Dilemma..spend more on my LC or buy an LCR?

[Phillc]

I will be facing a a major dilemma next year i will be looking to:
A. buy a LCR
B. Spend up to £6000 on my cupra
I would be looking at full engine rebuild
K04 turbo and re-map, which i had planned for next year anyway.
Full respray (same colour)
Clutch
Exhaust
Gear box rebuild
Suspension
Arbs
Brakes
Wheel refurb
LSD
And a few other little bits and bobs.
This has come about as i have started a new job and i use the Cupra every day doing about 700 miles a month, i know that is'nt huge mileage but the Cupra has done 95 thousand miles now and i dont want the worry of reliability. My problem is that i have done quite a bit to the cupra that i would do again to the R, but once i have bought it i would not have any money to do them and it would take me ages to do it all again. don't want to loose the S3 seats or the RS 4 alloys as i don't like the LCR's wheels.(sorry)
I know i wouldn't get any money i spend on the Cupra back but you never do with mods anyway, but i would have a unique and individual car that is how i want it to be, and be in the BHP bracket of the LCR. I don't want huge power as i will be using it every day for work, just about 260/270ish. I am looking to keep it for along time.
What i need is some advice and opinions

 

[MrJohnnyB]

If you've looked after your cupra nothing stopping it from doing 150k+ without much expenditure. The problem you'll find is that you'll get like 3-4k for your car now and the extra you'd have to spend to buy an lcr would surely cover the cost of any repairs you may have to fork out for in the future? How mechanically sound has your car been?

 

[Phillc]

Its been good but i think the oil seal in the turbo has gone as the intercoolers have oil in them, and the bloody ESP light is on!!!!!!!I know the engines are fairly bulletproof just after piece of mind and the excuse to spend some money. plus it needs a respray really.

 

[stpete]

A lot of the parts you have on your cupra will swap to the R eg seats and interior stuff, the braces will swap, 007p etc as for the bit that wont, well there is usually a ready market for mod parts on here to help offset the costs. For the kind of power you want stg 2 would be my guess? If your keepin it a long time then mods can be built up slowly! not sure if i'm helping but from what i read and Johnny's comments, you've already nearly got an R in your cupra and 150k miles doesnt sound unreasonable, so unless your heart is set on an R, stick with unique!

 

[munkyboy]

I would say that the Cupra you have now should be mechanically sound as long as it has been looked after. As Johnny B has said that you would not sell your Cupra for much now and to upgrade to the Cupra R and put all your bits and bobs on it would pay for any problems with the car.

I personally think that I would stick with the Cupra because I was faced with the same dilema of whether i should fork out some extra money for Cupra R but have decided to stidk to the Cupra because if you are not after massive power then the Cupra should be fine and also like you said the Cupra is unique and it has your personality in it. This is what I like in cars is the car being unique, it doesnt matter what it is as long as it is different.

So personally mate, stick with the Cupra

 

[Phillc]

so unless your heart is set on an R, stick with unique!

Thats just it , i havent really set my heart on anything except a MK1 Leon Cupra /R i had thought of taking all the mods off but i cant take the strut brace off as it will leave the holes same with the rear.
thats why i thought just keep the Cupra and spend the money on it, ....but then oh i dont know...

 

[caveo]

Dont bother with the K04 ...go bigger!!!

 

[Phillc]

Dont bother with the K04 ...go bigger!!!

I knew you would say that, but the Ko4 is fine for the power i want and i know it will go on with very little messing about, but then i suppose the bigger turbo will as well.

 

[jamiebennett81]

Dont bother with the K04 ...go bigger!!!

my thoughts entirely

 

[Phillc]

Thanks for your replies guy's i will think about the bigger turbo whats the likely cost of doing it

 

[jamiebennett81]

Thanks for your replies guy's i will think about the bigger turbo whats the likely cost of doing it

3k if you want 330bhp or so

5k at least if you want 350bhp+

 

[ajoellew]

Surely if you trade in your Cupra (putting as much back to standard as possible) and chuck £4k in the kitty you should be able to pick up a tidy R. Then can refit all your mods plus you'll have £2k to spend on making it exactly how you want.

That is unless you decide to go BT, in which case stick with the Cupra!

 

[jamiebennett81]

personally I could not bare to see someone drive off with my cupra, as it is so customised now, and have spent not only money, but so much time, effort and planning on getting it to the stage I want it at, buying a newer R would just not do

the car is me now (pretty much an obsession) and seeing it being driven off I could never do

keep the car mate, as it looks great and save up for the BT.....vehicles this customised and have this amount of time and effort spent on them are a rare thing to see. I used to see lots of pre facelift cupra's like mine around....but I see more LCR's about now

stick with it, and make it even more unique

 

[Phillc]

personally I could not bare to see someone drive off with my cupra, as it is so customised now, and have spent not only money, but so much time, effort and planning on getting it to the stage I want it at, buying a newer R would just not do

the car is me now (pretty much an obsession) and seeing it being driven off I could never do

keep the car mate, as it looks great and save up for the BT.....vehicles this customised and have this amount of time and effort spent on them are a rare thing to see. I used to see lots of pre facelift cupra like mine around....but I see more LCR's about now

stick with it, and make it even more unique

Jamie that's exactly how i feel about mine, its taken me over a year to do what i have, i know a lot of the stuff is of the R but its not that i want an R its just that there is no better exterior styling available and interior wise the S3 is spot on( although might change it to the newer S3 interior) and i have done that as well, i would have to buy the interior again and the wheels just those two would be the best part of a grand, i just think that i can achieve more with the cupra.

 

[zippy12]

Thanks for your replies guy's i will think about the bigger turbo whats the likely cost of doing it

Check out backdraft motorsport (one of the site companies) why have some christmas specials on at the moment

http://www.backdraftmotorsport.com/performance-upgrades/bdm18tgt2860sc-180-325+-turbo.html

 

[jamiebennett81]

Jamie that's exactly how i feel about mine, its taken me over a year to do what i have, i know a lot of the stuff is of the R but its not that i want an R its just that there is no better exterior styling available and interior wise the S3 is spot on( although might change it to the newer S3 interior) and i have done that as well, i would have to buy the interior again and the wheels just those two would be the best part of a grand, i just think that i can achieve more with the cupra.

save for the BT, you know it makes sense

 

[Phillc]

Check out backdraft motorsport (one of the site companies) why have some christmas specials on at the moment

http://www.backdraftmotorsport.com/performance-upgrades/bdm18tgt2860sc-180-325+-turbo.html

That's Spot on i will definitely have a word with them, it looks like they could do most of the work i would want.

 

[jonjay]

Thats just it , i havent really set my heart on anything except a MK1 Leon Cupra /R i had thought of taking all the mods off but i cant take the strut brace off as it will leave the holes same with the rear.
thats why i thought just keep the Cupra and spend the money on it, ....but then oh i dont know...

Your going to lose money trading in your cupra and buying an R. Your only going to want to mod the R anyway. Seeing as you done some nice mods why not just go BT. Look at Jamie and Caveo's cars for example.

Dont bother with the K04 ...go bigger!!!

Indeed!

personally I could not bare to see someone drive off with my cupra, as it is so customised now, and have spent not only money, but so much time, effort and planning on getting it to the stage I want it at, buying a newer R would just not do

the car is me now (pretty much an obsession) and seeing it being driven off I could never do

keep the car mate, as it looks great and save up for the BT.....vehicles this customised and have this amount of time and effort spent on them are a rare thing to see. I used to see lots of pre facelift cupra's like mine around....but I see more LCR's about now

stick with it, and make it even more unique

Ditto.