JHox's Leon FR CR170 (Lenny)

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
So after passing my test in my sister's 1.2 Fiat 500 - Surprisingly fun drive with a very upright seating position and gear stick close to the wheel (like an EP3 Civic Type R) lol.

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I purchased my first car. My trusty Mazda 323F affectionately and paradoxically named "Bullet" couldn't fault it, very reliable, very practical and very slow. Only problem was the rust in the arches particularly the rear so tended to that with the old sand paper, primer and colour matched aerosol paint.

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It wasn't pretty but it was cheap and got me about plus the boot was huge somewhere between a hatchback and an estate car great for transporting the essentials like bikes and christmas trees.

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I will have fond memories of that car and the adventures I had with friends in it. Never let me down and nothing went wrong with it apart from someone breaking off the passenger side mirror whilst it was parked on the road in Loughborough. Did the 1hr drive home from university with it all duct taped up just barely holding on replacement delivered for £45 and it was fairly easy to install.

That brings me on to the Seat story. In looking for something new it was between 2 cars: A Mk1 Mini Clubman Cooper S or a facelift Mk2 Leon FR.

I was almost sold on a mini, almost shook hands until an almost affordable Leon FR 2.0 TDI appeared on Autotrader not too far away.

Within a week a deal was struck and I had the keys to a 2012/2013 Leon FR+ with a great spec. Heated leather, xenons, satnav, the lovely 18 inch ibera alloys, centre armrest pretty much everything bar sunroof I think.
 
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Jimbobcook

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Nov 24, 2012
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Welcome to the forum,

I see pictures of old cars but not the one that matters haha love a good mk2 although I'm not bias at all...

What colour did you get? Where abouts are you based be good to get some more MK2's to a few meets.

Cheers
 

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
Welcome to the forum,

I see pictures of old cars but not the one that matters haha love a good mk2 although I'm not bias at all...

What colour did you get? Where abouts are you based be good to get some more MK2's to a few meets.

Cheers

Pics are on the way once I've gone through and blurred out the reg plate from the images.

Had to be white of course. Would have loved blue or yellow but wouldn't have come inside the budget.

I'm based in South East Leicestershire/ North Northamptonshire/ South West Rutland. 5 mins from Rockingham Motor Speedway
 

Jimbobcook

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I'm based in South East Leicestershire/ North Northamptonshire/ South West Rutland. 5 mins from Rockingham Motor Speedway
I'm an a fellow rutlander lol small world. It makes me feel good when someone knows where rutland is haha I used to travel to Corby for 6 years then Rushden for 4 years. The back roads through Gretton and Liddington were always fun in the snow lol
 

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
But that isn't really where the seat story began. The love for the Mk2 Leon started back in 2010 when me and my family were still living in United Arab Emirates. Looking for a replacement for my mum's V8 Discovery 2 we had exhausted all options Ford Fiesta/ Focus, FN2 Civic Type R, Golf GTI, Kia Sportage :repuke:, Ford Edge among many others I can't care to remember.

Eventually we walked into the small Seat garage on Sheikh Zayed Road and there awaited a brand new 2.0 Petrol TSI 2010 Seat Leon FR in silver a short test drive later we bought it. I fell in love with that car - I thought it was the most handsome hatchback on the market and what made it even better was the DSG box and the addictive upshift noise. I joyrode it a couple of times around the compound where we lived whilst my parents were away and took it over to my friend's house.

Ever since then I knew I would have another Leon Mk2 in my life.

And so it begins. Meet Lenny Jr

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JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
I'm an a fellow rutlander lol small world. It makes me feel good when someone knows where rutland is haha I used to travel to Corby for 6 years then Rushden for 4 years. The back roads through Gretton and Liddington were always fun in the snow lol

Haha small world, I'm by the eyebrook reservoir, equidistant from Leicester, Northampton and Peterborough and about 30 mins from your county town Oakham
 
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JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
I've owned the car for almost a year now. Car came with a NI reg but I assumed someone had purchased it as a private reg however the stored home setting on the satnav directed me to Belfast haha.

