2005 Seat Leon 225 Cupra R from UK and Ireland - Comments

The VXR is just over 16 seconds to 100 mph, over 17 sounds a bit slow. But 13? No way, unless its been played with.

"The VXR is just over 16 seconds to 100 mph, over 17 sounds a bit slow. But 13? No way, unless its been played with"

Just watch the video its 13. Stop reading magazines for your facts; too much corruption in that business.

OK I will watch your video, but if it says 13 seconds its modified. The 04 STI (265 bhp) is only 13.9 and that has AWD launch advantage, so I hardly think a standard 237 bhp VXR is gonna be nearly a second quicker, good as it is.

Hey guys.

I can confirm that a remapped Cupra R gets to 100 in around 14-15 seconds.

From my experience:

0-60 = 6.2/6.5 seconds

60-100 = 7.5/8.5 seconds.

As for the VXR in under 13secs? It must be a one of a kind!

I have to agree that 300 bhp is not possible from just a remap and exhaust.

Think 285bhp is tops, but that is probably a generous RR figure.

More likely to be in the region of 255-275bhp.

On the whole, in the REAL world (i.e. everyday road use), it doesn't really matter how fast it gets to 60 or 100. If you are happy with the way the car delivers the power and feels, then result.

I have driven many cars from M3's to Skyline GT-R's and can honestly say that the Cupra R is a very good car for the price you pay. Think you can get a very good 2006 example for £13000 or so!

Handling is the only drawback, but spend £500-1000 on mods and that can be quickly sorted.

Not bad on fuel: Take care and you can get 350 miles out a full tank (55 litres). Be heavy with the right foot and you'll be lucky to see 200 miles!

Servicing prices are very competitive. Tyres and pads can be a pain (10000 miles from the fronts), but they can be picked up for £60-£85 per tyre and £100 for pads respectively for the good ones. Not bad for 225/40/18's.

If you have £3000 to play with, then 350bhp can be achieved. Not sure how the power will be put down through the front wheels, but am sure once rolling, the car will be a proper beast.

My advise to anyone looking for an excellent hatchback, would be to go and test-drive one.

You'll be instantly hooked, and the money you save instead of buying that Audi of VW can be used for a nice holiday, or two, or three!

An Astra VXR doing 0-100 in 13 as standard is not believable. No chance. The video link you posted no doubt has some bloke with a stop watch clicking stop when the speedo hits the ton, reality is he'll probably only be pushing 93/95mph, so add on 3 seconds or so and we're back in the real world at 16 seconds.

The only timing runs that count are with dedicated equipment/Santa Pod etc.

"An Astra VXR doing 0-100 in 13 as standard is not believable. No chance. The video link you posted no doubt has some bloke with a stop watch clicking stop when the speedo hits the ton, reality is he'll probably only be pushing 93/95mph, so add on 3 seconds or so and we're back in the real world at 16 seconds"

So what you're saying is a VXR can get to 95 in 13 seconds and then takes three seconds to go from 95-100. Don't think so, one second maybe, but three, I don't think so.

Going back to the older posts WRX vs cup.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=b_fF3zNwcGY

You'll see the same BHP on a remapped Leon Cupra R whether it is a 210 or 225 model: 250-270 with torque anywhere from 260-290. I believe the 210 (AMK) and 225 (BAM) engines had slightly different internals which were the gudgeon pins: 20mm for 210 & 19mm for 225.

I recommend Custom Code over Revo as it tends to hold boost better throughout the rev range where as Revo CAN give extreme amounts of boost low down in the revs but feel a little powerless up top. Of course, this can differ from car to car. (£350 - £550)

Recommended mods before a Stage 1 remap, to get the most out of it, would be:

1. An upgraded Diverter Valve which recirculates the air back into the intake system (1.8T's will see fully atmospheric Dump Valves as a boost leak and run in Limp Mode) will deal with the increased boost of the Stage 1 remap (around 22-23psi/1.5 bar) a lot better than the OEM Bosch item and make power delivery a lot smoother. The OEM plastic DV's can crack with higher boost. £90 - £150)

2. An upgraded Air Filter (preferably upgraded panel filter with a smoothed airbox or an open cone with a shield to help limit/prevent heat soak). (£40 - £250)

3. An upgraded Turbo Inlet Pipe allowing air to flow much more freely over the OEM item. The OEM pipe can also be prone to splitting when running higher boost.(£50 - £80)

With these mods, you'll be more likely to see the top end of the bhp & lb/ft estimates supplied by the Serial Port Tuners (Revo, CC etc).

I have a cup 172 and raced a focus st and it was the same speed up to 140 but would lose on track due to handling, so would rub a focus 170 all day. also tried against a subaru sti 06reg, sorry guys but it breezed past at all speeds, not sure if it was modded but doubt it, even the handling matched me. but im v happy and impressed with my car, just wish it had ABS : (

I recently sold my Mk1 Leon Cupra R. But had a lot of fun modding it.

After fitting a new down pipe, cat back, 100 cell sports cat and tail pipe (all ceramic coated) plus a new braided silicone TIP, heat shield protected ram-piped cone air filter, new silicon inter-cooler hoses, bailey DV and a customised 99 ron re-map, to name but a few of the tweaks...

……..it made 'just' 272.33 BHP when dyno tested.

You just don't get 270 BHP from just the remap alone I’m afraid with the LCR.

Those are just pub talk figures.

To get any more from my setup without upgrading the turbo (it's a borg warner k04 as standard) you would need to then fit a top-end FMIC plus an equal length turbo inlet & outlet manifold, plus remap the whole lot (again) and get a new TIP (again!) as the turbo has to be moved when you fit an equal length manifold.

Do just the FMIC and expect about 280 to 285 BHP (absolute maximum).

Do all those mods and maybe get about 290 BHP.

But you won’t get to 300BHP from the K04 - as it runs out of puff at around 290 BHP when bolted on the 1.8 20V lump.

At least according to a properly calibrated rolling road.

Remember, it is an awful lot cheaper to just go bigger turbo instead and see AT LEAST 300BHP once you have remapped it.

With the right internals, a re-bore and a big turbo etc, you can get maybe 500BHP to 600BHP, but that costs £££'s.

And by then you will need a new clutch, suspension, brakes and maybe a slippy diff to help control all the power, to name but a few essential upgrades! More £££’s.

When my LCR was running at 272.33 BHP it would do 0-60 mph in about 6 seconds flat.

If timed properly on a good day with new tyres I dare say it may have been below the 6 second mark, but I’ll never know now.

Its top end was still only ever a maximum of 154 mph - even on 99 ron fuel - (the speedo read 160mph though!) because the power dropped off at about the same point as when it was running at 225. That was tested on track I might add, not the road.