gary.cooper
Guest
Hi Everyone,
Having lived with my Supercopa for 4.5 months now, I thought I'd post some information on how I've got on with the car, it's positives and it's negatives. Maybe as a bit of help for anyone considering buying up a cheap new one with the release of the new Leon last weekend or a used one.
Having owned a Leon 1.6 S Mk1 prior to this and now having consistently owned Leon's since I passed my driving test, I think it shows I am a fan somewhat getting a VW for much less.
The Supercopa is certainly a good choice if you want a Leon with power, but not the 20-25mpg you get from the Cupra, but still more power than the other models.
Body
I also personally think the body kit on it and the twin rear exhausts either side of the bumper look much better than that of the Cupra and the body certainly makes the car look completely different to all other Leons and in a sense, rare!
I have noticed though that when cleaning it, all the curves and angles make the car extremely difficult to wash, primarily from the body kit and certainly adds 10 or 15 minutes over cleaning another car. Similarly, you get a huge amount of black muck on the inside of the door sills and it has to be cleaned off with a cloth.
Wheels
The aluminium alloy 18" BBS wheels are certainly exquisite and look fantastic! Some of the nicest alloys I've ever seen and if you accidentally ever manage to curb it, the nature of aluminium forms a film over the mark and it is hardly noticeable!
Tyres sometimes depend on dealer and when the car was manufactured, but watch out. My car has the run flat Bridgestone tyres ~ £175 each. The tyres are mind numbingly hard and ridiculously loud at high speeds, so when it comes to replacing them, I would probably go for the Michelin (non run flat).
Engine
The 170PS 2.0 TDI common rail engine is certainly torquey! No matter what gear you are in or what speed you are doing, there is always instant power! Similarly, the 6th gear ensures the engine is very quiet at high speeds. There is almost no turbo lag (unlike the 1.6TDI that VW make).
Typical RPM at 70mph is around 2,000rpm. 55mph is around 1,500rpm. The peak torque is around 1,700rpm which means there is always power when already moving.
When it comes to acceleration from 0 however, there's so much torque with only a cheap Electronic Diff, means there is a lot of axle tramp and a horrible shudder if you floor it with the ESP on.
If you turn the ESP off, this is reduced and you accelerate considerably faster! However, this is at the expense of your tyres.
Economy/Reliability
The car is already on 8,000 miles and the adaptive service system in the car also means for those that do long business miles, it is a good car so you don't have 'down days' or have to fiddle about with dealers and courtesy cars! I mainly do business miles and as a consequence, the car is saying it won't require a service until 20,000 miles! Similarly, the oil in that time is still on the max level of the dip strick, so all good in that sense.
The main disappointment, as with any car is the difference between what a manufacturer claims a car can reach in MPG compared to use in the real world.
Below are typical MPGs you will actually get (and this applied to all the 2.0TDI 170PS engines except the 4wd engine):
Around Town: 40 - 50 mpg
Dual Carriageway: 45 mpg
Motorway: 50 mpg
Combined: 45 mpg
Driving Carefully, I regularly experience (so it is possible):
Around Town: 50 mpg
Dual Carriageway (55mph): 60 mpg
Motorway (55 mph): 65 - 70 mpg
Combined: 58 mpg
At 70mph, you will only reach around 45 mpg on an A road due to the constant speed ups and slow downs each time a lorry overtakes and of course roundabouts. Interestingly, on motorways for the first 15 miles or so, you will get the 45 mpg as expected and it will stay very constant however, after this and rather miraculously, the MPG then begins to climb and will reach 52mpg. I'm not an expert, but there must be something programmed in the ECU to reduce fuel input after a set amount of time/distance at a constant RPM as it does suddenly rise - it isn't gradual.
For those interested in the ongoing debate over the value of 'V Power' fuels, I did do a fair trial of this on the same journeys in similar weather of normal diesel compared to the 'V Power' type diesel. There was no increase in mpg (you would expect 8% more from the 8% extra it costs over normal diesel), there was no increase in acceleration from 0 however, there was a little increase in acceleration at speed (ie accelerating when already at speed) however, this increase was barely noticeable and the 8% extra cost did not warrant it.
Interior/Gadgets
The interior and black and red stitched seats are extremely comfortable. I sometimes work very long days and in the old Leon (which was extremely comfortable anyway) I could last around 8 hours before feeling uncomfortable. In this new car, I can last around 11 hours before feeling uncomortable.
The adjustable lumbar support in both front seats certainly helps!
The chopped off steering wheel makes it very easy to get in and out of and the rear leg room has a huge increase over the old car! The addition of the comfort light in the rear, has also proved useful light in this frequently dark country. The increase in rear legroom however, has significantly reduced the size of the boot over the old car quite noticeably. The old car's boot was possibly too big but came in useful sometimes like going to the airport with a loaded car.
