Ibiza Cupras

[Grapo]

Hi,

I've been a member on here for a good few years now. I used to own a 1.2 mk4 Ibiza (some may remember me), however i sold up and bought a Lupo GTI. The Lupo is a great car, really fun to drive but i am craving more power, room and generally a more grown up car. The Ibiza Cupra (1.8T > 1.9TDI) is takingmy fancy but i have a few questions.

-What is the handling like? It probably wont be as good as my Lup (on KW Coilovers) but i dont want to buy something thats going to be very very bad. Does the petrol handle better than the diesel?

- Whats the 1.8T engine like to drive?

-Are the seats in the Cupra any good? As in do they 'hug' you well?

-Whats the build quality like generally? I only owned my 1.2 for a year and it seemed fine, interior plastics arent that great but that is expected.

-Would you own one again?

Cheers

Graeme

 

[Ad Lav]

Cough cough... testdrive!

I know you mate, you go to bluewater meets, clublupo, silver gti with BMC.

Wouldn't know about the cupras but the fr/sports handle well, epspecially on coilovers.

As for diesel vs petrol, I don't wanna start an argument about what hadles better, probably best off popping to Seat mate and getting testdrive in both on same day, same route.

 

[Grapo]

You know me?! I wouldnt want coilovers again really, they are fun but to 'bouncy' (if that is the right word) on the motorway etc, but that may be down to the Lups short wheelbase.

 

[Mr Cellotape]

In all fairness the Cupra is quite crashy over the bumps in the road, but no more than the equivalent Clio 182.

The seats do not Hug as well as the Clio's although that may be because I'm not a fat git. (maybee I need to eat more to make them hug me )

As said before get down to Seat, tell the salesman your dilema, if they are any good they will let you have a blast in both cars

I haven't found the build quality to be an issue, except for the rear disks needing replacing very early.

Have a scoot through the threads, others may of had different problems.

 

[Dario]

Hi,

- Whats the 1.8T engine like to drive?

-Are the seats in the Cupra any good? As in do they 'hug' you well?

-Whats the build quality like generally? I only owned my 1.2 for a year and it seemed fine, interior plastics arent that great but that is expected.

-Would you own one again?

Cheers

Graeme

1.The engine is great to drive,very powerful

2. Cupra seats are good,the dont hug you like profesional race seats

3.build quality is better that the other models

4.i dont have a cupra,i am driving an FR,but i see my self in a Leon Cupra at 2008.

 

[T. Spark]

Yo, G!

So thats why I got a random msg on MSN... thinking of coming back to your routes! Still have your debadged grill

Anyway, all depends how much you intend to mod the car aswell, insurance etc etc.

Shame im not down your way for awhile now, otherwise you could have a blast in mine, give you the feel of a diesel atleast.

Personally handling wise, well id like to see alot of these 'best handling' hatchbacks get away from down some twisties

 

[Grapo]

There is a difference between catching someone on the straight after lumbering round a corner though!

Anyone got personal experience of both engine varients in the Cupra?

(may be wanting my grill back!)

 

[iancupra]

- Whats the 1.8T engine like to drive?

Very good especially with REVO. Once rolling you will find yourself keeping up easily with more powerful cars. It amazed me how quickly & easily I could get it up to 120(on my private road ofcourse)

-Are the seats in the Cupra any good? As in do they 'hug' you well?

I thought the seats were good, I never used to slide around in them like I have in some cars.

-Whats the build quality like generally? I only owned my 1.2 for a year and it seemed fine, interior plastics arent that great but that is expected.

Interior is plasticky & cheap feeling but nothing broke in 15months

-Would you own one again?

Yes, If I had the money id buy my old one back in a second.


I cant compare to the Diesel version because Ive not driven it.

I loved mine in the 15months I had it, It was a fun car to drive & I always got out of the car after driving it with a big smile on my face.

 

[rashcupra]

i own the cupra 180 and lowered it on fk coilover i find the ride not to harsh (better and stiffer than standard) handles alot better but still ropey at times! never driven the diesel cupra so can really compair!

seats and interior is lovely perfect to my taste not ott but propper smart! love the red stitching and logos!

the 1.8 t engine is easily tunable and loads of fun ive only remapped and got a viper on mine (performance wise) and im hitting bout 6seconds 0-60 and plenty more mods in the post now to improve that !

if i ever did sellmy cupra (madness!) i would definatly get anouther one! rare fast and good looking diesel and petrol!

 

[T. Spark]

There is a difference between catching someone on the straight after lumbering round a corner though!

Anyone got personal experience of both engine varients in the Cupra?

(may be wanting my grill back!)

Been a few times ive had ago against the market leader's (so they say)

Just remember round a track the car will perform alot difference, and with the right driver. You can get a great driver is a randomly good/fast car that can out drive a muppet in a stupidly good handling car that is faster!

