So, I thought it about time to post up my long overdue readers ride thread.
I bought my LCR in March 2005 at the same time that I joined this forum. It was my local dealers demonstrator and had just 2800 miles on the clock.
Car in April 2005
Having studied the various mods and improvements on here I made a start on some simple ones almost straight away with the Fabia rear wiper and the bonnet seal. I also picked up a VAG CD changer on Ebay as Seat had dropped them from the Spec in lieu of the Tracker.
The car remained pretty much standard for the next year with just some tints being added to the rear side windows to keep the sun off my daughter in the back and keep it a bit cooler. I had bought a complete set of tints but have never got round to fitting the rest! Maybe one day.
Brake pads were the first serviceable item to require attention of course and the first set I fitted were Red Stuff. And these were what I took out onto the track for my first trackday in the Leon in September 2006. I had done a few trackdays before in other cars but the Leon really cemented my passion for getting out on track because it’s such a great car on track even unmodified. Every time I have had the Leon on track which has been at least a couple of times a year since then people have always commented on how quick it is. (although over the years it has gotten quicker anyway!)
The E30 M3 in the background belonged to my mate. The 2 cars (mine standard at the time) were well matched. He's since bought a 993 911 C2 to keep up with me!
If any of you subscribe the the Club MSV news letters you may well have seen my car as they often use it in promotional shots advertising their track days.
This was taken at Brands Hatch on my first outing on track with the LCR
Modifications have trickled onto the car over the years, mainly as my wife drives the car during the week for the school run so it has had to stay relatively practical. Otherwise it would probably already be a stripped out track car!
I can’t remember the exact order that a lot of the changes took place but the most significant improvements have happened over the last 18 months or so.
The general order and list of changes is here;
Bonnet seal
Fabbia Rear wiper
Number plates changed with smaller one on front
Grooved discs all round Ferodo DS2500 pads on rear, Yellow Stuff on front
(Did have DS2500 on front but only lasted 6 months and 2 track days)
Brembo refurb ala SCN guide (needs another one now)
Wheel Refurb at Pristine Alloys in Bedfordshire. Fantastic job but not cheap.
They now need doing again as my wife has an aversion to curbs!
Powerflex Dogbone mount bushes
Forge DV
K&N panel filter and drilled and smoothed airbox
Debadged
Aero front wipers
Then in September 2008 and being out of warrantee I took the car to Jabba for a Cat back Milltek and a custom remap.
After that there really is no going back! The car mapped to 273bhp and 290lbft which I was pleased with considering the mods done to that point.
Another couple of track days and a couple more cosmetic tweeks, (C2 aerial, silver bulbs in the rear indicators) oh and the obligatory N249 Bypass and a year later the car was back at Jabba for a set of KW Clubsport coilovers, Neuspeed antiroll bars, (28mm rear, 25mm front) and polybushes to the front wishbones. This was on top of a cambelt service at the same time. (An expensive visit!)
At the same time I purchased a set of Black Team Dynamics ProRace 1.2s with R888 tyres solely for trackdays.
Fortunately Luke at Jabba races an LCR in the Britcar series so I asked him to set the car up for the track and give me road settings too so I could return it to a more comfortable ride for my wife (still doing the school run in it!) and also for the winter.
Again, the car was transformed and on the track will peg more exotic machinery without any trouble. 993 and 996 911s being part of its staple diet now!
So in the last 6 months it’s had a couple more cosmetic tweeks, namely tinted side repeaters and matt black mirrors to keep the theme going with the black wheels. I tried carbon mirrors first but wasn’t too happy with the results and they didn’t look like they would last long so bought some new shells and sprayed them instead. I’ve also been messing around with a 3” cold air feed to the airbox which so far has taken the place of the front fog lights. I’ll post up more on this once I’m happy with it.
So going forward I think the next mod will be a FMIC and then, provided I can get my wife into a different car I shall change the down pipe and fit a race Cat and probably an induction kit before getting Jabba to map it again, but at the moment those mods would just make the car too noisy for her to drive every day. (It already raises eyebrows amongst all the Chelsea tractors in the school carpark!)
Finally, this week I have at last ordered a Forge TIP and a yellow spring and service kit for my DV. Routine stuff really but just never got round to getting these up to now. But now I have this thread I'll probably want to do more just so I can post updates. Damn You SCN!!!
