After two years I

shouldn't have thought there was much difference between the 150 and 130, 20bhp isn't much.

The 150 is very similar to the 130 but has a bit of turbo lag due to it's having a front mount intercooler. It also revs a bit better, but not much.

The 150 Leon chassis is mk4 Golf based, so quite comfortable, but the steering is very slow compared to the Fabia, and rear visibility is quite poor. You will have no more room in the cabin area either believe it or not. The boot is a fair bit bigger though. I've owned both a mk4 Golf and mk1 Leon Cupra BTW so have a fair bit of experience of both.

The new shape Leon and Golf reputedly have a much superior chassis but the only ones I drove just felt like the car was very heavy. The 140 TDI is quite nice and very pokey but don't offer any benefit of peak torque figure as such. It's a bit quieter but still sounds like a diesel, so that's that. They also are much bigger inside but the plasics are hard and don't look any better quality than your Fabia's.

The MK5 Golf steering is much more like the Fabia's and has a similar electric pump to work it, it's very much sharper than the previous model's.

When you take value for money and running costs into consideration I really don't think there is anything else out there that's much of an improvement over the vRS. The Golf 140 TDI is just like a bigger version of it, with a very bland interior and costs an arm and leg.

I'd go along with Beezer Diesel, got a Leon 110 tdi (had a vrs) but a more powerful engine in a bigger car just cancels itself out. The thing I cant get over though is the steering comment, I find it quicker on the leon much less input required on the leon and a lighter feel to the vrs. I wish I had stuck with the vrs though the handling is better on the leon.

I do find the steering much sharper in the vRS. Had a mk4 Ibiza too and that also had sharp steering. Golf and Leon both felt much more planted in the corners agreed, but the smaller chassis 'feels' more agile even though it weighs a similar amount.

I drove the Ibiza Cupra, Leon Cupra and vRS all on the same day. It was a shock when i stepped out my scoob and had to put all those comparisons out of my head.

I preffered the Leon over the Ibiza, i just can't put my finger on why i didn't like the Ibiza (Being yellow and dealer graphics all over it didn't help, but it was something else).

We chose and bought a 05 vRS after driving all three. It is great (& easy) to drive and was a better package for us.

I don't think you'll notice much difference, apart from all the points mentioned above.

Some alpha's lOOk nice, but they're money burning machines. I know loadsa people who have spent lots keeping them going.

I'd consider a remap + insurance for it, will probably work out cheaper & more fun

I'm also concidering mk1 leon as my next car (while you can still get them as new), fabia is on the list also but wider track makes the leon feel more planted + it has a bigger boot. I'd go for the TS150 if you can afford it (looks better too since it has the top sport package). Leon PD130 FR is also a good choice since with a remap you can get very good performance.