#5

MarkE

Acceptable in the 80s
Jul 20, 2003
1,705
0
Lancaster
www.markeaston.org
Give an infinite number of monkeys a typewriter each and they'll eventually type the complete works of Shakespeare, or at least the first two Harry Potter books.

In much less time, and with a lot less monkey crap to shovel, I've owned :

- Mk1 Leon Cupra R
- Mk2 Leon Cupra
- Mk2 Leon Cupra R
- Mk3 Leon Cupra 280

...and now a Mk3 Leon ST Cupra 300 4Drive (not the most snappy name; the bloke with the Focus RS has finished telling everyone what car he owns and is halfway through his second pint by the time you get the full name out) :

cupra300_01.jpg


Once again, I can't fault RM Fisher SEAT in Lancaster. If they weren't my closest dealer, I'd still make the trip - I'm still waiting for the dealer in Preston that's now part of a nationwide chain to call me back with a trade-in price for my car against a Mk1 LCR back in 2003...


ANYWAY, the car. Early observations :

- Desire Red is amazing - if you're ordering a car, don't rule it out until you've seen it in the metal. The photo is corrected so it looks, on this monitor, with these eyes, like it does in the metal. It's a kind of metallic blood orange colour.

- The difference in power between this and the 280 is more noticeable than I expected. There was laughter.

- Haven't driven an auto since the early 2000s so there was some swearing when the box wouldn't just CHILL THE F**K OUT in Cupra mode, but that was soon sorted.

- Piling it into a quiet roundabout was interesting, you can feel the power (the best word I can think of is "pulsing"), to the rear wheels.

- Haven't had the opportunity to try Launch Mode yet.

- Larger touchscreen (this might have been a thing on the 290, not sure) is welcome, don't know if I'll get much use out of Carplay but it's nice to have it. Likewise the option of displaying boost/power gauges - a feature that'll leave 80% of the population cold ;)

- Not sorry to see the back of the white seat edging - it stayed cleaner that I expected but the faux-carbon looks much better, as do the alcantara door cards.


Summary : Every SEAT I've owned has been an improvement on the last and this one is no different. This is a Good Thing.
 

mrbugle

Active Member
Jun 25, 2015
209
0
I like the colour a lot, don't discount Carplay either, Apple Maps knocks the socks off the unbuilt GPS.
 

Biker

Full Member
Oct 6, 2003
1,593
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Northumberland
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- Desire Red is amazing - if you're ordering a car, don't rule it out until you've seen it in the metal. The photo is corrected so it looks, on this monitor, with these eyes, like it does in the metal. It's a kind of metallic blood orange colour.

Sorry mate, but that is not red it is maroon and yes I have seen it in the flesh! :lol:

I am gutted that seat have dropped the solid red, my current Cupra 280 is red and the Cupra 300 I have on order would have been red, had they not discontinued it. Now I will have to learn to love Mystery Blue :cry:

By the way, it is a lovely looking car and I am pleased you are happy with it :D
 

Pinky

Active Member
Sep 27, 2015
185
9
Fantastic colour. The st has such nice lines and with that paint it looks very good.
 

Snarks

Full Member
May 18, 2002
202
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Nice. Always go to Galgate myself after years of pain with what was ***** Preston. They're not Arnold Clark anymore, now Johnsons.

Ready for my 5th Leon in September. Can't decide between your colour or the Mystery Blue.
 

ajg74

Active Member
Dec 9, 2016
121
4
Manchester
That is a stunning looking car, very jealous!
I'm not normally a fan of red cars but this new red is stunning, my local dealer have got a Cupra in their showroom in it and it just looks sooo good in person.
 

MarkE

Acceptable in the 80s
Jul 20, 2003
1,705
0
Lancaster
www.markeaston.org
OK, thoughts after 1100 miles...

Good Stuff

  • I guess it's the colour - random people in carparks and petrol stations have actually complimented the car, so it must look good even to people who haven't just paid a lot of money for it.
  • Fuel economy seems on a par with the 280 hatch - on a trip up to Fort William the week before last, I managed 37mpg without trying. For anyone familiar with the A82 between Tyndrum and Glencoe Village, you'll know it's useful to be able to overtake quickly and safely to make the most of the route, it wasn't exactly an economy run ;)
  • Adaptive Cruise isn't a box I would have ticked if I'd specced the car but I'm impressed. Much less Cancel > Resume > Cancel > Resume action than in the last one. Downside is I'm assuming it triggers the brake lights when it slows you down, and people who show unnecessary brake lights on a motorway are a special kind of evil.
  • Being able to stow the tonneau under the boot floor is a small but very welcome thing. My last estate, a Volvo V50, didn't have anywhere useful to put it, so your options were (a) Use up some boot space or (b) Remove it completely and leave it somewhere before setting off. On several occasions it ended up in the passenger footwell.
Not So Good Stuff

  • It feels more unwieldy than the hatch on your average back road. Guess it's the weight and weight distribution making the difference.
  • The DSG box is great when you're in traffic or generally pootling around. It's also great when you're pushing on a B-road with the box in manual and using the paddles to shift down when hard on the brakes. I'm sure I'm not the 1,000,000th person to say so but it can be a nightmare when you're anywhere in between - it's too easy to catch it out heading in the wrong direction and have to wait what seems like forever to get any drive. Sometimes it won't settle in a gear and cruise, sometimes it won't kick down when you want it to. But... I'd still rather have the DSG. My 280 was a manual, I never got on with the mapping from 2000-3000rpm and sometimes it just had an off day where it wouldn't re-engage smoothly after a 1st-2nd upshift to save its life.
  • I miss the proximity sensor for the touchscreen.

