Megane 225/Golf mk5 GTI/Leon 225 Cupra R/Focus ST ?

[andys]

Interesting opinions

I'd say drive the Leon Cupra 225 and see what you think first. When I had my Civic Type R (EP3) we went and test drove a Cupra 225 for the missus (this was back when the EP3 was new and the Cupra 225 was just released).

We drove the Cupra 225 as we had tried a standard Cupra and it was pants.
The 225 felt boring too - big, heavy and like a boat. Power was not impressive either. Neither I or the missus liked it at all and it felt rubbish coming from the Civic.

We tired all the ususal hot hatches and in my opinion, at that time, nothing could touch the EP3 and we were at pains to part with cash for a 2nd car that wasn't going to meet our expectations. We ended up test driving a brand new Scooby - Pro Drive monster - which was good and we would have bought that if insurance hadn't being madness for it.

As things turned out - we had more kids and bought a people carrier instead in the end !!

I recently bought an old EP3 type R again and am 'doing it up' still puts a smile on my face and all this talk or no torque is nonsense in the real world when driving the car. The engine is an absolute joy.

[mattr]

Originally Posted by Andy-j.smith6

Hi mate, only going off howitzer drives
Rather than the power/torque curves. Boost comes in quite low but is limited until 4k rpm when its let off its leash. That's with stock ecu. Dreamscience gives you much more boost from low down.

Just my subjective opinion.

Nah, not just opinion, the torque is limited up to a certain RPM in the I5T engine to protect the gearbox/driveline. What gears the torque limit is active in and what RPM it stops at is dependent on the car. ST, RS, V70 and so on. I can pretty much guarantee its limited in all the other cars mentioned too. Even some quite dull econo-boxes have torque limits in lower gears.

The I5T engine in the ST has actually got a shed load of torque all the way thro the rev range, but it *feels* like it hasn't as its quite smooth, until the limitation ends!Lots of work done on this over the years, a peaky tune with a rapid ramp up on torque feels a lot faster than a nice smooth torque curve. Even if its not. Some manufacturers play up to this, some don't.

We've even experimented (on autos) using a very snappy abrupt gearshift to make the car feel faster, even tho the abrupt shifts tend to slow the car down (engine gets off boost, wheels spin, suspension bounces around and so on.) 95%+ customers think its faster.

[Dandare]

All the talk of torque isn't nonsense, just your own preference. My preference is lots of low end grunt

I guess i'm looking for something which does everything quite well so, quite fast, quite refined, relatively economical, practical, reliable & nice to drive on all roads regardless of my mood. The Type R just isn't my thing, it drives too similar to my Clio.

Surprised that the Leon is even heavier than the 5dr Golf GTI tbh.
You're right, i need to try the Leon as sometimes on paper a car would appear the perfect choice, i may just hate it, lol.

[Kurtje]

I drive a Golf GTI VI since 2009
Love the car!!!

[LiamC]

Originally Posted by Dandare

I've personally never really got on with 'all or nothing' engines, i only have my 172 as i bought it for a good price from a mate &, as an everyday hatch it does everything ok (especially corners) but it's all too much hard work trying to go quick

I have a 182 and can't say I've ever found this on day-to-day basis or on track. I've driven the Leon Cupra and the Megane R26 (F1 Team 230bhp) and I'd say to go for the Megane, that's what I'm looking at next.

[spud31]

I would have a remapped cr170 leon fr tdi ( not the pd version).
Yes a bit more money but a torque monster and v cheap tax.
Have you thought about an ibiza cupra tdi? wicked car just chuck away the standard suspension as its far too hard