2015 Leon 184tdi VS Ibiza Cupra 1.8TSI

[Aar0n1507]

Hey guys this is my first post on here and I was just wondering if I could have some advice from some of you!

I'm currently about 4 weeks away from buying one of the following:

Seat Leon FR 2.0 184TDI
Seat Ibiza Cupra 1.8TSI

However, I'm unsure which one to get for a range of reasons.

I'm leaning towards the leon due to the fact that it's more within my budget ( £10,000 - £10,500 ), it's also cheaper to tax and insure. However, I only cover around 12000 miles a year and I'm concerned that I will run into issues with the DPF & EGR valve etc. My mileage consists of a wide range of short ( 15 min journeys on b-roads ) medium ( 35 mins flat out on A-roads ) and long journeys ( hour of both A-roads and city driving ).

Having never owned a diesel before makes me lean back towards the Ibiza Cupra. However, there's so few around that are within my price bracket, also they cost more to tax, insure and no doubt run.

So my questions are as follows

Any Ibiza Cupra owners out there, what's your MPG figures like and have you ever ran into any problems?

Any leon 2.0tdi owners, have you ever ran into any issues regarding the DPF / EGR failing and would I be likely to face this given the miles I do? Do they feel as quick as an ibiza cupra might? Any known faults or problems?

Any input would be much appreciated, thanks guys.

 

[SRGTD]

I don’t have either of the cars you’re considering but I do have a VW Polo GTI that has the same 1.8 engine as the Ibiza Cupra. I’ve owned it from new since March 2016, and apart from routine servicing and its first MOT earlier this year, it’s not been back to the dealer.

I don’t cover many miles these days - around 6k per year and mainly ‘A’ road driving. My current long term average fuel consumption is 42-43 mpg - not much opportunity to exploit the car’s performance on my regular routes due to the volume of traffic, so much of my driving is just going with the flow of the traffic. When there are opportunities to use the car’s performance, the performance is good as you’d expect with a 192ps engine in a small car. Suspension is quite firm but not uncomfortably so. I’d expect the suspension set up to be similar in the Ibiza Cupra.

With the Polo GTI, the battery is located in the spare wheel well which means you loose the flexibility of the lower position of the flexible boot floor - don’t know if this is the same in the Ibiza Cupra but might be worth checking out if boot space is an important consideration for you. This means the boot space is undeniably small, but it’s not an issue for me as I rarely carry rear seat passengers so can always flip the rear seats down if I need to carry large loads.

Of the two cars you’re considering, I’d probably go for the Ibiza, but I’d strongly recommend you test drive both to help you make your decision.

 

[Aar0n1507]

I don’t have either of the cars you’re considering but I do have a VW Polo GTI that has the same 1.8 engine as the Ibiza Cupra. I’ve owned it from new since March 2016, and apart from routine servicing and its first MOT earlier this year, it’s not been back to the dealer.

I don’t cover many miles these days - around 6k per year and mainly ‘A’ road driving. My current long term average fuel consumption is 42-43 mpg - not much opportunity to exploit the car’s performance on my regular routes due to the volume of traffic, so much of my driving is just going with the flow of the traffic. When there are opportunities to use the car’s performance, the performance is good as you’d expect with a 192ps engine in a small car. Suspension is quite firm but not uncomfortably so. I’d expect the suspension set up to be similar in the Ibiza Cupra.

With the Polo GTI, the battery is located in the spare wheel well which means you loose the flexibility of the lower position of the flexible boot floor - don’t know if this is the same in the Ibiza Cupra but might be worth checking out if boot space is an important consideration for you. This means the boot space is undeniably small, but it’s not an issue for me as I rarely carry rear seat passengers so can always flip the rear seats down if I need to carry large loads.

Of the two cars you’re considering, I’d probably go for the Ibiza, but I’d strongly recommend you test drive both to help you make your decision.