(Your not having it back )

 

[Nick_J]

I have 56 plate FR TDi, I love the 130 bhp engine, so much torque, in 2nd, 3rd, 4th theres not much that'll beat it. The 130bhp engine has the same torque as a 3.2l V6 Audi TT my gf's mum has, so gives you an idea.

Having said that, the dealer told me the Cupra TDi shreds tyres and has a fair bit of torque steer, and he said he didnt really think it was as good to drive as the FR as you are always worrying where it will throw you if you hit a dip in the road with your foot planted

Hope that helps!

 

[muddyboots]

About the seats, if the Cupra seats are the same as they used in the Sport models (might not be), I found them quite disappointing, yes they had side bolsters but I could slide a couple of inches either way before they touched me, hardly "hugging" but then I am only 12 stone... Also I found the under-leg support fairly lacking too.

 

[Grapo]

Thanks for your replies people.

I hope the seats arent just the same as the FR's but different fabric as my Mum has a diesel FR and the seats are poor imo. I must have a proper drive of heres but i dont think they FR's are set up the same as the Cupras are they?

 

[Nick_J]

What do you mean by setup?

All that will be different mechanically wise will be slightly more gruntier and slightly stiffer suspension.

The interior might have Cupra instead of FR scribed all over it, but I doubt its that much different

 

[Ric 2001]

Have to agree with muddyboots's opinion about the lack of "hugging". these are no where near the same leauge as Recaro/LCR's seats. I do move in them slightly, I think they don't wrap around enough.

Looking at the picys on the seat's website. I'd have to say that the Fr's seats are 90% identical to the Cupra's, shape wise.

T.Spark what the market leader? Honda TYpe R or Renault 172/182/192?

 

[Grapo]

What do you mean by setup?

All that will be different mechanically wise will be slightly more gruntier and slightly stiffer suspension.

So the 180bhp is only slightly 'gruntier' than the 150bhp FR engine?

Set up, as in suspension, brakes, engine performance, general cornering etc etc

 

[Phil__Arosa]

I've just upgraded from an Arosa Sport to a MK4 Cupra petrol. The arosa was lowered on FKs with 16s - the ride was fairly harsh and bumpy. The Cupra is much more comfortable but still more crashy than I was expecting.

The seats are pretty good. think the sport seats in the arosa were more grippy.

Obviosly like you, the power was the tempting factor for me.

 

[Ric 2001]

So the 180bhp is only slightly 'gruntier' than the 150bhp FR engine?

Set up, as in suspension, brakes, engine performance, general cornering etc etc

the 150 can be tuned to the same as a 180 eg. if the 180 can be tuned to 240 so can a 150. They do have a different supsension geometry setup, bigger brakes, different interior, different steering wheel, at the time white dials - but think they have introduced this to the FR range, some small differences in bodywork mainly the front bumper, its got a FMIC not SMIC, bigger intake, Thicker ARB? Did have 17" wheels but think the new shape FR has 17" now.

Like people say "it brings a smile to my face"

 

[T. Spark]

I'd go with all of the above for handling, people always say the 182 etc are good, yet ive had no problem upsetting all the ones ive seen, same goes for CTR etc, but I dont want to turn this into a LCR vs CTR thread

Grapo - There is a little more difference that a little 'gruntier' as jones says!

Brakes - Are better

Turbo - I believe is different? Dont quote me on that one tho.

SMIC vs FMIC - The FR has a SMIC whilst the Cupra has a FMIC thats a Seat Sport one, which means its thinner than the Forge FMIC, and could be better (mixed views on that one)

Not to mention interior/exterior bits are different, suspension etc.

The real question you have to ask yourself isnt which one you like the most, but do you have to worrie about insurance?

FR TDi group 8
FR 20vt group 12 (i believe)
Cupra's diesel/petrol BOTH 15.

If you can get insurance and dont mind paying, its hands down a Cupra you will want.

I was barely 18 when I bought my FR TDi, with less than a years driving under my belt (tho plenty of miles!) if I could insure a group 15 car, id have gone for the cupra... as you get alot more for your money and if you buy 2nd hand you can pick up really 'mint' cupra's for peanuts as, as bad as this sounds, no one wants them!

I do, just couldnt afford insurance and spent too much on mine now to look back!

Hope this helps,

 

[jj10]

Driven; 1.8t mk4 cupra
Pd160 Cupra
Pd160 Cupra (jabba'd)

I've found the petrol to be the better driving car outta the 3 - Prefering it to even the jabba'd PD model (204 bhp & 330 lbs/ft). I might be coz i'm a lazy driver that i don't like having to keep the PD on the boil with the 6 speed box...

Handling wise, the cupra was composed / planted - although my testdrive didn't take in any really bumpy roads - but lots of twisties and high speed bends, which it dealt with well enough as you could expect from a FWD car.

Haven't driven any FR model for comparison but a guy at the stealers reckoned there wasn't THAT much of a difference ( which is odd, coz you'd think they'd wanna push the dearer car on you...)

If you could stretch to it - you could do a lot worse than a petrol cupra.