New leon cupra 1.8t owner

[j976rna]

Hi just bought myself a leon cupra 1.8turbo 2003, after just selling my e36 328 cabriolet, as i needed something with 4 doors for the kids, and i hate the look of golfs, heres a couple of pics. It has a boost gauge,pipercross panel filter,and a cupra r backbox.
I bought it to keep it relatively standard, but it seems a bit slow compared to the 328, so im looking into remaps, whats exactly involved and is there any in the medway area?

 

[aaron-gardner]

Hi and welcome to scn. I find it interesting that you find the cupra slower than the 328 cab where as I'n my experience I found it hard to seperate them. The BMW was a little bit quicker to 60 but I have beaten many 328 of the lights befor I'n a standard cupra and kept pulling. But the BMW has a better top end but I'n the real world that don't matter. If you get a remap then you will feel a big difference.

 

[j976rna]

The 328 had an m50 manifold,big bore throttle body,induction kit and exhaust, which totally changed the laziness of it,and made it pull right up to 7000rpm.
The last turbo car i had was a r5 gt turbo,which i was kind of expecting the turbo spool up of the cupra to be like.
Its a lot more refined,and im guessing a remap changes the cgaracteristics of it.

 

[Steely]

A remap will unlock mass of useable torque,

Saying that a stock LC is on par with an e36 328, there's nothing in it ,

You'll find it more a placebo than anything. They don't actually feel as quick as theyre going, well not until you actually have something to compare with ,

And no they will never spool like a raggy 5 , even with a map , As you've said they're more refined & a bigger car At 1375kg

 

[j976rna]

A remap will unlock mass of useable torque,

Saying that a stock LC is on par with an e36 328, there's nothing in it ,

You'll find it more a placebo than anything. They don't actually feel as quick as there going, well not until you actually have something to compare with ,

It is a totally different car compared to what ive had,im used to having cars over 12 years old,which im just fed up with now

 

[Steely]

It is a totally different car compared to what ive had,im used to having cars over 12 years old,which im just fed up with now

To be fair as standard theyre quick but don't thrill. Stick a map on it and you'll enjoy it more,

You'll miss the power to the rear wheels though ! Theyre not the best powering through the corners! 328 sport running LSD ?

 

[aaron-gardner]

well in that case a standard cupra will feel slow to a 328 with those mods. that would have taken the 328 from 193bhp (approx) to a good solid 210-230bhp (claimed) and a lot of torque is feed up in the process especially with the new manifold. pretty much max out the stock engine without spending some serious cash. as you say the power in modern cars are more refined and less of someone kicking your back seat all the time. saying that if you spend some good cash on these 1.8t engines they can become some serious bit of kit. the average power crazy 1.8t engines are running well over 300bhp and some are over 600bhp. if you max out the current turbo on the standard 1.8t with a good downpipe and de-cat/sportcat with a good flowing exhaust and a few other mods. you can be knocking on the door of 240bhp.

 

[j976rna]

It had an m3 rear diff,ive found a company called aptuning in kent who ill be getting in contact with tomorrow about a remap

 

[j976rna]

well in that case a standard cupra will feel slow to a 328 with those mods. that would have taken the 328 from 193bhp (approx) to a good solid 210-230bhp (claimed) and a lot of torque is feed up in the process especially with the new manifold. pretty much max out the stock engine without spending some serious cash. as you say the power in modern cars are more refined and less of someone kicking your back seat all the time. saying that if you spend some good cash on these 1.8t engines they can become some serious bit of kit. the average power crazy 1.8t engines are running well over 300bhp and some are over 600bhp. if you max out the current turbo on the standard 1.8t with a good downpipe and de-cat/sportcat with a good flowing exhaust and a few other mods. you can be knocking on the door of 240bhp.

Im looking forward to getting about 210bhp, as the bm was very reliable engine wise, but the car was a bit too "raw" as it was on coilovers and the exhaust was very loud, it was an hour and a half car journey with my girlfriend and 2 kids that got out feeling very sick that made me buy a leon, as it has 4 doors,i love the shape, and i think im just going to concentrate engine wise on this.

 

[aaron-gardner]

210bhp is the standard satge 1 remap figures and is quite a difference from stock. to get stage 2 figures of 230-245bhp then a downpipe and de-cat kit is £90 delivered.
and a good cat back exhaust is anywhere in the region of £300
a uprated filter (panal or cone is fine) and recommended but not essential a uprated turbo intake pipe around £60 and front mount intercooler £220+
so basically for less than 1k you can be running stage 2 figures. but you may find a clutch replacement or upgrade will be needed depending on how you use the power.

 

[j976rna]

Its got a panel filter and cupra r rear box and middle pipe,so im told, would the turbo intake pipe make a difference without the map, or is the map the all important factor?

 

[Raks]

Welcome

Well like all the boys are saying a remap definitely changes the car. Makes it into a little animal.

Remap highly recommended, very satisfying pull which goes on forever lol

 

[j976rna]

Right,i tried getting my car remapped today, but it wouldnt let him do it, the error code internal control module memory error kept coming up, it drives fine,and boosts to about 0.8 bar,is this the normal setting for a cupra? Any advice on how i go about this,as theyre are so many good reviews about how good they are remapped

 

[Raks]

Right,i tried getting my car remapped today, but it wouldnt let him do it, the error code internal control module memory error kept coming up, it drives fine,and boosts to about 0.8 bar,is this the normal setting for a cupra? Any advice on how i go about this,as theyre are so many good reviews about how good they are remapped

You must of been gutted mate!? What place you go to?

One of the boys will pop up with an answer.

 

[j976rna]

He was close to me,he said hes never come across it before where the ecu wont let him read it, he said it could have had a revo trial map,but it kept throwing up that error. I am gutted as it looks like it might be a problem with the ecu

 

[aaron-gardner]

a good mapper on here such as jabba or badger to name 2 can bench map the ecu if their is a problem flashing via the odb port. because its only a case of a generic map its pretty straight forward work for these guys. ask around some of the reputable vendors on here for quotes and see which 1 is the closest.
as regarding the turbo intake pipe and other mods. if you just get a generic map stage 1 it will be 210bhp and thats it. a better downpipe and de/cat/sport cat will require a custom map but if fitted after will still improve the power somewhat but not as much as it would be custom mapped.

my advice...if your happy with just 210bhp then just get it mapped as is. but if your after more power down the line then its sometimes worth holding on till you can just go straight to stage 2. some mappers will offer a discount from going from stage 1 to stage 2 but that depends on mapper and how much really.

 

[j976rna]

Ive had a few conversations with people,they way of getting round it is having it bench mapped, where i take off the ecu and send it to said company,they open it and do it that way, the only problem thay i can see is ill only be able to get generic maps on it,not custom, or am i wrong?

 

[j976rna]

And ive just realised thats exactly what aarons said in that post lol

 

[aaron-gardner]

lol.. as far as i know once a mapper has "bench mapped" the ecu they should then be able to tweak the map as they want when it comes to a cutom stage 2 map for example. what usually happens when a car has been mapped before they usually put a copyright on it for example to stop people copying or stealing the map. so once its been done properly again the same company should tweak it for you at a later date.

 

[j976rna]

The fella did ask if i had other mods or was planning any