My LCR Since '05 with Static+ Front Air Lift - Project Gone to a New Home.

[jonjay]

James, it all depends on what you want.

First and for most the 1.8T lumps respond extremely well to remaps and they are strong engines so don't be put off by a remap stage 1 or 2. The car has been looked after and driven so no reason why anything bad should happen. Also it will make you fall in love with the car as different dynamics will come into play and challenge you and the car. For example, you may wish to start making ride height changes as handling and breaking will be different with more power. Bushes will come into play to improve handling as will a differentials - with more power the game starts to change. I believe you are very much like I was but we went ever so slightly different paths but you still have paths available to you! With me the diesel aspect really stopped me progressing the car as it would cost reliability. The availability of parts for 1.8T is huge and way more researched and developed. I can only echo El's comments on how practical these cars are...they are very practical and again not much out there that is better.

Ultimately it is what you want from your next car. From someone who went quite far with their car I do regret getting rid however I still believe I got rid of the car for the right reasons. Ultimately to upgrade but the next upgrade will be harder.

It is pointless selling the car and getting another hatch as I personally don't think it will give you anything above what you have or the difference will be small. Powerful Saloons, the running costs will be huge trust me. I was an inch away from buying a C63 after the 335d but soon as I did some numbers that went out the window. However an RS4 is a drivers car so costs may not be an issue. You considered something like a Porsche Cayman? That would be my choice for a reasonable upgrade for not astronomical amounts of money.

So, important question. What do you really want? Faster? More luxury? Better handling? Mix of everything?

//Maz

 

[Seal_LCR]

Don't wana sound rude but u may have missed the point abit. A new arrival yet a cayman? I wouldn't suggest it even just a weekend car.

 

[EL]

I would love to see a few mk1 LCRs become fashion icons like some of the mk2 golf gti's I see attending shows these days. Cars like this, D.K's and Dereks bagged b1tch are the type of cars which I can see doing it. Cars like mine have no chance as I am proper tight when it comes to spending money on the looks side of things yet splash out constantly on performance upgrades.........all depends on the type of person you are and how you enjoy the car.

As Maz says don't be put off too much by horror stories when upping power. Every car is different and there are plenty of us with highly tuned cars on standard internals etc. I understand you would want to get everything first like the clutch, rods etc etc but in all honesty you will find yourself constantly building a spec and never enjoying it. I have had my car for 4 years and only now put it on track even tho it has been ready for a long time. Shame really as I could have enjoyed it much sooner. We sometimes get caught up in constantly striving for perfection and forget to enjoy the excellence

 

[DOLBY]

James i can only echo what others have said already...

I too was in this boat (2009ish) just after i had a hit and run on my car. and last year (was going to embark on some travelling and/or moving away from England), so was weighing up everything, and realising its still a big substantial lump of money sitting on the drive, i STILL couldnt part with it. Its a strange weird feeling- almost like all the hard work/effort/overtime/sacrifices etc would all go to waste if you just decided to give up and sell on.

I have noticed the massive trend nowadays with mk1 LCRs with keeping them OEM+. I think these will continue to live on as classics alongside all the mk4 golf show queens etc. A good paint up with reinvigorate the love again im sure.

As i previously said in this post, was going to sell up last year, but thought 'if im gonna have a modified car once in my life, im gonna go all out and build a awesome machine...any cars that follow this will NOT be modified at all, i guarantee it' mentality.

You are a lucky man mate, if your wife wants you to keep the car as a weekend toy, this is awesome as most husbands would of been told the car 'has to go'.
As been said, 5 doors, lots of space, power at your fingertips, reliability, kudos, the list goes on. These are great cars and im glad there is still a handful of owners left that think like we do (after 6+ years with the car), and that they are worth holding onto.

I do agree though with a replacement. If me i will ALWAYS get an Audi A4 avant diesel 3litre. After running a powerful hatchback that has the tendency to drink, a nice frugal diesel will be the way forward. But not a weedy 2 litre one...will have to be 3 litre + or not at all.

Keep the thread updated though buddy...

 

[jonjay]

Don't wana sound rude but u may have missed the point abit. A new arrival yet a cayman? I wouldn't suggest it even just a weekend car.

Not rude mate. I do understand his point perfectly and yours too.

When someone says "RS4" but then goes onto say a "nice family Audi would be perfect for me". My thoughts are that James still wants to sports car but his brain is kicking in with family element mixed in.

Reason i suggested a Cayman was to try and coax an answer as to what he really wants. You can do a Cayman and have money left for a family car.

 

[t0m]

James, congrats on the new addition on the way firstly may I say!