The electric heated and folding mirrors are very useful, but that combined with the coming home function does make you look like a bit of a c*** to any passers by. The headlight washers are kind of pointless really and just end up wasting a load of screenwash! I'm currently going through around a gallon every 8 weeks. Mainly, the washers just spray wash in one place on the headlights and then it trickles down the bumper, so I am considering removing the fuse to save me money and the wash fluid low light coming up all the time!
The dash is very clear and the dial controlled climate control looks much better than the digital system about 3 years ago.
I love having the mini sat-nav in the dash giving instructions, the sat nav is extremely quick to calculate routes (usually 2-3 seconds!) and the automatic re-route for traffic is absolutely fantastic! I went to Nottingham and it steered me round a traffic jam on the M1 turning off just as I could see the few mile long queue! It is also a very useful safety feature if you haven't got the sat nav running. If the sat nav isn't running, Sandie (as I call the lady in the sat nav) will quieten the stereo and let you know of a traffic jam that may be a few miles ahead so you, unlike other motorists, are prepared to slow down in advance - I'm amazed at how accurate the system is.
The MDI is useful however, being down in the centre console means that if you have a USB plugged in, you can't chuck anything else down there as it knocks the USB out of place. Similarly, the MDI seems to have trouble reading anything if the temperature in the car is below 5 degrees even if the USB has just been taken out of the house.
The DAB radio is good giving more choice, but they still need to boost the signals around the country as it gets annoying with the DAB cutting out every few minutes!
The worst part however, is the speakers. They are terrible! If you dare go above 14 on the volume all you get is distortion or a tinny bass sound and the door panels make a horrible vibrating sound. They are miles from the quality of the speakers in the old car (which were actually pretty good and very bassy and clear even at high volumes), so I would suggest at the first opportunity to get yourself a set of aftermarket speakers and an external amp to replace the rubbish that's in there. Maybe even a cheap subwoofer in the back. I had the curved Onyx subwoofer in my old car - really good and really reliable. The subwoofer, cables and amp were £100. I would say though that adding a power cable from the battery to the subwoofer may void any warranty so check first!
Overall
Good Points
Bad Points
I hope this helps anyone looking at a possible purchase!
Having lived with my Supercopa for 4.5 months now, I thought I'd post some information on how I've got on with the car, it's positives and it's negatives. Maybe as a bit of help for anyone considering buying up a cheap new one with the release of the new Leon last weekend or a used one.
Having owned a Leon 1.6 S Mk1 prior to this and now having consistently owned Leon's since I passed my driving test, I think it shows I am a fan somewhat getting a VW for much less.
The Supercopa is certainly a good choice if you want a Leon with power, but not the 20-25mpg you get from the Cupra, but still more power than the other models.
Body
I also personally think the body kit on it and the twin rear exhausts either side of the bumper look much better than that of the Cupra and the body certainly makes the car look completely different to all other Leons and in a sense, rare!
I have noticed though that when cleaning it, all the curves and angles make the car extremely difficult to wash, primarily from the body kit and certainly adds 10 or 15 minutes over cleaning another car. Similarly, you get a huge amount of black muck on the inside of the door sills and it has to be cleaned off with a cloth.
Wheels
The aluminium alloy 18" BBS wheels are certainly exquisite and look fantastic! Some of the nicest alloys I've ever seen and if you accidentally ever manage to curb it, the nature of aluminium forms a film over the mark and it is hardly noticeable!
Tyres sometimes depend on dealer and when the car was manufactured, but watch out. My car has the run flat Bridgestone tyres ~ £175 each. The tyres are mind numbingly hard and ridiculously loud at high speeds, so when it comes to replacing them, I would probably go for the Michelin (non run flat).
Engine
The 170PS 2.0 TDI common rail engine is certainly torquey! No matter what gear you are in or what speed you are doing, there is always instant power! Similarly, the 6th gear ensures the engine is very quiet at high speeds. There is almost no turbo lag (unlike the 1.6TDI that VW make).
Typical RPM at 70mph is around 2,000rpm. 55mph is around 1,500rpm. The peak torque is around 1,700rpm which means there is always power when already moving.
When it comes to acceleration from 0 however, there's so much torque with only a cheap Electronic Diff, means there is a lot of axle tramp and a horrible shudder if you floor it with the ESP on.
If you turn the ESP off, this is reduced and you accelerate considerably faster! However, this is at the expense of your tyres.
Economy/Reliability
The car is already on 8,000 miles and the adaptive service system in the car also means for those that do long business miles, it is a good car so you don't have 'down days' or have to fiddle about with dealers and courtesy cars! I mainly do business miles and as a consequence, the car is saying it won't require a service until 20,000 miles! Similarly, the oil in that time is still on the max level of the dip strick, so all good in that sense.
