Are people happy with their Cupra ?

Mattias

Active Member
Apr 9, 2014
97
0
Sweden
Like mine VERY much. The garage is starting to pile up with performane upgrade parts, Hoping for spring soon...:)
 

simonali

Active Member
Apr 3, 2014
834
36
Wiltshire
That's a shame. What do you not like?

Wheel spin
Wheel hop
The poor ride. Just making a car stiff does not make it sporty, SEAT, (and you Audi) when will you learn this?
Hesitant gearbox (DSG)
The headlights
The Bridgestone tyres
The outdated, retarded sat nav
The media unit that you can't use in random mode because it plays the same songs over and over

As I said, though, the most disappointing aspect of SEAT ownership is the dealers and SUK. The dealers are rubbish, never fix anything or call you back and SUK don't care that they're rubbish. I have been given £50 credit by SUK as way of an apology for all the things that are wrong with my car, but I can't bring myself to visit a dealership to spend it!
 

rocket_26_

Newbie
Jul 29, 2004
66
0
Lincoln
I love mine, I had the choice of S3/Cupra/Golf R or 135 and I don't regret it one bit choosing the Cupra. Some people say the car was not as good as they expected. After a 9 week wait the car for me was better than I had expected. I did try a S3 sportback for a day and it was also a great car. I chose the Cupra because I prefer the looks, the boot/rear space is bigger, it was much cheaper especially with the deal I got and as well as a much better part ex for my old Cupra.
 

mbk72

Active Member
Feb 21, 2015
133
0
www.youtube.com
Well I'm happy with mine, took me a while to decide but it does everything I want from a daily driver. I think of it as 3 cars in one

Comfy commuter:

A lovely place to sit in seat heated, air conditioned comfort on slow commuting journeys with the DCC in comfort. I use similar driving modes as others have mentioned, eco/comfort for the motorway and commuting journeys and ride the wave of torque. Even in some pretty nasty M4 traffic yesterday I still saw 36mpg on a 250 mile round trip. Stereo seems great to me, IPod connection works perfectly with all the info on screen. Sat Nav is a bit so so but I'm yet to find a fitted one that can match the Tom Tom.

GT style cruiser:

Superb for family journeys, 3 or 5 up, it's a cruiser with plenty of power for overtaking on A roads. Plenty of room for child/booster seats, leg room is good and the boot holds enough. DCC sport and engine in normal - except for the odd overtake seems to work well here. The power delivery is stealthy enough that passengers don't notice the extra urge too much. Overall to me it feels like a much bigger torque filled engine and gives a real GT feel. The relative anonymity and understated looks mean the car goes pretty much unnoticed and avoids the usual hassle from other road users with something to prove.

B road blaster

Best of all though when the right road comes along the Cupra transforms into the 212bhp/ton machine it can also be. On dry roads it's as quick as the RS3 I owned and it's as much fun as any Renaultsport or Mitsaburu I've owned. Unleash the Cupra across an open, well sighted mountain road and it is an eye widening experience. For a front driver the grip levels are superb, 235 tyres undoubtedly help a lot here. Traction out of slow hairpins is superb. Leave all the assists on and it is as safe as going quickly could ever be. Turn the assists off and you get a car with real adjust ability, something the RS3 could never do. You can oversteer as much as you want if that takes your fancy - track or wide open tarmac recommend!. Even pressing on it still returns a reasonable 20ish MPG over a decent 100 mile or so trip (yes you can get it in to single digits over a short sprint but it's hardly representative). It really is a lot of fun.

Things I don't like? The silly sound generator, that is pointless. Being really picky the other thing is the window switches are too far forward on the door, I keep opening the rear window by mistake.

Should I have bought a Golf R or S3 and not had the mild traction issues? For £10-20k more at the same spec I couldn't justify it. None of my journeys are so time critical or important that awd was an absolute requirement. What the Cupra loses in ultimate grip it gains back in steering feedback and front end hook up in the corners - especially vs the S3 which is weirdly sticky after the Cupra.

The Cupra is the perfect all rounder daily driver for me, if not the definitive master in any particular area. I couldn't find anything better or overlook the downsides of other cars enough (oh Subaru what have you done to the STi!) otherwise I'd have bought one of them instead. That it's bloody good fun too is a big bonus.
 

P0LKR

Full Member
Nov 13, 2005
929
2
Newton Mortgage, Glasgow
Well I'm happy with mine, took me a while to decide but it does everything I want from a daily driver. I think of it as 3 cars in one

Comfy commuter:

A lovely place to sit in seat heated, air conditioned comfort on slow commuting journeys with the DCC in comfort. I use similar driving modes as others have mentioned, eco/comfort for the motorway and commuting journeys and ride the wave of torque. Even in some pretty nasty M4 traffic yesterday I still saw 36mpg on a 250 mile round trip. Stereo seems great to me, IPod connection works perfectly with all the info on screen. Sat Nav is a bit so so but I'm yet to find a fitted one that can match the Tom Tom.