On balance...best car I've owned? Definitely :)
 
Last edited:

Shaggy's FR TDi

Active Member
Feb 5, 2017
99
0
OK, thoughts after 1100 miles...

Good Stuff

  • I guess it's the colour - random people in carparks and petrol stations have actually complimented the car, so it must look good even to people who haven't just paid a lot of money for it.
  • Fuel economy seems on a par with the 280 hatch - on a trip up to Fort William the week before last, I managed 37mpg without trying. For anyone familiar with the A82 between Tyndrum and Glencoe Village, you'll know it's useful to be able to overtake quickly and safely to make the most of the route, it wasn't exactly an economy run ;)
  • Adaptive Cruise isn't a box I would have ticked if I'd specced the car but I'm impressed. Much less Cancel > Resume > Cancel > Resume action than in the last one. Downside is I'm assuming it triggers the brake lights when it slows you down, and people who show unnecessary brake lights on a motorway are a special kind of evil.
  • Being able to stow the tonneau under the boot floor is a small but very welcome thing. My last estate, a Volvo V50, didn't have anywhere useful to put it, so your options were (a) Use up some boot space or (b) Remove it completely and leave it somewhere before setting off. On several occasions it ended up in the passenger footwell.
Not So Good Stuff

  • It feels more unwieldy than the hatch on your average back road. Guess it's the weight and weight distribution making the difference.
  • The DSG box is great when you're in traffic or generally pootling around. It's also great when you're pushing on a B-road with the box in manual and using the paddles to shift down when hard on the brakes. I'm sure I'm not the 1,000,000th person to say so but it can be a nightmare when you're anywhere in between - it's too easy to catch it out heading in the wrong direction and have to wait what seems like forever to get any drive. Sometimes it won't settle in a gear and cruise, sometimes it won't kick down when you want it to. But... I'd still rather have the DSG. My 280 was a manual, I never got on with the mapping from 2000-3000rpm and sometimes it just had an off day where it wouldn't re-engage smoothly after a 1st-2nd upshift to save its life.
  • I miss the proximity sensor for the touchscreen.

On balance...best car I've owned? Definitely :)
All sounds like usual Leon lol
As for you DSG box fella
Get it remapped! Yes the gearbox has it's own ECU. As you will know, if in PADAL mode and slowing down and you don't change down it does it itself. Remap stops that, gives you 100% control, you then have to change down or it will stall engine, also more responsive in all modes, have read somewhere that you can also set the auto gear change revs I.e stop it changing to 1st at roughly 1400 revs, also the accelerator position for auto kick down, basicaly tune gearbox to your driving style, I had FR 170 tdi with DSG. Found it less laggy when need to quick go, fast car should go not have gearbox think about it. DSG Dual Selected Gears has a 50/50 chance to get in correct gear, not leave you for what seams an eternity with none then gives ya higher wrong gear as you wanted to go not cruise lol
Do some research on it. Last I read was around £400

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

MarkE

Acceptable in the 80s
Jul 20, 2003
1,705
0
Lancaster
www.markeaston.org
As you will know, if in PADAL mode and slowing down and you don't change down it does it itself. Remap stops that, gives you 100% control, you then have to change down or it will stall engine, also more responsive in all modes, have read somewhere that you can also set the auto gear change revs I.e stop it changing to 1st at roughly 1400 revs, also the accelerator position for auto kick down, basicaly tune gearbox to your driving style, I had FR 170 tdi with DSG. Found it less laggy when need to quick go, fast car should go not have gearbox think about it. DSG Dual Selected Gears has a 50/50 chance to get in correct gear, not leave you for what seams an eternity with none then gives ya higher wrong gear as you wanted to go not cruise lol

Interesting stuff, time for me to do some research... :)
 

MarkE

Acceptable in the 80s
Jul 20, 2003
1,705
0
Lancaster
www.markeaston.org
OK, so I had a week down in North Wales, total mileage is now just over 2000.

  • Pretty much settled now on an Individual drive profile, everything set to Comfort other than steering and DCC in Cupra. Comfort is almost always fine but it felt WAY too bouncy on uneven tarmac in Wales.
  • Managed high-30s mpg over a 500 mile trip, not unhappy with that at all.

Still loving it.
 
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