Cupra r or fr +?

gti power

Active Member
Oct 1, 2008
8
0
I'm considering a seat leon as my next car and I'm not sure if I want the petrol cupra or the diesel fr.
I'd be doing around a 40 mile commute to work and back each day but I'd also like to use the car for my mountain biking and fishing so considering the diesel as it won't cost me a fortune to go places.

I'm no expert on vags but I'm aware of the water leaks on leons etc and about the pick ups blocking on the 1.8T engines I'm guessing the diesels suffer with the dual mass flywheels, does the petrol have a dual mass?
I'm just wondering what issues both have and what advantages of owning one over the other?

The petrol cupra seem to be sensibly priced with low/average miles where as the diesels seem to be similar money with twice the miles so I'm concerned about potential failures of expensive components such as injectors etc.
Thanks.
 

Stuart83

Active Member
Jan 2, 2007
290
0
Tamworth, Midlands
Hmmm ... Difficult one that.

The diesel will no doubt give you much better mpg than the Cupra R - I have the R at the moment and am averaging about 32mpg on a tank. It depends on your route, driving style etc as to what you'll get out of it, as I have seen up to 40mpg on a good long motorway journey, but that's more likely to be 50+ from the diesel.

I think the main thing to be considering with the diesel is the "chocolate camshaft" issue - have a Google / forum search. Having not owned a 150 diesel I can't really comment on how frequent / likely this is, and I guess its a lot less frequent than is made out. It's like the oil pickup pipe on the 1.8T - as long as the cars been looked after and serviced correctly there shouldn't be any issues.

Afaik both cars use a DMF, the R definitely does as mine was replaced along with the clutch kit not long ago. I'd budget for around £750 (if you buy the parts and supply them to the garage), especially if its not been done on any car over 100k miles, maybe a little more on the TDI if its not been remapped.

All Leons can suffer from the leaky seals, as I believe it affected most of the VW MK4 Golf platform cars. So many guides on here though if it does happen, and its a pretty easy fix.

I must admit the Cupra R does feel a bit special (to me anyway), they look amazing, and they perform better than they look! If you can get an FR+ diesel (2005+ I think) they come with the Cupra R bodykit and a 17" version of the R alloys, and you'll be getting good mpg on top. Rarer than hens teeth though.

It's like any car though, diesel for economy, petrol for excitement :) I'm currently looking at moving to a diesel to save some money as I have a similar length commute.

Probably confused you even more now, sorry! :)

Oh, and the R is way more to tax (£285), and probably more to insure.
 
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gti power

Active Member
Oct 1, 2008
8
0
Thanks for the reply, I suspected they both used DMF I'm a technician so fitting the parts wouldn't cost it's just Purley down to parts expenses, I don't want to buy a car and be spending on it all the time (which I'm sure isn't going to be the case).

I have heard about the cam issue and I'm thinking long term what I'd save in fuel costs may later get spent in repair bills, I'm assuming that the petrol is a more reliable car overall?

See I only really expect to get 25mpg from a 1.8T so anything more would be a bonus, I have seen a couple of fr's for sale with the kit on majority seem to have around 150k on the clock. One of them is on here and Edition 38 they seem to have had camshaft replacements and the usual DMF but I can't help thinking I'd be buying further possible failures as things like turbos and injectors may soon be next.

I have also done a couple of VAG cars for the water ingress and I'm aware that it's not a difficult job, I also had a browse through the buyers guide last night which was very informative and will definitely be used if I decide to purchase one.
 

Stuart83

Active Member
Jan 2, 2007
290
0
Tamworth, Midlands
In that case, go with the Cupra R ... the smile it'll put on your face will be priceless!

Genuinely awesome cars, even the missus likes mine as it's big, safe, and does everything you could ever want a car to do.

Handling and stopping are in a different league even to the 'standard' Cupra (without mods).

Plus they do seem to be pretty reliable ... apart from consumable items I think I've only had to replace a few ignition coils and a MAF.

Do it!
 

LCsTed

Active Member
Jan 19, 2014
198
0
Hampshire
I have the FR+ and I was getting around 55mpg on the motorway doing around the same miles as you everyday. The 'chocolate cams' are the big thing on a 150 pd engine so you are looking at around £3-400 parts n labour. Other than that they go like a stink with load of torque. If you remap then the grin factor is even better. Other than a cam change anywhere after 80-90k you can get a lot of bang for your buck.


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747_727

Active Member
Apr 2, 2012
1,113
2
Essex
I moved from a mk4 Ibiza tdi to a LCR as I got board of the Ibiza very quickly. It was a nice car and with 160 bhp it went ok but I missed the far better performance of a turbo petro and I missed the ability to rev a petrol too. I get at least 32mpg and can get 36 on a run. Mine has been remapped so it goes very well too.
 

gti power

Active Member
Oct 1, 2008
8
0
Hmm see the petrol doesn't seem to uneconomical by the sounds of it.
What is the tax on a diesel?
 

gti power

Active Member
Oct 1, 2008
8
0
So the tax is considerably less on the diesel, I'm guessing they won't have Dpf filters even on the latest mk1's?
 

gti power

Active Member
Oct 1, 2008
8
0
So today I priced up a clutch and flywheel for both the petrol and the diesel and the petrol was £395 diesel was £350 so not a huge difference.
The chocolate cam issue is putting me off I feel £400 fitted is cheap if you were paying labour but obviously I'd do it myself.
What other issues are there to be concerned about on the fr?
 
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