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The first year hasn't been that exciting. Small stuff like detailing:
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Door jams (Not the same door but you get the idea)

Before:
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After:
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AutoGlym Magma
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Some replacement centre caps as the old ones were looking corroded and horrible
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Jimbobcook

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I love a good detail me! That magma brought out some colour I suppose it's alot easier to see it on white lol

You should check out the who's using what thread and post what you have so we can all spend money on stuff we don't have haha https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?threads/what-are-you-using.445746/

I do think that the little things make a difference like the center caps, mine had gone completely pretty much and changed them which looked awesome.
 

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
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A battle with a kerb in Kettering left my Eagle F1 Asymmetrical tyres worse for wear fortunately no leaks however a lovely scratch on the alloy was left as a war scar...
 

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
I'm using mostly AG stuff at the moment Super Resin Polish and Extra Gloss Protection can't face the price of a carnuba wax just yet especially with a white car. Other than that meguiars clay bar, autosol for the exhaust tips also use a autofinesse drying microfibre which is very good. Need to step my detailing game up.
 

JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
First year of ownership has been great, the diesel torque is addictive although not quite as exciting as the petrol equivalent is at the top end. It's fun to scare your passengers with a 2.5k revs 2nd gear pull.

In December when my first insurance period was up it was time to 'mod' ! With much deliberating and some input from LegoJon and others on here ultimately the deciding factor was the Black Friday sales, a Bilstein B12 Sportline kit for just £430 I think. I couldn't pass up on that offer.
Bought some new top mounts too... Also on sale :bounce: fair to say I was excited to get them on


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JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
Now when I look back the standard leons have a very high ride height exacerbated by the 'chin up' shape and small size of the front bumper. The Cupra is slightly lower. Nearing 80,000 miles the old shocks were due to be replaced and the ride has been much improved.

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Edit: ^ the oil wasn't coming from my car ^ lol

The new set up is only ever so slightly harsher on slow bumps around town but much less bouncy and more composed on higher speed country roads and motorway bumps.

It also looks the dogs b****ks now (NOTE: Ride height has settled down a few more mm since these photos were taken)

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The only problem as you notice most from this last rear quarter shot is the offset of the wheels especially the rears is far too high making the wheels look as though they are hiding inside the arches.

So next on the list was spacers. 2x10mm spacers on the rear:

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Also you might notice I wrapped the dull plastic B pillar and rear door handle C pillar? With gloss black 3M vinyl wrap to look like the Cupras. I think this is a great mod really makes the car look premium will try and get a better pic of them for the next post.

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And finally the classic FR mod plate recess wrapped black to mimic the Cupra again. Also a shorter front plate I think really neatens up the front end.

This is how the car looks today

Future mods:
- Front grille surround wrapped gloss black
- Rear bumper diffuser/ valance wrapped or painted gloss black
-15mm spacers on the rear + move 10mm spacer to the front
- Clean and paint brake calipers silver
- Would like to get the centre arm rest and maybe the shift gator leather retrimmed in alcantara

After the next year of insurance is up
- A stage 2+ remap and custom exhaust with cupra style oval tip.
- Cupra/ S3 345mm brakes
- TRC front splitter


Thanks for reading
 
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JHox

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
51
8
Market Harborough
Almost 2 years later and many happy miles of driving thought I ought to update this.

The car remained unchanged until the end of 2019 when I picked up a set of the best wheels you can get for a Leon 1p imo, Cupra R alloys shod with new Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber! In black which offset nicely against the Candy White body paint.

This year I decided to let the guys at Narco Tuning do their magic, and magic they did 218 bhp from the CR170 with peak torque at 320lb-ft. The CR170 was always a punchy motor that allowed the Leon to get out of it's own way when needed but beyond 50mph it just didn't pick up the way you really wanted it to when you put your foot down. Now it makes light work of accelerations at motorway speeds and the previous sweet spot 2nd gear accelerations make way for raucous bouts of wheel spin as the front tyres clamber for grip fighting the torque. 3rd gear comes far too quickly and the pulls in this gear which were often painfully lacklustre are the new sweet spot and can quite readily break traction in wet conditions.

More than ever I find myself hunting for excuses to take Lenny for a run it really has taken it to the next level next stop custom exhaust to get some half decent noise out of that diesel lump.


Narco Tuning Dyno Run:
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