Author Topic: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel  (Read 4774 times)

Offline ereeiz

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Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« on: April 03, 2012, 09:03:53 pm »
Ahoy there!

A word of advice if you have a KTM, don't leave it on display as thieving people will rob it from your very doorstep (just like mine!), so after 3 weeks of extremely paranoid supermoto ownership it's gone c/o some blokes in a van most likely :'(

Anyway, as a result of the above and no transport I've just bought an Ibiza Cupra R diesel. I've not made my mind up if I like it or not yet, I'm not a fan of any AIDS in cars so getting used to really light PAS (hydraulic I assume- not even looked) and that bastard traction control is really annoying, flashes in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the wet. I would say ABS too normally but I've not really found the limit of the brakes yet- the legacy of driving old polos has had it's effect on my driving style, use the gears to slow down before the worthless brakes, lol.

It's got a few minor cosmetic niggles and tyres made of plastic (with one of the rears being on backwards) but overall not too bad really.

It's no G40 though, there's no feedback, you can't feel anything, can't see anything (I forgot how claustrophobic modern motors are!) and everything is damped by sensors and sound deadening.

Anyone got any info on them? Good/ bad things? Stuff I should be aware of?

Offline hayesey

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2012, 09:40:27 pm »
Cupra R Diesel?  I didn't know such a thing existed!  Are they like a Skoda Fabia vRS?  If so then they are great little cars in my opinion.  Fun to drive and pretty nippy.  Only thing I don't like about them is the looks, I think they are very ugly on the outside, especially the front.  Not overly keen on the interior either really.  The engines are very tunable too, not hard to get 180bhp (along with some silly amount of torque) from them and then they are pretty fast but watch out for the dual mass flywheel and wishbone bushes.  

I would like to own a 9n Polo TDI Sport 130, they are basically a Fabia vRS but in a (in my opinion) much better looking shell.  But these are fairly rare and hold their money more than the vRS.

Offline hayesey

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2012, 09:45:31 pm »
and I know what you mean about the driver aids, you just feel that bit more detached from the road than you do in an older more basic car.  But they're not all bad, it varies from car to car.  I really hate over-servo'd brakes but then the general public seem to think that if a feather landing on the brake pedal doesn't have you chewing steering wheel then the brakes aren't good enough.

But on the other hand, a car that is a fair bit the wrong side of a tonne is a pain to drive daily without power steering of some sort.

Offline Jake G 4 0

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2012, 10:14:38 pm »
I believe they are about 158bhp standard but are easy tune able with good mpg.

A friend had an Fr diesel he didn't have a bad word to say about it but then again I wouldn't bad mouth my own car, but it never let him down!

Offline hayesey

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #4 on: April 04, 2012, 09:55:55 am »
130 if they are the same engine as a vRS.  Pretty sure an FR is 130 too.

Offline ereeiz

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2012, 03:42:31 pm »
Yes, same polo/fabia/ibiza chassis with the usual PD engines. I don't know what they've done or why it's 160BHP as opposed to the normal 150 option but it is listed as that on various sites and I seem to remember it when it was launched thinking it was an odd amount.

I think the interior is a little strange too, shame it's made from the Polo parts bin with some odd extras such as weird 1960 style mini-esque/ Ford Ka vents. i'm referring mainly to the dash. The doors, roof lining, seats, carpets (everything) is black which is good....... probably adds to the claustrophobic feeling I was on about originally- coupled with the usual high window placements you get in modern cars to help crash statistics. I find the G40 window is perfect height for my elbow, the doorcard moulding is too low and the window too high in the Ibiza- this is a common complaint from me though being lanky, again I think I'm just too used to Polo's.

It's 160 BHP (give or take the usual VAG power quote so may be a little more), they're reasonably rare. I've wanted one on and off for a few years but they've always been (IMO) daft money. It was £4k which is £500 over book price but there aren't any about, so I've a feeling it's like the book price of £300 or whatever it quotes for G40's lol.

I'm a bit happier with it now I'm getting used to all the modern bits. Done a little research into modifying it too, turns out the clutch lets go if you do much to it and it's circa £900 for a replacement- I assume that would have a flywheel included as well as collection and delivery by the Queen herself for that price! :|

"Stage 1" (I hate the "stage" term, can mean anything!) chipping seems to be circa 200BHP (anything from 190 - 210 from what I've read/ dependant on who/what you go with). I think I'll leave it alone in that area, don't fancy forking out for a clutch when I still have the G40 to sort. Besides, this car is meant to be sensible, haha.
I reckon I'll get the kerbed alloys sorted and get some tyres that have rubber in their compound so I can actually accelerate (Still not done a full power launch, it just wheelspins constantly) and pretty much just tart it up a little and leave it alone.

I considered a Polo but thought I'd only want the 160 Ibiza regardless so decided to go for that. I'd have considered a Fabia but they ruined them with the extra doors, a la Lancia Delta styleee. What a way to ruin a hot hatch!

Offline ereeiz

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2012, 03:57:10 pm »
Yes, FR's are 130 (I'm talking the last shape before the current model; 02-08 I think it ran for?)
Cupras are 160, I've no idea what the difference is between a Cupra and Cupra R, I'm not sure there is just a straight Cupra version at this age, I think it went FR then Cupra R. Odd really, again- I remember Jeremy Clarkson or someone on a car program highlighting their choice of top of the range badges as a little weird.

