4WD Leon Maybe

TDi Buz

Full Member
May 26, 2004
77
0
London SW
Caught a Skoda ad on TV last night for the Octavia estate which apparently is available with 4 wheel drive........wonder if they'll allow it on the new UK spec leon then
 

Ruddmeister

Everything in Moderation
Jun 23, 2003
8,218
1
Weston-super-Mare
en.wikipedia.org
They already do one in this shape.


My guess is that it's unlikely the new Leon will be available in th UK in 4WD, small market, RHD conversion costs extra and the very costly Type approval too would make it uneconomic
 

m0rk

sarcasm comes free
Staff member
May 19, 2001
27,787
33
Clanfield, UK
tbh, I'm not sure it *needs* 4wd

it's not like we have mountain passes, 3 months of snow & ice etc

4wd suits people's need for not learning how to drive in inclement weather sometimes...
 

Rickman

Guest
Spoke to my dealer who has already ordered his new Leon Cupra. Asked why they dropped the 'R' he says that sometime in the future he has heard the Leon will be offered with 4WD and this will become the new 'R'.
If there is a market for it, and i suspect there is then SEAT will surely make one
 

Rickman

Guest
Not so sceptical myself, marketing men and potential sales figures will dictate if a fwd is produced. More of the same simply won't do in todays economic climate. Other manufactures will inevitably catch up...blimey even vauxhall might even produce an Astra ZXR that handles properly
I for one would be very interested in a FWD LEON CUPRA R - incidently check the latest car mags it looks like Subaru are going to start producing a half decent looking 4wd 3dr hatch. I bet it's around 20K and it will take a big chunk of sales off the other hot hatch contenders.
 

warren_cox

Back from the dead
I think it would be a great thing is SEAT did go for a 4wd. Can't be hard to do as its basically the same running gear as the S3. As for what lump they'd use in it though..... If only the new R36 which is going in the R36 Passat (in Autocar this month).

I haven't heard that they are doing a 4wd Cupra Mk2 in Spain yet, and thats usually a good indicator. The Cupra 4 didn't sell massively in the home market, and as they never offered it in the UK they have no indication of demand. Don't dispute it would be an interesting option but there supposedly will never be another R, maybe just a Cupra 4.
 

m0rk

sarcasm comes free
Staff member
May 19, 2001
27,787
33
Clanfield, UK
Would they though with the R32 and R36 and S3? Might tread on feet?

for that reason & the fact that it'd just cost too much

they're on teh limit with the Cupra as is.... most likely a chassis easily capable off 300bhp... so why bother with 4wd? to cover up inept driving in wet?
 

OLDOILER

Full Member
Jul 28, 2005
1,292
1
Wiltshire, UK
Caught a Skoda ad on TV last night for the Octavia estate which apparently is available with 4 wheel drive........wonder if they'll allow it on the new UK spec leon then

It has been discussed in other threads, believe the "restriction" is AUDI marketing - they have to be top dog SEAT did make a 4x4 but for the European maket - its on the spares listing and no doubt if you has access to a VAG parts bin you could build it from the Golf 5 4motion platform - how deep are your pockets???!!??
 

hengel

Guest
There is a percistant rumor that there will be a Leon version of the Audi S3. It wil have 4WD and 265 HP. The S3 will be upgraded to 280 HP. Its the same thing they did with the Cupra R version of the Leon I altough there they did not adopt the 4WD.
 

siwel

Full Member
Apr 20, 2006
94
0
If it's going to happen they'll probably keep it just a rumor until they've had a decent run with the cupra, staged release of the top end models to encourage sales.

I'll be looking to upgrade my Tdi in probably 2.5 years so if a 4wd version is out then I'd seriously consider it, hopefully it can be reliably/easily tuned to the 300bhp mark, and able to keep the power on the road due to the 4wd. Something that you can have fun with on the track, I've only had the TDi 6 months but already missing a car with some decent power.
 
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