GT style cruiser:

Superb for family journeys, 3 or 5 up, it's a cruiser with plenty of power for overtaking on A roads. Plenty of room for child/booster seats, leg room is good and the boot holds enough. DCC sport and engine in normal - except for the odd overtake seems to work well here. The power delivery is stealthy enough that passengers don't notice the extra urge too much. Overall to me it feels like a much bigger torque filled engine and gives a real GT feel. The relative anonymity and understated looks mean the car goes pretty much unnoticed and avoids the usual hassle from other road users with something to prove.

B road blaster

Best of all though when the right road comes along the Cupra transforms into the 212bhp/ton machine it can also be. On dry roads it's as quick as the RS3 I owned and it's as much fun as any Renaultsport or Mitsaburu I've owned. Unleash the Cupra across an open, well sighted mountain road and it is an eye widening experience. For a front driver the grip levels are superb, 235 tyres undoubtedly help a lot here. Traction out of slow hairpins is superb. Leave all the assists on and it is as safe as going quickly could ever be. Turn the assists off and you get a car with real adjust ability, something the RS3 could never do. You can oversteer as much as you want if that takes your fancy - track or wide open tarmac recommend!. Even pressing on it still returns a reasonable 20ish MPG over a decent 100 mile or so trip (yes you can get it in to single digits over a short sprint but it's hardly representative). It really is a lot of fun.

Things I don't like? The silly sound generator, that is pointless. Being really picky the other thing is the window switches are too far forward on the door, I keep opening the rear window by mistake.

Should I have bought a Golf R or S3 and not had the mild traction issues? For £10-20k more at the same spec I couldn't justify it. None of my journeys are so time critical or important that awd was an absolute requirement. What the Cupra loses in ultimate grip it gains back in steering feedback and front end hook up in the corners - especially vs the S3 which is weirdly sticky after the Cupra.

The Cupra is the perfect all rounder daily driver for me, if not the definitive master in any particular area. I couldn't find anything better or overlook the downsides of other cars enough (oh Subaru what have you done to the STi!) otherwise I'd have bought one of them instead. That it's bloody good fun too is a big bonus.


Sweet
 
Mar 13, 2011
697
0
You can't please all of the people all of the time. For me it's the most enjoyable car I ever owned so far (and I don't really own it, the wife does). There are minor things I don't like, but as an overall package it ticks all the boxes for me. I drive it more than the wife does and she tends to choose my car most of the time as she's not so worried about picking up car park dings in that.

I agree with Simonali on a couple of points, particularly the dealers. They are crap, but hopefully I'll only be visiting them for servicing.

In short, I love it but wish I could have had the ST version.
 

golf gti dude

Lottery win needed.
Sep 2, 2012
512
0
Chester/Shanghai
i've tried all the modes but for the moment im mostly using Individual with a Comfort/Eco bias because it's only done 350 miles and i like the coasting mode when i take my foot off the gas. that's not to say i've been soft with the throttle, quite the opposite, i just haven't visited the other side of 4000 rpm yet and because of refraining from spirited driving the only noticeable difference i've felt so far between Cupra and Sport seems to be the intensity of the soundaktor :)

I am unsure of the ECO mode as it goes into neutral all the time so was thinking that the dsg gearbox will bugger up quicker
 

Chippo

Active Member
Jan 2, 2008
145
1
Cardiff, WALES
Had mine 3 months now and love it. yes there are a few niggly things but you'll get that with whatever car you buy. There is not much out there that will give such good performance yet also return really good economy.
 

P0LKR

Full Member
Nov 13, 2005
929
2
Newton Mortgage, Glasgow
I don't have my St cupra yet but it ticks the following boxes for me.

Fast, dsg, spacious , comfortable ride , lots of toys, good looks , economy (relative), good value and reasonable quality.
 

simonali

Active Member
Apr 3, 2014
834
36
Wiltshire
I am pretty happy with the economy, it has to be said. It's obviously nowhere near advertised, but the Leon will do around 100 miles more per tank than my last car and that's with a smaller tank so it costs less to fill, too!
 

forge197

SE>FR>CUPRA
May 14, 2002
211
0
UK
Visit site
I've enjoyed owning my Cupra, though I am about to trade it in. The performance aspect has been brilliant, it's also been a competent and confident car on track, the economy in normal road driving is excellent for the performance available. The economy on track is woeful of course :)

I've not had issues the traction and did also try some PS2's which improved traction further, it's been a great car.

It's a good overall package, our reasons to change we have including this three VAG group cars and there are similarties, the Cupra isn't my daily drive and it doesn't feel special using it at weekends and track days it is after all a fast Leon :)

I've had three Mk3 Leons and would have another again no doubt about it.
 

jimiC

Active Member
Mar 3, 2015
314
1
South Derbyshire
I am unsure of the ECO mode as it goes into neutral all the time so was thinking that the dsg gearbox will bugger up quicker
i hadn't considered that, i watched a Lambo Huracan road test and noticed it dropped into coasting mode so was pleased it was available on the Cupra. i also thought it might cause extra wear on the brake pads on descents but as soon as you touch the pedal the gearbox kicks in again and adds engine braking.
 
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mbk72

Active Member
Feb 21, 2015
133
0
www.youtube.com
Is waste gate rattle and odd metallic and or swirling sound on light/medium acceleration? If so mine might have that too. I thought it was one of the silly sound actuator noises but maybe not?
 
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