ibiza cupra.. ruined? was there something to ruin? The VW versions look better by a mile, and they probably have better handling too. Seat is supposed to be cheaper, not-quite-as-good-as VW. It's about on par with Skoda, which means that they'll never be as good as VW, despite having more power or dramatic looks.
woah, talk about giving an opinion without any real knowledge. All of that is completely wrong!
So the polo GTI is better looking than the cupra. Now looks are subjective, but many would say the polo GTI is rather bland and boring. Also the MK4 Ibiza Cupra runs ring around the Polo GTI, it has a more powerful engine, better suspension and much much better brakes, seeing as its fitte with 4 pot ap racing brake setup. The only thing the polo gti has over the cupra is better quality interior materials. The Polo GTI is a copy of the MK4 Ibiza FR, yet with a huge price premium. No wonder there are more Ibiza FR's and Cupra's on the road than the polo GTI.
The same also goes for the Leon Cupras, past and present, same chassis as the Golf GTI, but with better brakes, quite alot more power, and uprated suspension. Dont forget that audi developed the SEAT cupra's engine for them, hence why it is exactly the same as the Audi S3 engine but slightly downrated.
Also on the new ibiza, Audi and SEAT developed the chassis together, only thing is though that is when audi use the chassis for their A1 it will have fully independant rear suspension, so it can go mini cooper S hunting.
So in reality SEAT is the , not quite as refined VW, but faster and cheaper alternative for enthusiasts who dont care too much about a upmarket premium interior.
I agree that SEAT offer brilliant power for the money, and I have to say that if I were in the market for a 200bhp+ hot hatch the Leon Cupra would be right up there for me (I think it looks fantastic for a start), but I always feel a little disappointed when a magazine reviews them and say that despite the extra power versus their competitiors, they never quite seem competitive enough handling-wise. I'd prefer them to spend a little less on tuning their engines and a little more on tuning their chassis.
Id say this is true for the MK1 Leon Cupra, and the MK4 Ibiza cupra, but the MK2 Leon Cupra is extremely capable and one of the most competent hot hatches on the market, only car I can think of in its segment that handles better is the megane sport R26.
As for the Bocanegra, I'll await reviews with interest. It wouldn't surprise me if there were more than just a few cars ahead of it in the rankings when magazines group test it.
So will I, SEAT head honchos, (the majority of whom are now from audi) keep banging on about how the new chassis was designed to make sure the ibiza this time round is at the top or near the top of its class, and in some group reviews where the 5 door mk5 ibiza was compared to the new corsa and clio, the handling on the ibiza is apparently better than the corsa and up there with the clio. I hope the handling will match the vehicles power, and with audi sending over alot of their bosses to SEAT im pretty optimistic!
Perhaps because it's called "SportCoupe"? They trash the other half-sporty cars just as much.
Exactly my point, they never put things into perspective, who is gonna buy a 1.4 ibiza, take it to a race track and then be disapointed when it doesnt set the world on fire? For what it was designed for, going to and from the shops etc its great, the biggest in its class whilst still shedding weight over the previous model whilst the chassis is alot stiffer at teh same time.
Oh and sports coupe is just a fancy name for saying 3 door hatchback. Its a bit like the vauxhall astra sports hatch.
Plus, German magazines are to be trusted around VAG products like American publications around a Corvette-Porsche or CTS-M5-AMG-RS comparison (and vice versa).
Well one of the german magazines actually placed the SEAT leon ahead of the golf and audi's A3, and one mag gave it car of the year.
In future then it'd be helpful if you either linked to the forum or took one of the dealers' quotes wholesale and posted it here, so it doesn't look so much like heresay.
Gary@Cookies (seat dealership):
I had lunch with the head of SEAT Product (Small cars) and he said categorically that it would be the 1.4 TSi twin charged 170BHP version as fitted in the Golf, I made a simple typo. I asked him about the problems we've all heard of with that twin charged engine and he reckons all the problems have been sorted, I suppose time will tell. He also said the diesels wouldn't be here this year as they're not going to take the 1.9 in its current form.
) and they're pretty decent cars considering the price.
) flame-wars... I'd like to comment on power:
