Replacing my MK3 Leon ST 1.8TSI - need advice

[Major]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been driving a MK3 Leon ST 1.8TSI manual for 6 years now and I’m going to get a company car, I'm choosing between:

• VW Golf MK8.5 1.5etsi estate - solid car, good sound deadening, annoying DSG lag in Drive mode, no emotions tied to the car, it's like a fridge
• Toyota Corolla 2.0 hybrid estate - had a negative approach before I drove it. Has instant acceleration, is ultra quiet up to 90km/h, has super suspension (very comfortable, but can give some driving pleasure - not sporty though) and fuel consumption in town and on country roads is unbelievably low. What I don't enjoy is the acceleration sound, although it's much better when compared to the older 1.8 hybrid engine and in my subjective opinion it's pretty noisy (wind noise) when you go above 90km/h. It's the biggest car outside and the smallest inside, plus the hybrid battery is under the rear seats, so you get less head space, and it feels even less spacious than its rivals because of that.
• Seat/Cupra Leon MK4 1.5etsi estate - initially it was not on my list as it doesn't have a multi-link suspension, but I thought to give it a test drive. I wanted to drive a Seat Leon ST with DSG and I got a Cupra Leon pre-face list with a manual ..., but it changed my mind I really enjoyed driving the car, the sound deadening on a short drive was acceptable for me event at 140km/h. I enjoyed driving it a lot more than the Golf and Corolla.

I'll ty to find a dealer that has a Seat Leon 1.5etsi estate to test drive to confirm if the Leon is the one to choose, I'm still thinking about the Corolla as long term reliability and low fuel consumption are not things that I can ignore as in the long run I might be purchasing the car for private usage when the lease for the car is finished.

Those of you who have experience with the cars I've mentioned, please share your opinions on them, like what are the pros and cons in a longer run or what are the annoying things about them. Also is there any real difference between the Seat Leaon ST and Cupra Leon ST except for price and now after the FL a different car front?

Is there maybe a well known issues topic on the Leon MK4 on the forum? I didn't see anything pinned.

For instance, after 6 years of owning the MK3 Leon ST 1.8TSI manual, for me the pros and cons are:
PROS:

• Good amount of space for 4 passengers
• Good sized trunk
• Pretty good acceleration
• Decent fuel consumption
• Sporty vibe and really good handling
• Build quality is OK, the materials are maybe not top class, but the interior doesn't squeak
• I like the looks of this car even after 6 years of ownership
• very intuitive to use (physical buttons and their placement)
• I have the FR version, so it's well equipped - it has all I need, except for DSG

CONS:

• Front suspension making a squeaking sound over some bumps (it’s a “feature” present also on MK5 Ibizas)
• Self-cracking front headlights
• Very easily scratchable windshield
• A bit clunky manual gearbox (could be a fault of my car), I drove different VW group cars with a manual and it’s the only car where I do 7/10 smooth gear changes and 3 are not that smooth, despite me trying to make the gear change smooth
• In the winter the boot hatch, hatch logo and rear doors get frozen, so I cannot open them until the car get warm - tried all softs of methods to stop this from happening, but every winter it's the same ...

P.S.
When it comes to the engine choice, it needs to be a hybrid or mild hybrid, so 2.0TSI is not an option ;(

 

[BoomerBoom]

I had the manual Leon 1.5 FR ST and now the Cupra 1.5 eTSI with DSG. The DSG is much better in my opinion and the fuel economy is amazing, compared to the exact same engine without the mild hybrid - the full hybrid is a weird beast unless you plan your full daily commute to be within it's tiny range and don't mind 7 hours to charge it.

Only things I don't like are the infotainment system still, but even that is better than the '21 plate I had before with all the bugs fixed - just the lack of buttons and illumination remain.

Only difference with the Cupra from the FR is the colour choice is crap and expensive, I went for white in despair after enjoying desire red for free last time.

 

[Major]

What fuel consumption do you get in the Cupra eTSI? In my 1.8 TSI manual from 10000km I had 7.5l/100km (31MPG) and now I do more city driving and the fuel consumption went up to 8.7l/100km (27MPG).

As for the lack of illumination for the temperature and volume, I've read that the facelifted Seat an Cupra will both get illumination

 

[BoomerBoom]

You are due a shock, from new with only 9 miles on the engine I was getting over 50mpg.

I use economic driving techniques but my wife does not, even so it still does better than any new engine we've had.

This shot was from when the car was a week old, the short bar was a 1 mile trip:

 

[Major]

Wow, that some great fuel consumption figures

Do you experience any acceleration hesitance? I've read some posts on this forum that people experienced acceleration hesitance with the 1.5 TSI, mainly it was with the 130HP version and a manual gearbox, but I'm curious if this also happens on the eTSI models with DSG.

 

[BoomerBoom]

Not noticed any hesitation myself, although I don't normally enter situations where I would need to floor it anyway.

About the only drawback to DSG I've found is the engine braking on hills, unless you go to manual it will keep changing down until third and can hit 4k rpm, which on a new engine was a concern.

 

[Major]

Thanks a lot for the replay!
I'm looking forward for a test drive of a Seat Leon ST 1.5eTSI facelift, at the moment they are not yet available at the dealers but will be available shortly
The FL should have a bigger infotainment screen and the touch area for changing the temperature and volume is supposed to be illuminated

 

[Cainy1989]

Having driven the normal 1.8 corolla hybrid, you will be impressively bored going from a mk3 Leon, I know cause I did the same thing, the car lasted a year and I had to trade it in. I did get about 50 MPG out of the thing, but it only has a 45 litre fuel tank so I was still needing to fill it up all the time. The CVT on it was the dealbreaker for me, took all the fun out of driving, I have a 1.5 TSI Formentor DSG now and its not too bad on fuel and a fun drive when you want it to be.

 

[Major]

I test drove the 2.0 Corolla, it was "fast enough" in low speed acceleration and I could feel the acceleration, but above 90km\h, maybe it was quick, but it delivered the power in a very linear way. I didn't have the confidence when wanting to overtake if the car can deliver on power, where with the 1.8TSI when I start accelerating I just know that the pulling power is there with a reserve.

I think I'll choose the Seat Leon, but I'll give both cars another test drive before I make a decision, especially as the Leon will get a new infotainment system (could be just bigger screen - not sure).

@Cainy1989 what about sound deadening, how you would compare the Formentor with the Corolla?

I just drove my MK3 Leon and I think, people who complain about sound deadening in the Leon's (MK3 and MK4) dislike the road noise from the tires and with the Corolla you get wind noise at speed and not the tire noise - so it's hard to compare. I think the wind noise annoys me more, I guess I got used to the road noise from the MK3