I bought my LCR in March 2005 at the same time that I joined this forum. It was my local dealers demonstrator and had just 2800 miles on the clock.
Car in April 2005
Having studied the various mods and improvements on here I made a start on some simple ones almost straight away with the Fabia rear wiper and the bonnet seal. I also picked up a VAG CD changer on Ebay as Seat had dropped them from the Spec in lieu of the Tracker.
The car remained pretty much standard for the next year with just some tints being added to the rear side windows to keep the sun off my daughter in the back and keep it a bit cooler. I had bought a complete set of tints but have never got round to fitting the rest! Maybe one day.
Brake pads were the first serviceable item to require attention of course and the first set I fitted were Red Stuff. And these were what I took out onto the track for my first trackday in the Leon in September 2006. I had done a few trackdays before in other cars but the Leon really cemented my passion for getting out on track because it’s such a great car on track even unmodified. Every time I have had the Leon on track which has been at least a couple of times a year since then people have always commented on how quick it is. (although over the years it has gotten quicker anyway!)
The E30 M3 in the background belonged to my mate. The 2 cars (mine standard at the time) were well matched. He's since bought a 993 911 C2 to keep up with me!
If any of you subscribe the the Club MSV news letters you may well have seen my car as they often use it in promotional shots advertising their track days.
This was taken at Brands Hatch on my first outing on track with the LCR
Modifications have trickled onto the car over the years, mainly as my wife drives the car during the week for the school run so it has had to stay relatively practical. Otherwise it would probably already be a stripped out track car!
I can’t remember the exact order that a lot of the changes took place but the most significant improvements have happened over the last 18 months or so.
The general order and list of changes is here;
Bonnet seal
Fabbia Rear wiper
Number plates changed with smaller one on front
Grooved discs all round Ferodo DS2500 pads on rear, Yellow Stuff on front
(Did have DS2500 on front but only lasted 6 months and 2 track days)
Brembo refurb ala SCN guide (needs another one now)
Wheel Refurb at Pristine Alloys in Bedfordshire. Fantastic job but not cheap.
They now need doing again as my wife has an aversion to curbs!
Powerflex Dogbone mount bushes
Forge DV
K&N panel filter and drilled and smoothed airbox
Debadged
Aero front wipers
Then in September 2008 and being out of warrantee I took the car to Jabba for a Cat back Milltek and a custom remap.
After that there really is no going back! The car mapped to 273bhp and 290lbft which I was pleased with considering the mods done to that point.
Another couple of track days and a couple more cosmetic tweeks, (C2 aerial, silver bulbs in the rear indicators) oh and the obligatory N249 Bypass and a year later the car was back at Jabba for a set of KW Clubsport coilovers, Neuspeed antiroll bars, (28mm rear, 25mm front) and polybushes to the front wishbones. This was on top of a cambelt service at the same time. (An expensive visit!)
At the same time I purchased a set of Black Team Dynamics ProRace 1.2s with R888 tyres solely for trackdays.
Fortunately Luke at Jabba races an LCR in the Britcar series so I asked him to set the car up for the track and give me road settings too so I could return it to a more comfortable ride for my wife (still doing the school run in it!) and also for the winter.
Again, the car was transformed and on the track will peg more exotic machinery without any trouble. 993 and 996 911s being part of its staple diet now!
So in the last 6 months it’s had a couple more cosmetic tweeks, namely tinted side repeaters and matt black mirrors to keep the theme going with the black wheels. I tried carbon mirrors first but wasn’t too happy with the results and they didn’t look like they would last long so bought some new shells and sprayed them instead. I’ve also been messing around with a 3” cold air feed to the airbox which so far has taken the place of the front fog lights. I’ll post up more on this once I’m happy with it.
So going forward I think the next mod will be a FMIC and then, provided I can get my wife into a different car I shall change the down pipe and fit a race Cat and probably an induction kit before getting Jabba to map it again, but at the moment those mods would just make the car too noisy for her to drive every day. (It already raises eyebrows amongst all the Chelsea tractors in the school carpark!)
Finally, this week I have at last ordered a Forge TIP and a yellow spring and service kit for my DV. Routine stuff really but just never got round to getting these up to now. But now I have this thread I'll probably want to do more just so I can post updates. Damn You SCN!!!
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. Thanks for bringing Club MSV to my attention, I quite fancy one of those taster days. Do you have any recommendations for track insurance?
