GMan's LCR 225

[GMan_88]

My names George and i'm 25 from Reading. I do tend to waffle so bare with me, this thread will probably de-rail here and there but I will try to talk about my beast as much as possible!

At the end of 2012 I decided it was time to sell my 2001 Focus 1.8 Zetec. It was a great little car but pretty boring and about to join the 100k club. I owned her from standard and for three years, all mods were aesthetic including the K&N cone, this is what she looked like by the time I had finished with her

I sold her just before christmas '12 and spent the next several months saving and trying to decide what to get next.

I had been always been an a huge fan of the VW Golf (who isn't) but felt I could get more bang for my buck if I broadened my horizons a little but wanted to stay within VAG . After months of looking at S3's, and Leons I finally returned home as the proud father of a LCR.

Spec on the day:

- Seat Leon Cupra R
- 2004 (04)
- BAM Engine Code
- 61,500k
- FSH, most recent Full Service at 60k, Seat Dealer 0-45k, VAG Specialist 45k+
- Belt and Pump change at 45k
- Spotless inside and out
- Standard apart from: Forge DV and N249 bypass

I payed a little more than I wanted to in March '13 but I felt the condition and well documented history justified this, and I was bored of looking, and this happened to be the cleanest example i'd come across

I had test driven a few before buying this one so kind of already had an idea of what to expect. Saying that I was absolutely chuffed to bits with my new ride, and I still am. The power, handling and sheer driving pleasure she offers was nothing like i'd ever owned before, previous cars: clio 1.2, focus 1.8 zetec.

Here she is after her first wash with my mate getting his Mrs KA getting in on the action

Plans for the future (roughly in this order):

- Rear wiper conversion + aero blade [fitted]
- Replace all bulbs with LED
- 6000k HID's [fitted]
- New R Badges all round
- Wheels Refurb in brighter colour (probably hyper silver, sorry RDS it looks too good)
- All brakes re-sprayed in a fiery red
- Four new matching tyres
- AP Coilovers [fitted]
- Polybush dog mount and wishbones
- ECS Wheel centring plates
- 20-30% tint all round
- R32 front and Neuspeed rear ARB's
- Catch can
- Badger V3 TIP with matching cone
- JamJay's custom heat shield
- FMIC
- Liquid Race Gauge
- Stage 1 Remap
- Double Din console conversion

Any advice on mods is gratefully accepted.


Thanks for reading.

 

[GMan_88]

In the following few months a few kinks had to be ironed out but I fully understood this was performance hatch and had to be treated with respect looking at dates on receipts I also believe the car had been sat around for the last few months of its previous ownership.

First to go was the plastic clip on the clutch pedal. It failed as I dropped into 3rd attempting to overtake a slow moving car, imagine if it had been one gear change later

Next was a coil pack. I have to admit at first the whole misfire/limp mode shenanigan scared the out of me. After a quick scan from a good mate/mechanic my blown turbo/headgasket fears were put to rest

Shortly after I had to replace the light switch. I wish i'd known it was the switch before I did this

Then the coolant gauge stopped working so I bought her a new CTS and stat. And yes I made a bit of a mess

To be fair that was 3 months ago now and she hasn't put a foot wrong since. The new sensor and stat made a huge difference to performance smoothing boost and improving throttle response, placebo maybe but i'm happy either way.

 

[Yorkshirecuprar]

Lovely lookin leon you have fella

 

[GMan_88]

Now it's time to start modding First I decided to fit a set of 6000k HID's. For some reason I have no pics of the lights themselves only the ballast in situ . Wicked mod they for the money, they make the car look so much more modern.

You can kind of see the light on the second one. I must get some more pics

Look how low my mate at college's Mk2 is.. a little too close to the ground for me but he loves it

 

[GMan_88]

Lovely lookin leon you have fella

Thank you I nearly bought a red one before this one

 

[GMan_88]

I had intended to clean her up a bit first, fabia wiper etc but then of my best mates decided to inherit (was given, nobody passed away) a 2001 Audi A6 Quattro 3.0 V5 Petrol 221bhp. One of a few with this particular engine he believes.

As good friends, at the right time and place do we drive spiritedly now obviously I have him in my pocket in a straight line.. but in the twistys. Lets just say his quattro system definitely out shines my driving abilitys, I shouldn't be suprised really

The point is the LCR handling is very good, but its not brilliant, imo. Soo it's time for coillies, the list's gone out the window, bring on next payday

Heres a few pics:

 

[worzel]

Welcome George. Looks like you have a nice example and some good plans. I would add poly bushing your dog bone mount to your list. Doesn't cost much for the benefits.

 

[GMan_88]

Welcome George. Looks like you have a nice example and some good plans. I would add poly bushing your dog bone mount to your list. Doesn't cost much for the benefits.

Thank you. Sweet ok thanks. I can remember reading about those, I will add one to the list

 

[GMan_88]

As mentioned above coillies had to be next on the list. I had weighed up the spring and shock option but after reading some great reviews on here I decided to go for the AP Coilover Suspension Kit.

When I had some spare cash I contacted Damian at DPM and he sorted me out with exactly what I wanted, great service highly recommended. I also contacted Dave at SereMotors (via email) and bought all the extras needed for fitting.

I couldn't fit them that weekend as I stayed at Brands Hatch. My mate races his Mk2 Golf in the VAG cup I was going as pit crew, meaning tea boy. It rained all weekend so I didn't get any decent pics, awesome weekend as a whole though and the coillies were fitted the following weekend.