Thanks for the input mate. I think it will be a case of test driving both and seeing what feels best. I do believe you're correct, the Polo GTI and Ibiza Cupra are both very similar in terms of parts they both share. Identical engine, chassis are similar as well ( I think? ) Those MPG figures are actually a lot higher than I had anticipated. Obviously if you take advantage of the performance I imagine they would drop a fair amount but its still good to know that it can be somewhat efficient

 

[GordonMcC]

i owned the 184 TDI and two of my friends also owned the Ibiza Cupra, albeit it was the 1.4 TSI engine they had. the Cupra will be quicker but the torque from the TDI is great, would sit at 50mpg all day long without even trying. if i learned anything it would be to go for the DSG, the manual was great but the having the DSG now in my cupra is night and day. the Leon is also more spacious than the Ibiza, by quite some margin

edit: the infotainment is also newer on the Leon

 

[Tara]

It always go for a petrol unless it was a van lol

 

[Jazzjames]

How come you’re not considering the Leon 1.8 tsi?

 

[Aar0n1507]

i owned the 184 TDI and two of my friends also owned the Ibiza Cupra, albeit it was the 1.4 TSI engine they had. the Cupra will be quicker but the torque from the TDI is great, would sit at 50mpg all day long without even trying. if i learned anything it would be to go for the DSG, the manual was great but the having the DSG now in my cupra is night and day. the Leon is also more spacious than the Ibiza, by quite some margin

edit: the infotainment is also newer on the Leon

I did have a breif look into the 1.4 Cupras however I've scared myself out of it by reading about the amount of issues those complicated twincharged 1.4 engines appear to have. Not the mention the whole recall because of the oil in the DSG gearbox.

The torque figures of the 184 did excite me and I'll keep that in mind. I will see if I can test drive a manual and a DSG

 

[Aar0n1507]

It always go for a petrol unless it was a van lol

How come you’re not considering the Leon 1.8 tsi?

I have had a breif look but my problem is there is about 5 on auto trader, all of which are some distance away. If I 1.8 came up close enough for the right price I would definitely lean towards it. There just doesn't seem to be loads about.

 

[Jazzjames]

I have had a breif look but my problem is there is about 5 on auto trader, all of which are some distance away. If I 1.8 came up close enough for the right price I would definitely lean towards it. There just doesn't seem to be loads about.

Yeah fair enough. I got lucky I suppose. I can recommend the engine if you do go for the Ibiza. I chose the Leon because I need the extra space, but if the Ibiza is big enough and you like the interior then it may be a good buy.

Regarding the low mileage, as long as you give the diesel Leon an opportunity to get nice and warm and stretch its legs every couple of weeks it should be fine. That’s the same for any car though- all (combustion engine) cars hate short journeys.

I can’t comment on how the Ibiza cupra feels, but a friend has a golf GTD (184 tdi), which is similar to the Leon 184 tdi, and I’d say his car feels more rapid than mine low in the rev range, partly due to the torque, and partly due to the more aggressive throttle map than my car. It’s impressive. Having said that, the petrol sounds a lot smoother and is ultimately a lot more fun to drive quickly.

 

[Aar0n1507]

Yeah fair enough. I got lucky I suppose. I can recommend the engine if you do go for the Ibiza. I chose the Leon because I need the extra space, but if the Ibiza is big enough and you like the interior then it may be a good buy.

Regarding the low mileage, as long as you give the diesel Leon an opportunity to get nice and warm and stretch its legs every couple of weeks it should be fine. That’s the same for any car though- all (combustion engine) cars hate short journeys.

I can’t comment on how the Ibiza cupra feels, but a friend has a golf GTD (184 tdi), which is similar to the Leon 184 tdi, and I’d say his car feels more rapid than mine low in the rev range, partly due to the torque, and partly due to the more aggressive throttle map than my car. It’s impressive. Having said that, the petrol sounds a lot smoother and is ultimately a lot more fun to drive quickly.

Yeah I am a fan of the interior of the ibiza and space isn't really a huge priority for me. Some days I'd probably do a solid hour of continuous driving and then another hour back so hopefully that should be good enough for it to stretch its legs.

I've not owned a Diesel so I'm curious to feel the extra torque right from the early rev-ranges. And yeah, that's something else that's making this decision tough, I love the noise you get with a petrol and I'm worried that the 184 won't feel as "fun" to drive.

 

[Jazzjames]

The slug of torque is as much to do with the turbo as being diesel, but it is useful for making progress.

