Octavia RS better than Cupra!

[Neil82]

Re: have the Cupra everytime

Originally posted by Toonman
Well we agree on one thing then Neil. I thought the Cupra was a much better package than the Skoda, that's why I bought one. Nothing to do with image or lack of.

It's the lack of image that appeals to me with the Skoda, the ultimate Q car if you chip it.

 

[Toonman]

ultimate Q car

I think it looks pretty cool, and the reverse snobbery angle does appeal...

 

[Charlie Wood]

Whilst I'd take the Cupra everytime my local SEAT dealer has an 02 RS with 370' on the clock for £12995. Mind you that's what i paid for my import Leon.

 

[ecklad]

My opinion on the RS versus the Cupra...

The RS is a better handling car compared with the MY02 and earlier
Cupra, but with the arrival of the new MY03 cars with the 17 inch wheels and ( and I suspect changes to the suspension -- maybe from the Cupra R ??? ) The Cupra is now equal to the RS...

The Leon interior is of a higher quality than the RS, the plastics and design ( Audi influence ) are better, the RS has cheap looking plastics, poor stereo, and the mesh inserts and the light grey carpet get filthy in no time!!!!

The RS has a much bigger boot and appears to have slightly more rear legroom... BUT!! the Leon's boot is also a good size...

On looks the Leon is way ahead now with the MY03, and equal with the MY02 and earlier cars compared to the RS,, The RS looks like a BMW or an Audi, and would be improved if they fitted the Xenon lights!!!

Image ... The Seat brand is seen as more upmarket than Skoda, but with cars like the Fabia, it will be only a matter of time before the image problem disappears....


So I would buy a RS over any Golf GTI ( Turbo or not ), but with the Leon around It is too far ahead in most respects....




Dazz

 

[Toonman]

Cupra is now equal to the RS

Now I must confess the RS was way ahead in the handling stakes when I drove one a year ago.

No one's said anything about any suspension changes to the std Cupra, just a switch to 17" rims, which I very much doubt would affect the major problems the suspension has.

What Car tested both cars last month and thought the Cupra (03MY) handling was poor...

 

[ecklad]

My new Cupra's suspension feels under tighter control ( firmer dampening?? ) than my MY02 Cupra which lost composure over rough roads..

I don't know if they have tweaked the suspension to the new size alloys or, when developing the R's suspension, some of it has trickled down to the lower model....




Dazz

 

[Robby]

Hi! Just joined, but thought I'd pop my 2p in.

Correct me if I am wrong, isn't the RS more expensive than the Leon?

And looking at the depreciation in the back of Autocar, the RS retains only 29% of its value after 3 years, as opposed to the Leons 52%. Now which is the better buy?

 

[Noggin]

Quick question:
When VAG bought Skoda why didn't they do a re-brand on their new acquisition? Or is is just in this country that they've got such a bad reputation.

 

[Biff]

Even modern Alfa Romeo's still remind me of my old rusty unreliable Alfasud's.

OK they did rust but.....
The Alfasud was arguably the greatest front wheel drive car ever built. It was the precursor to the Hot hatch generation, and is still going strong. Here's one of mine:

Chris

 

[Toonman]

do a re-brand

Well you could argue they have! Excellent cars, great ads on TV and in the Press, and hardening residuals, although Robby's got a point. The Fabia's pulling in 50+% after 3 years.

The General Public's opinion of Skoda has improved no end.

 

[Noggin]

re: Skoda has improved no end

I agree, but they could've done it even quicker if they had changed the name to ....... well, anything but Skoda!

 

[Toonman]

Skoda

The name or the make doesn't bother me Noggin. I was tempted to do the Skoda Rally Championship back in the early '80s. Even back then, the cars were fine and had lots of Gp 2 homologated kit in the standard road cars. They were easy to prepare, strong and reliable. Remember the RAC Rally and Skoda's record number of Class wins?

Back then, few took Seat seriously, not even with their Porsche tuned Ibiza... Many will disagree, but I only took Seat seriously with the arrival of the Leon, and if VW hadn't got involved, I doubt there'd be anything like that.

 

[Toonman]

Over the years I've owned a number of cult cars.

I had a Daf 66 Marathon, and boy did that cause great laughter, until I started to win my Class on stage rallies.