Secondly, you cannot get rid of this car yet. No way. It will never be looked after as well as you have kept it by it's next owner, and also in my opinion your project isn't finished yet. Respray and do some shows next year. Come and meet us lot at AmD and hopefully we can also meet at some shows your way.

This is a fantastic MK1 now and you need to realise it. There isn't many cars worth changing for without lashing out a big chunk of money. IMO it is not worth me changing to a £18k Audi S3 despite how luxurious and more modern they are to my LCR. There isn't enough of a gain and my LCR still frightens me with it's speed and the way it wants to pull the road apart. So why change? I don't see the logic now until I really change for something radical. It's a decent size, cheap to run for a performance car, easy to tune and yours is pretty highly tuned already now. Don't do it mate!

I want to see you and the car one day at a mate and have a proper chat, so you need to hold on with moving on from this car for a while yet if it's ok!

 

[James23Parkin]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment

Yes, we want/need comfort and luxury. The A4 estate is a perfect family car, and we've wanted one for ages. My wife would be the main driver in any case, so mixing family requirements with performance wouldn't be logical.

The RS4, for me, is a dream car. The reason I stated that I'm not yet ready for one is because of the above. Plus I'm a fussy bugger and would be a grump because of it being used as a family work horse.. This would be the same with the LCR too.

I think any new parent can share this sentiment. My time is going to be juggled quite a lot with work and a baby, but at the moment I can't say whether I'll have the time for the LCR or not?? Only time will tell I guess.

At this stage in my life, I wouldn't consider another performance car. Firstly because there's nothing that I fancy, and secondly, after 8 years of ownership, I never thought I'd ever get rid of the LCR. It is such a well packaged car with oodles of potential, as most will know.

It's been a really enjoyable period of ownership. At this moment, I don't feel as enthused by it and haven't for a while. I wouldn't want this car to gather dust, and I don't think just maintaining it would grab my attention to keep with it, considering what's forthcoming. So, thinking about ways forward will be something that I continue to give serious thought to.

Maz's words a while back still resonate with regards to regrets for having got rid. Bret's moto of "go big or go home" is pretty much where I am.

Thanks once again for the kind words

 

[jake]

I was it the situation 6 months ago when our little fella arrived, thus far mother and baby have never been in my Leon. The ISP fix base stays fixed in her meriva, it's got a big boot for the pram, does better mpg than mine too.

Like you say there not worth a great deal now and must admit I have had 4 so keep coming back as other cars just can't compete as a package, I think tdi performance has improved but your forever changing gear due to the low rev range. Also had a tdi est and they are alot more refined drive due to the suspension setup

Personal opinion buy the mrs a new car haha.

Ps I'm nearly 30 too

 

[James23Parkin]

Thanks Jake... A new car is on the cards, that's for certain, and yes, my wife will be the main driver... These are great cars, but as said above, I just need to give some thought to car's future and how I can go about continuing to enjoy ownership

 

[RDS]

For all the effort thats gone into this mate you've at least need to get a map on it and see how you feel after that. Don't get rid of it, it'll never be as well looked after as it is now.

 

[ha2020]

Absolutely brilliant, loving the drop especially !

 

[James23Parkin]

For all the effort thats gone into this mate you've at least need to get a map on it and see how you feel after that. Don't get rid of it, it'll never be as well looked after as it is now.

Thanks Richard. I know you're right about it possibly not being looked after better by a future owner. I'm sure we all have that conern.

I went to my folks for dinner yesterday, which was an hour away. With the sun shining and the car running great, it really was an enjoyable drive. It always gets a few looks (hopefully for the right reasons) but the car actually got complimented at a Shell garage by a couple of lads on the way home... Doesn't do much for the arguement of the car not doing it for me... I have to admit, the way it sits at the moment really does make it look very nice. That's the thing with these cars, you get a cheeky glance and you can't help but be drawn in...

Absolutely brilliant, loving the drop especially !

Yeah, I'm pretty chuffed with how it sits. Drives really well too. I have a pair of 5mm H&R spacers that I might add to the front to get the wheel to sit flush with the arch, as is with the rear.

I think I might service the Static+ units at the weekend and give the arches another scrub. Maybe i'll fit the spacers then and see if it compliments it any more or not.

I've started to search for a local garage space so that the car can be kept over winter whilst I give thought to where I go with the car next.

In other news, Baby Parkin's first picture...

Chuffed

 

[mozza]

Congratulations !

 

[Seal_LCR]

Not rude mate. I do understand his point perfectly and yours too.

When someone says "RS4" but then goes onto say a "nice family Audi would be perfect for me". My thoughts are that James still wants to sports car but his brain is kicking in with family element mixed in.

Reason i suggested a Cayman was to try and coax an answer as to what he really wants. You can do a Cayman and have money left for a family car.

That's very devious of you hahaha. Glad someone doesn't take offence to comments on here.