The modern petrol cars are often mapped to have a flat torque curve and thus don’t have that old “lag, lag, lag, TURBO!” feeling that the older turbo cars had. Obviously with a remap a lot of that would come back.

If I drove over 20,000km a year I would get the diesel and enjoy owning a car that’s so good at munching up the miles. Seeing as I don’t, I’m happy I have the petrol car, and it’s very refreshing after 8 years with a diesel Golf.

Go and drive both and let us know what you think of them!

 

[Hag]

I’ve got a 15 plate 184 FR DSG and only do around 7000 miles a year and it’s been fine. Only once in last 18 months since I’ve had it has it said it needed a 30 minute 47mph drive and the rest of the time I make sure it gets at least one run a week. Effortlessly Quick and relatively economical depending on driving style.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Aar0n1507]

I’ve got a 15 plate 184 FR DSG and only do around 7000 miles a year and it’s been fine. Only once in last 18 months since I’ve had it has it said it needed a 30 minute 47mph drive and the rest of the time I make sure it gets at least one run a week. Effortlessly Quick and relatively economical depending on driving style.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve got a 15 plate 184 FR DSG and only do around 7000 miles a year and it’s been fine. Only once in last 18 months since I’ve had it has it said it needed a 30 minute 47mph drive and the rest of the time I make sure it gets at least one run a week. Effortlessly Quick and relatively economical depending on driving style.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ahh that's very useful to know as that was one of my main concerns. If it does only need 30 mins to sort itself out I can cover that on my way home from work some nights. From what I hear the engine provides a very good amount of torque, making it feel quicker than the figures suggest

 

[Tara]

Joking aside a diesel will feel quick because of tbe torque and low down grunt but for me it's just the noise on tickover that ruins it for me , it always reminds me of a taxi where a petrol is just quiet and smooth.

 

[Degs]

I've owned three Leon diesel fr's, 56 reg covered 90k before two 47mph drives sold at 110k,a 10 reg that
did 90k that never needed it and a 16 reg done 30k that also never needed it,my driving mostly short/medium
journeys,my 184 st was great for doing 90 all day and giving 45+mpg.

 

[Aar0n1507]

Joking aside a diesel will feel quick because of tbe torque and low down grunt but for me it's just the noise on tickover that ruins it for me , it always reminds me of a taxi where a petrol is just quiet and smooth.

Yeah thata something that makes me lean away from the 184Tdi, I'd miss the nice noise you get from a petrol. Although I did play with the idea of modifying the exhuast if I was to get a diesel however I didn't think it's too worth it.

 

[Aar0n1507]

I've owned three Leon diesel fr's, 56 reg covered 90k before two 47mph drives sold at 110k,a 10 reg that
did 90k that never needed it and a 16 reg done 30k that also never needed it,my driving mostly short/medium
journeys,my 184 st was great for doing 90 all day and giving 45+mpg.

Interesting, I do such a wide range of short medium & long journeys so I'm hoping if I was to go down the 2.0TDI route it would hopefully cope okay. Those MPG figures seem pretty good as well.

 

[Degs]

Interesting, I do such a wide range of short medium & long journeys so I'm hoping if I was to go down the 2.0TDI route it would hopefully cope okay. Those MPG figures seem pretty good as well.

I could get almost 60mpg doing 50-60 mph on the M6 where all the roadworks are,but there is the smoothness of
a petrol to consider...my excuse to by a cupra !

 

[Aar0n1507]

I could get almost 60mpg doing 50-60 mph on the M6 where all the roadworks are,but there is the smoothness of
a petrol to consider...my excuse to by a cupra !

I feel as though I'd miss the smoothness from a petrol, however I'm wondering if I was to a get a diesel, the sheer torque and power from the low ranges would distract me from it. If an Ibiza Cupra came up for the right price I'd be tempted. I'm staying relatively clear of the 1.4 Ibiza Cupras purely because I've read so many horror stories regarding the 1.4 twincharged engines. Just a shame there isn't more 1.8 Ibiza Cupras about.

 

[LouG]

I'm biased, I don't really like diesels. So, go petrol.