I bought a new Peugeot 205 GTI in 1984, when Pugs were regarded as nasty little cars, that were unreliable, rusted and cornered on the door handles. Look what happened there, yet my Pals at the time thought I was mad! Pug 205 GTI - voted Car of the Decade ('80s).

Back in April '94, I took delivery of a Subaru. Howls of laughter from people all over - shock from others. Had I lost my mind? Well, we all know what happened to the Impreza Turbo... Voted Car of the Decade ('90s).

Skoda have a real chance of mass public acceptance, and I wouldn't be ashamed to buy one.

 

[rhumber]

Re: worried about the image of the Skoda

Originally posted by Toonman
It was tongue in cheek, hence the

On a serious note though, I'm not sure why many Seat owners worry about the image of Skodas. Seat have hardly been known for quality over the years. Most of the General Public either don't know what they, are or remember them as those rusty, nasty little Spanish "Fiats", but without the reliability of the Italian product...

When I bought a Leon Cupra, friends and colleagues gave me sympathetic looks. One even said they hadn't realised things were so bad financially... Seat UK need to do some serious marketing if they want to rise from the depths of cult manufacturer. Those damned, cheap and nasty TV ads don't help!

It made me laugh when I took some out some guys from Israel (from one of our suppliers) they said "we've never seen a Seat with Leather seats before!", they were impressed with the quality and spec though, they said I must be getting payed too much to own one of these Seats!

 

[ecklad]

Quite a few makers have come from dodgy reputations, Audi themselves had a bad time in the seventies, with cars that used to rot to bits, and it wasn't until the quattro, rally success and the 'aerodynamic Audi 100' that they began to get a reputation of quality etc...

Volkswagen had a roughtime around the early 70's when the Beetle was getting on a bit and the Golf had not been released...

Subaru used to have a reputation as well, as farmers runabouts..
that changed with the Imprezza and rallying etc..

Seat and Skoda have improved massively from were they were, and in some cases the models perform better than the parent company ( Fabia and Leon )..



Dazz

 

[rhumber]

Originally posted by Robby
Hi! Just joined, but thought I'd pop my 2p in.

Correct me if I am wrong, isn't the RS more expensive than the Leon?

And looking at the depreciation in the back of Autocar, the RS retains only 29% of its value after 3 years, as opposed to the Leons 52%. Now which is the better buy?

Depends if you want to buy one brand new or 2nd hand? the RS would make a great 2nd hand bargain.

I had the choice of buying the Cupra or the RS in May, decided on the Cupra in the end, couldn't stomach driving a Skoda ! ;-)

The major factor though was the retained value after 3 years (as above) this is when I'm going to change mine (or maybe 2 years).

 

[Toonman]

Subaru used to have a reputation

Er, I think I said something like that earlier...

Back in April '94, I took delivery of a Subaru. Howls of laughter from people all over - shock from others. Had I lost my mind? Well, we all know what happened to the Impreza Turbo... Voted Car of the Decade ('90s).

 

[SteveHutchison]

I would buy the RS as the missus wont be seen dead in it snob.Did look at getting an RS some very good deals at the moment and you dont see that many running around. I like Q car status. Wait to see what the new brings car wise

 

[Tavia4x4]

Hmmmm.....

can't comment on the RS as I don't own one....

..but, I looked at the Leon and had to dismiss it purely on size, needed something bigger, thats no discredit to the Leon, just my needs.

If they had thrown 4wd in I might have been tempted, but for me (regardless of "brand" within VAG) there were only two options if I wanted a 4wd 1.8T estate:

Audi A4 avant 1.8T Quattro - £27,000

Skoda Octavia estate 1.8T 4x4 - £16,000

Not a difficult decision and I love the reverse snobbery aspect, makes for an excellent Q car.

IC

 

[Xizor]

Ok, firstly, Ecklad have you looked at the interior of the Skoda recently? How you can say the Seat interior is better quality baffles me. It may not be as tasteful but is much better quality. Like real alloy center console surrounds not silver painted poorly moulded plastic (I really hate that!) and nice soft touch plastic dash to name two. Have another look.

Secondly, Biff I've had 2 Alfasuds. Great cars but both went rusty and both let me down. Loads of character though, must be why I bought another.

I've just got this horrible feeling that the '03 Cupra has a lower quality than the '02 and before. I hope Seat are not slipping backwards.

Just my opinion, don't take it personally.

Cheers,
Xizor.