Congrats on the first scan.

As for the LCR personally I would keep it. When we had our little boy at the time I had a CTR and a 205 gti with mi16 on carbs. I proceeded to get rid of both and brought a focus diesel 5dr and a cheap work car. All the time I wasn't happy and kept changing I went from the focus to Leon fr+ TDI then back to a focus then a Honda civic 2.2cdti before I finally came to the conclusion I wanted a car I actually wanted and could play with as it was a hobby. I don't go to the same time consuming lengths as before due to having more important things to spend my time on but every now and again I'm out there thinking or adding something new.

My advice would be don't be too quick to get rid of you can afford to keep it buy a family car (boring if need be) and keep the LCR when the petrol/modding bug bites back you will find it hard to replace this car and will prob always regret giving it up to early.

I'll shut up now anyway!

 

[James23Parkin]

KW Competition rear struts...

Giving thought to the ‘jobs list’, I recently bought some rear top mount fittings, as these weren’t replaced when I fitted the aftermarket suspension a couple of years ago. They are Mayle aftermarket mounts. My tie arms are also made by Mayle; really impressed with their quality and fitment.

For a reason for which I’m not sure of, I’ve never got round to fitting my KW Competition rear shocks Finding a spare hour late this afternoon, I pulled them out of storage. Unfortunately the cardboard box had got a little damp and caused a bit of surface pitting. Only planning on giving them a wipe over, I ended up polishing them up with a wool wheel and compound. I then sealed them with wax to give them a chance against the elements.

I think they’ve come up really well. If the weather is good tomorrow, I’ll put the rear of the car on jacks and fit them. I have set them to medium rebound, which is the same as the front KW Competition shocks.

I also still have my Powerflex rear bushes to fit. Does anyone have any experience with fittings these? Having replaced all the other bushes on the car myself, I know what to expect. The only thing I’m uncertain about is having read a few bits, it seems that the old bushes can be a bugger to remove and that a tool can be purchased to remove them in quick fashion?? Any practical advice would be greatly appreciated.

In that ‘not too sure where to go with the car’ phase, I’ve decided to keep up with the odd jobs with the hope that it’ll help me find direction.

I’ll update tomorrow with fitted pics (if the weather holds up). I’d really appreciate it if anyone could give me any practical points in removing the rear bushes. Thanks

 

[Ronin225]

The easy way to rebush the beam is to completely remove it from the car instead of struggling insitu
This will require brakes off and brake line clamped as the lines clip onto the beam and will need to come off
My bushes came out easy with a bang from a hammer, but failing that the wishbone style break the rubber out and cut the case can be done.
The most difficult bit is getting the new ones in , an insertion tool can be made from some plate and all thread
Its also not the easiest to offer the beam in if you're on your own so another pair of hands could be a life saver.
Also i'd allow a whole day to do it
You will need to bleed the rear brakes after too so make sure you account for this
I have pics in my RR of when and Phill did mine

 

[James23Parkin]

The easy way to rebush the beam is to completely remove it from the car instead of struggling insitu
This will require brakes off and brake line clamped as the lines clip onto the beam and will need to come off
My bushes came out easy with a bang from a hammer, but failing that the wishbone style break the rubber out and cut the case can be done.
The most difficult bit is getting the new ones in , an insertion tool can be made from some plate and all thread
Its also not the easiest to offer the beam in if you're on your own so another pair of hands could be a life saver.
Also i'd allow a whole day to do it
You will need to bleed the rear brakes after too so make sure you account for this
I have pics in my RR of when and Phill did mine

Thanks Ronin. That's very useful. I also found this link:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=83511

On reading your advice and assessing the work needed, I thought against fitting the bushes. I've fitted the rear KW struts. They went on fine. Thinking about things, if I can find a garage space, I'll remove the rear beam and refurb the whole lot and fit the new bushes then.

I've also made some rubber spacers to fit between my coil springs and the Static+ units. The spring usually sits against the metal base unit, and this makes a slight creeking noise on lowering, which is annoying. The polyurethane spacers will stop this. I've done the passenger's side by removing the strut and disassembling it all to fit it. Time ran away from me so i'll have to do the driver's side in the week if I can find the time.

 

[Seal_LCR]

If you do decide to sell this car let me know ;-)

 

[toledo.2.3.v5]

Done a top job mate love the colour

 

[James23Parkin]

If you do decide to sell this car let me know ;-)

Hahah... I'll take that as a compliment...

Done a top job mate love the colour

Thanks buddy. There seems to be a bit of a revival of Ovnis at the moment, which is great to see. My car is starting to show signs of the dreaded paint fade though, which has prompted me to start looking for a decent body shop, should I decide to keep moving forward with my car