The main disappointment, as with any car is the difference between what a manufacturer claims a car can reach in MPG compared to use in the real world.
Below are typical MPGs you will actually get (and this applied to all the 2.0TDI 170PS engines except the 4wd engine):
Around Town: 40 - 50 mpg
Dual Carriageway: 45 mpg
Motorway: 50 mpg
Combined: 45 mpg
Driving Carefully, I regularly experience (so it is possible):
Around Town: 50 mpg
Dual Carriageway (55mph): 60 mpg
Motorway (55 mph): 65 - 70 mpg
Combined: 58 mpg
At 70mph, you will only reach around 45 mpg on an A road due to the constant speed ups and slow downs each time a lorry overtakes and of course roundabouts. Interestingly, on motorways for the first 15 miles or so, you will get the 45 mpg as expected and it will stay very constant however, after this and rather miraculously, the MPG then begins to climb and will reach 52mpg. I'm not an expert, but there must be something programmed in the ECU to reduce fuel input after a set amount of time/distance at a constant RPM as it does suddenly rise - it isn't gradual.
For those interested in the ongoing debate over the value of 'V Power' fuels, I did do a fair trial of this on the same journeys in similar weather of normal diesel compared to the 'V Power' type diesel. There was no increase in mpg (you would expect 8% more from the 8% extra it costs over normal diesel), there was no increase in acceleration from 0 however, there was a little increase in acceleration at speed (ie accelerating when already at speed) however, this increase was barely noticeable and the 8% extra cost did not warrant it.
Interior/Gadgets
The interior and black and red stitched seats are extremely comfortable. I sometimes work very long days and in the old Leon (which was extremely comfortable anyway) I could last around 8 hours before feeling uncomfortable. In this new car, I can last around 11 hours before feeling uncomortable.
The adjustable lumbar support in both front seats certainly helps!
The chopped off steering wheel makes it very easy to get in and out of and the rear leg room has a huge increase over the old car! The addition of the comfort light in the rear, has also proved useful light in this frequently dark country. The increase in rear legroom however, has significantly reduced the size of the boot over the old car quite noticeably. The old car's boot was possibly too big but came in useful sometimes like going to the airport with a loaded car.
The electric heated and folding mirrors are very useful, but that combined with the coming home function does make you look like a bit of a c*** to any passers by. The headlight washers are kind of pointless really and just end up wasting a load of screenwash! I'm currently going through around a gallon every 8 weeks. Mainly, the washers just spray wash in one place on the headlights and then it trickles down the bumper, so I am considering removing the fuse to save me money and the wash fluid low light coming up all the time!
The dash is very clear and the dial controlled climate control looks much better than the digital system about 3 years ago.
I love having the mini sat-nav in the dash giving instructions, the sat nav is extremely quick to calculate routes (usually 2-3 seconds!) and the automatic re-route for traffic is absolutely fantastic! I went to Nottingham and it steered me round a traffic jam on the M1 turning off just as I could see the few mile long queue! It is also a very useful safety feature if you haven't got the sat nav running. If the sat nav isn't running, Sandie (as I call the lady in the sat nav) will quieten the stereo and let you know of a traffic jam that may be a few miles ahead so you, unlike other motorists, are prepared to slow down in advance - I'm amazed at how accurate the system is.
The MDI is useful however, being down in the centre console means that if you have a USB plugged in, you can't chuck anything else down there as it knocks the USB out of place. Similarly, the MDI seems to have trouble reading anything if the temperature in the car is below 5 degrees even if the USB has just been taken out of the house.
The DAB radio is good giving more choice, but they still need to boost the signals around the country as it gets annoying with the DAB cutting out every few minutes!
The worst part however, is the speakers. They are terrible! If you dare go above 14 on the volume all you get is distortion or a tinny bass sound and the door panels make a horrible vibrating sound. They are miles from the quality of the speakers in the old car (which were actually pretty good and very bassy and clear even at high volumes), so I would suggest at the first opportunity to get yourself a set of aftermarket speakers and an external amp to replace the rubbish that's in there. Maybe even a cheap subwoofer in the back. I had the curved Onyx subwoofer in my old car - really good and really reliable. The subwoofer, cables and amp were £100. I would say though that adding a power cable from the battery to the subwoofer may void any warranty so check first!
Overall
Good Points
- The car is good fun and has a lot of power
- The car is very comfortable and the auto dimming rear view mirror, auto wipers and auto headlights are a god send!
- Excellent mpg if you want speed but economy. Range on a tank is around 500-600 miles.
- Plenty of room, plenty of gadgets and good value
Bad Points
- The Bridgestone tyres are very loud at 70 mph
- The MPG figures stray significantly from what the manufacturer states
- The speakers are terrible and need an improvement
- The car needs more engineering than a cheap Electronic Diff to put its power down when accelerating from 0
I hope this helps anyone looking at a possible purchase!
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