I agree with the heavier car thing, I was meaning more hot hatches than anything else. I had a scrapper Laguna a few years back and the PAS belt snapped- not fun trying to turn a hydraulic rack with no power, lol. I spoke to a mate (we work in electric power steering) who said everything has PAS today because; A. people are lazy generally (look up Kerb Jacking- bouncing your car off the kerb using the wheels) and average Joe doesn't care about feedback, they just want to park without breaking a sweat and B. There's a ton of stuff on modern cars all stuffed into the engine bay that makes it heavy/ messes with steering geometry. I've never looked into it myself, but sounds about right.


Offline hayesey

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2012, 04:12:56 pm »
well I didn't even know a Ibiza Cupra R Diesel with 160bhp existed, learn something new every day.  Very interesting.  I assume it's basically the PD150 engine with a slightly different map and/or a touch more boost?

That £900 figure will be fitted surely?  When/if the clutch goes then you generally need to replace the DMF too which is where the expense goes as they are £300-£400 just for supply of that on it's own.  It's very common on loads of newish diesels.  People tuning Volvo S60 D5s (which my daily driver is) have the same issue.  The DMF can't handle much more than standard torque and with age will fail before the clutch does generally!  I am told that some manufacturers are stopping using DMFs again now.

A mate of mine has a vRS which is tuned to approx 180bhp and he has replaced the DMF with a single-mass "low noise" one he got from Awesome GTI.  It's really, really good, you'd not tell the difference from standard really.  While others I've encountered that have had single-mass flywheels put in make a horrendous noise at idle.  It wasn't any cheaper than a new DMF (and may have been a fair bit more, I can't remember now) but it'll never fail.

Any pics of this Cupra R Diesel?  

As per usual, even though I plan on keeping my Volvo for another 18 months if not longer I am already thinking about what to get next.  Something smaller is what I'm thinking about and perhaps one of these would be good.  I was also thinking of 9n Polo TDI Sport 130.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 04:14:28 pm by hayesey »

Offline ereeiz

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2012, 04:49:29 pm »
I reckon they just turned the boost up a little to make it stand out from the rest of the range.

If you're ever around Worcester/ Shirley then give me a shout and you can go for a spin. I'll take some pics later but it's easier if I post up the ad for now.......no I won't as it's been removed. Here's an identical one with 10k more miles than mine. http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201207449547599/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/model/ibiza/make/seat/postcode/wr53eg/page/1/keywords/cupra/radius/1500?logcode=p

I noticed this has white dials, I don't think mine does. Wish this one was for sale 2 days ago as it looks slightly better condition than mine. Always the way though! haha.

The clutch price is for an uprated one, pretty sure it does include a flywheel. I've not checked if this has had any recalls, etc yet. I remember about 50% of the work at the VW dealers I worked at was DMF recalls, scary that they're still being used, they can take the bellhousing out and whatever else is in the way when they go. Never really understood the point, are they just to smooth the torque delivery? They could just use a big slipper clutch like RC cars have :D

I think, there may be a different IC on the Cupra to the other models, I read something about not needing to upgrade the I/C on them, but a mate of mine had to get a larger one for his Fabia. I'll no doubt build up encyclopedic knowledge of it all before long... then forget it in 5 years. hahaha.

I considered Volvos (I've still never had a T5, or even had a go yet- or a T4 LPG, that was another thought) but they're all a bit big for me really. I like small cars that are silly fast :D

I'll get some pics up soon. May even attend BVF in it if the G's not done!

Offline hayesey

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2012, 05:03:37 pm »
the only think I don't like about that is the standard rear lights that look like they've come from the halfords ripspeed bargain clearance bin.  Presumably someone does some nice looking after market light clusters for them? 

I know my mate with a vRS has an aftermarket shiney alu IC on his, he got some kind of larger bore air intake from from a cupra of some sort...

Offline ereeiz

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2012, 05:24:20 pm »
Yeah I believe it's got a larger something or other on the intake side. I think it may be the airbox, although I don't know if it differs from a Leon, I would assume so. I've got a few old induction kits which I may try to see what the noise difference is, quite happy with the performance. You can't really feel it accelerate as it is, so not sure I'd even notice other than number whizzing past faster and MPG dropping.

The rear lights are proper gheyyyy! I'd like some complete red ones but not sure if they exist. I think they did them for Leons, I'll have a scout about and update this thread from time to time.

Offline G40supercharged

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Re: Seat Ibiza Cupra R Diesel
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2012, 11:16:03 pm »
I've got a petrol Ibiza Cupra (180bhp 20VT engine) Mk4 on a 55 plate. The Cupra R was a Mk3 limited edition 180bhp petrol car (standard 150bhp) with different wheels, dials etc. and stupid price. The later Mk4 was badged just as a Cupra but has the 180bhp spec engine (mine says Cupra R on the label in the boot). The Mk4 Cupra also came in a diesel version (I assume that's what you have). Diesels are more popular/expensive as the performance is almost the same as the petrol but without the sub 30mpg fuel consumption. Cupra spec is 17 inch Cupra alloys (including the spare), thicker anti roll bars, slightly lowered (really!) and uprated suspension, different steering rack setup, traction control, electronic diff (pretend lsd using the ABS), bigger rear spoiler, huge front mount Seat Sport intercooler, different bumpers, and AP racing 4 pot brakes. I think the diesel also has a six speed box. The brakes are awesome but pads are expensive and a pain to change. Also the calipers stick out so much that the alloys are specially shaped to clear them (hence the alloy spare) and few other wheels will fit. The wheels also kerb really easily. I bought my Cupra new and it cost less to insure fully comp than the G40 did 3rd party.