Just wondering if anybody who now drives a vrs has previously owned a leon cupra. If so, could you please give me your opinion on both cars and which you prefer.

I am trying to choose between a vrs and a cupra and need some help.

cheers

all about the money.

one is cheaper.

on is faster as std.. (cupra-r)

Depends on which Leon Cupra you are talking about.....the 1.8T, Cupra R or the TDi.

Personally, I've owned the Cupra TDi, and having driven the vRS recently, would have

to say that I preferred the Leon. The main reason is the torque, and the economy offered by the diesel. On the flipside, the Cupra R is bonkers but pricey.

Having said that, a remapped vRS would probably swing my opinion in the other direction. The reason I say this is because of the turbo lag issues with the Cupra TDi. In order to liberate the extra 20bhp, one of the changes is a bigger turbo. Bigger turbo means more time to spool up, hence more lag. In situations where the vRS would pick up and pull without needing to change down, the Cupra would struggle. To my mind, this makes the 1.8T engine a much better proposition for something like a Revo remap. You not only get more power, but you still retain the increased flexibility that the smaller turbo offers.

Bagpuss.

apples and bananas...

if he wants diesel there is only 1 choice.

if its petrol then the vRS is the better car for the money... the cuprar225 the better car.

but dont forget the l+k pd130 could be sorted with susp+ wheels to provide a rival with more kit..... for less than cupraR225 money....

I've got the Octy Vrs and the missus has the Leon Cupra 1.8t.

What can I say, there's bugger all difference in performance. We got them at the same time and raced, sorry, drove at comparable speed, in each others car. Leon pulled away slighty up to 60ish, not enough to make any difference though. The Octy did better after that with a higher top end. Handling, about the same, Leon slightly better, same platform after all. Not sure since I've done the strut braces though.

Fuel economy, I find the Octy better on fuel especially on the longer drives due to the taller gearbox, and the gears are better spread than the Leon so you can hold them longer.

Personal opinion, mine's the Octy anyday. Besides, you can fit a washingmachine in the boot without having to put the seats down. Lets see the Leon do that.

I had a Cupra (2001) model for a few weeks whilst I waited for my octy vRS to arrive. The cupra's exterior was a bit plain on the pre facelift model and the Octavia was far better value for money.

Performance wise there was nothing between them, the taller gearing in the octy suited me more than the six speed cupra box. The cupra was softer sprung IMHO and the Octy handles better.

I prefer the octy interior, the dash especially.

I drove one of the facelift 2004 models last Monday in TDi guise. The exterior is now really well styled but the car has lost folding mirrors, leather handbrake cover, trip computer and the 2005 model is reported to loose the multichanger. I

i chose the vrs over the leon cupra,i did get a bargain which is always a selling point,but the boot space and looks sold it to me,20vt engine is lovely to drive,and it feels really well screwed together.

AND it's a Skoda.... need i say more !?

Octy all the way

I've got the Octy RS and my mums got the Leon Cupra 1.8t. The Octy has much more space all round and the interior IMO is much nicer (Leon one just looks very plain). Both drive well but, like Lloyd, I prefer the gearing in the Octy - although that is probably due more to the fact that im used to it rather than any probs with the Leon gearing. Both of them are Y reg and whilst neither have had any problems (as the Leon was a Belgian build rather than the later lousy Spanish built ones), the Leon definitely feels and sound more "tinny" when driving. Definitely would not go for a later Cupra as they dos eem to ahve more than their fair share of problems.

Main advantage of the Leon IMO is that it has a slightly more "trendy" image - but thats never bothered me

I had two examples of the Leon Cupra.. My first one was a 02 plate in blue..

I chose this after test driving both the Cupra and the vRS.. the Cupra won a very close decision on the dealers attitude and the deal I got.. Back in 2002

Octy vRS were in a similar position that the Fabia vRS is now.. Dealers not

wanting to move from list + a waiting list.. Seat dealer had a Leon there in a week... and I pulled a good deal out as well..

My first Leon.. purchased March 2002.. Suffered from a rash of bad stone chips, within the 1st month I counted about 120 chips, add to this the

doors filling with water, Clutch master cylinder failing.. I rejected this car..

After a bit of wrangling with Seat UK ( Dealer was fantastic in supporting my case ) a new replacement was arranged.. But before I could get it, my car got stolen...

So by the time the insurance took to eventually arrange a replacement

the 'new spec' Leon Cupra was hitting the showrooms..

So I got a black big bumper 17inch alloys model.. this in my opinion looks far better than the earlier car..

The Paintwork on this car was far better but not perfect, I would find the paint would chip easly.. In terms of relaibility it was a similar story.. The car

saw the inside of the dealers far to often, for missing trim, misaligned exhaust, knocking suspension, doors leaking, headlights leaking, seatbelt not retracting, clutch master cylinder failing, poor running... At this point I was fed up with the low quality of the car so I started looking again at the

Octy vRS.. I re drove a couple of examples and found that they handled

better accelerated almost the same, quieter, better ride quality and

the boot space was far superior... I then did a lot of price digging on

t'internet and used this to get my local dealer to price match..

So I took delivery of my current car a Black Octavia vRS...

It is a fantastic car but.... there are still silly issues with these...

Good points..

The paintwork is more durable

Its quieter, better handling, ride quality, brakes ( even though the disks

can warp easily ) rarer, better built.. etc..

Could do with more power etc.. Skoda should have produced a 225Bhp 4x4 vRS version to compete with the Leon Cupra R...

Bad points..

Crap stereo system,, The Leon's setup was far better..

The headlights .. the leons are better simply because of the dipped +

main come on together.. ( unless you go fo a Xenon equipped vRS )

The Climate control system.. is better in the Leon as it is Audi based and

offered more fine control..

It also suffers from premature seat wear on the drivers base, because of the

quite silly black leather/light grey mesh cloth, and carpet..

The silly hatch design means that when it rains and you open the hatch water drains off this into the boot... The Leon never suffered from this..

And finally the residual values.. Skoda has dropped a right clanger in dropping the prices of all the MK1 Octavia,, sure it is sensible if the equiv

version has been superseded, but there is no sign or a vRS version yet,

late 2005 is the rumour.. So while brand new is a bargain it hits all current

owners...

Cheers

Dazz

agreed on a few of the above,crap stereo.

think skoda should have doen some other trim optionssilver cseast and carpet,we don't all drive around in slippers,and some of us have kids.

i seem to be constantly adjusting the climatronic,its god but not perfect,like you say a little more adjustment/fine tunning would be good

To my mind, this makes the 1.8T engine a much better proposition for something like a Revo remap. You not only get more power, but you still retain the increased flexibility that the smaller turbo offers.

Apparently a remap goes a long way to curing the lag problem of the Cupra TDI.