Before:

During:

And after:

The different these things makes is incredible and worth every penny spent! It's a new car and I cant believe how much more alive she feels. It's as if I've released her full potential. I am also chuffed to bits with the AP Coilovers, the quality is excellent. The term 'handles like it's on rails' finally makes sense The ride is very comftable considering, pot holes and speed humps are of no issue at all. Ramps ups kerbs etc do become a bit more of a problem and the ride is a little bouncy but new bushes may influence this, a very fair compromise I feel and again highly recommended

A few pics from Brands Hatch.

This thing had a 300bhp+ R32 engine in it. You should've heard it

No SCN stickers anywhere

Andy's Golf:

 

[GMan_88]

Now she's slammed she's turned into a absolute beast!! I finally feel 'at one' with car. Now I felt I could start channeling my efforts again towards cleaning her up. She's fairly clean but nothing compared to showroom standard's these threads inspire. The first thing I decided to address was the flaking paint inside the fog light housings. It was annoying the hell out of me as it was the first thing I noticed when I walked in front. I personally hate sanding as i'm rubbish at it. The finish wasn't prefect but isn't noticeable when the grill is back in so i'm happy

I may have gone a little over board on with the newspaper but I kind of liked it. I want to do the whole car and then cut out the windows, lights, badges and grills just for a weekend

I was never really a fan of the tow strap/tongue pointing out look until Brands Hatch where it was literally rammed down my throat! Now I think there kind of cool and decided to buy one. It made sense to sort this at the same time so I did. First my buddy made me a bolt. What he did was remove a towing eye and a wheel bolt from a dead VW he had in his yard. He cut the loop off of the towing eye, leaving the thread plus 20-30mm. He then cut the nut off of the wheel bolt and welded it onto where the eye used to be. Then I sprayed it black

Sorry about quality, I didn't realise some of these pics were so bad.

I did have to file the hole in the straps buckle, to allow the tow bolt to fit through, but it didn't take long.

 

[GMan_88]

And that's how she stands now. Plans for the weekend are to fit my resistor mod and hopefully it's nice so I can give her a bloody good clean, as you can probably see she needs one. I will also get some decent pics. Hopefully I will be able to start eating into the list again on my next payday which is at the end of the month

Any advice or comments are welcome.

Thanks for reading

 

[GMan_88]

Small update

I haven't been paid yet but I have managed to pick up a few things to smarten her up a bit.

The first package to arrive contained these:

I have always loved the look of the smaller plate on the front of a LCR, especially if it hangs over a FMIC. Unfortunately I don't have a FMIC... yet!

I was a little unsure of what size I wanted and after measuring up and making a few templates I decided to go for the 16" x 4.4" version. If i'm totally honest i'm sure wether I like it or not.. I thinks it a little to tall and is in need of a red border.

Let me know what you think:

Before:

After:

Next to arrive was my extended wheel bolts. I bought 4x 5mm hubcentric spacers a little while ago but noticed when fitting with the standard bolts there wasn't a lot of thread left to bite, three whole turns iirc, so I took them back off and ordered the 35mm versions (10mm longer than my standards). They work a treat, I love the stance with the 40mm drop and 5mm spacer. The spacers are very subtle as you can see but help give the wheels a sense of purpose in those huge arches.

Before:

After:

And my temporary amp arrived. A very obscure way of packaging I feel but it arrived in one piece.

And this is what my boot looks like now. Everything is hidden and secured using velcro tape

And last but by no means least my Polo rear wiper. Again very subtle but really improves the general look of the back end.

Before:

After:

And heres a few more pics. She's still in dire need of a bloody good clean but hey, I live in the UK and i'm lazy

I also stumbled across a set of these for a fair price. I know this has been done before but I think these wheels (and the x5 snowflake) suit the car extremely well. I will research the compatibility of staggered 19" 5x130's on a dropped LCR and if I feel its not a complete PITA I may have to throw the list out of the window, again, and buy my baby some Porsche wheels. Watch this space!

 

[akchappers]

Like the car mate! Top job! Need to get a tow strap as well bud. One of the top mods is that wiper! I've done mine too and it makes it look so much better!
Top work mate.
Ak

 

[GMan_88]

Thank you the tow strap has grown on me a lot. Every time I drive through traffic I catch people staring at it And I completely agree on the wiper one of my favourite mods so far. The rear end on these things just ooze sex appeal and now she oozes classy/sophisticated sex appeal!

 

[goldie74]

Great work on the car mate it's coming along nicely,Am gonna keep my eye on your thread.

 

[GMan_88]

Great work on the car mate it's coming along nicely,Am gonna keep my eye on your thread.

Thank you

 

[ongoing]

starting to build up a nice LCR there buddy, those Porsche rims will suit the car really well

 

[GMan_88]

Thank you agreed I love the look of the lobster claws on a leon. I have started to look into fitting and there doesn't seem to be a great deal of issue, the only downside I can see atm is the fact christmas may slow me down, not that i'm a scrooge or anything


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[DuamoLCR]

Great looking car mate it's coming along a treat! And in the best colour too

 

[ongoing]

Thank you agreed I love the look of the lobster claws on a leon. I have started to look into fitting and there doesn't seem to be a great deal of issue, the only downside I can see atm is the fact christmas may slow me down, not that i'm a scrooge or anything


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Same here buddy family definitely slows the modding down at Christmas