At the beginning of 2010 a chommie of mine from work bought a 2008 Seat Ibiza Cupra, and he got it at a steal. His previous car was the 2006 Ibiza FR, but that will be in another post. For now I’m gonna review the Ibiza Cupra.
Just a quick spec overview..., this machine runs a 1.9 Tdi engine which pushes out 118kw of power and a mind blowing 330Nm of torque! This is the same engine as the FR but with a bigger turbo. A six speed gear box is standard as well as 17”rims with 205/40/17 tires, and this model is a 3 door hatch.
Also a point that I should mention is that just over a year ago Seat pulled out of South Africa but VW still back up Seat in terms of maintenance and repairs.
We took the Cupra out on a trip to Sibaya and back, on a bright sunny day. On takeoff at South Circle on the Ridge, I readied myself for the power that I was about to experience, knowing the amount of torque the Cupra generates, but upon take off my estimation proved to be way off target. This thing was insane! A warning light went off in my head and I decided to leave the power test for the freeway.
Full house comfort features were standard. The design of the bucket seats gave you a sense of having the confidence of a race car driver. Even the rear passenger seats, although a three seater, were designed as bucket seats. No leather in this model as I believe is was an optional extra, but the cloth fabric gave the interior setup a sporty feel.
Out on the freeway the Cupra was unleashed and I swore to myself that this thing could take on a GTi on a quarter mile and probably win. Handling was excellent without losing the comfort edge. And by the time I had put the Cupra in 6th gear I was already at the Sibaya of ramp!
As we got back onto the freeway we were lucky enough to tag a Seat Leon Cupra 2.0 Fsi. Now this is a 177Kw, 300Nm machine. I took it on and low and behold the Leon couldn’t get away. This was evidence of the awesome power to weight ratio of the Ibiza Cupra. I know that the Leon Cupra is a powerful car, maybe the Leon driver didn’t take us seriously but he definitely put his foot down when he saw us in his rear view mirror.
My conclusion is that this was a good buy. The fact that Seat pulled out of SA meant that the price of the car dropped and best thing of all is that VW still supports Seat, it’s not like all Seat owners were left to drift around until their engines died. And in my opinion the Seat has better build quality than VW. So if you are in the market for a performance car and on a tight budget, have a look at a Seat, you’re bound to find something to suit your pocket.
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