/page/2/keywords/fr?logcode=p

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classi...radius/1500/page/2/postcode/nn141sn?logcode=p

those 3 would be top of my shopping list

 

[jcc-gttdi150]

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classi...radius/1500/page/2/postcode/nn141sn?logcode=p

This one is actually one I had just had open on another tab

 

[thePHILosipher]

This one is actually one I had just had open on another tab

looks a good option on paper and from a recognised franchise so generally you might get better service

 

[stew002]

I've previously owned an Ibiza fr tdi and it was a great little car, there quite fun to drive for what they are and the engines are strong, plenty of poke in them when remapped.
On the Astra front im just selling mine, a VXR not a diesel but not too much different tbh and buying another ibiza, need more economy with the mileage im doing now. I work at a vauxhall dealers and have a lot of experience with the Astra diesels too. They are a good car, i agree the interior is a little dull but the ibiza isn't special either both quite cheap plastics + switches etc. The astra is quieter and more comfortable but the engine/ gearbox is no where near as good as the VAG. Engine is Fiat.... do i need to say anymore? No its not that bad but the common problems are usual egr's, intake manifolds, flywheels. There noisy engines too.
So anyway, get an Ibiza