Questions for the knowledgeable

[sports racer]

Now that I've been driving the Cupra for a week I've got a few questions.

The clutch is heavy. Lots of people modify it to a hydraulic clutch but why is it heavy? I know Seat is the poor cousin to the Golf so did VW cut corners and fit the Cupra with cable clutch and the Golf with hydraulic clutch so the wimpy Golf drivers wouldn’t strain their legs? What parts are needed to convert to hydraulic?

The headlights are fantastic. Low beam is bright and has a nice wide spread. High beam is bright and has a long narrow beam. Unfortunately I need a wide spread with a long beam to spot the kangaroos that sit on the side of the road waiting to scare the crap out of me. How do I get both? The headlights have dual lenses identical to this one in my spare car and I’m tempted to modify the lights so when high beam comes on the low beam lights stay on.



The 16v ABF engine pulls from 1000 rpm, even in 5th gear, so sometimes I get lazy and go from 1st to 3rd to 5th gear. If I’m really lazy I’ll go from 2nd to 5th. There’s no noticeable power hike up high and I’m revving it to 6500 which it does easily. I thought the ABF was supposed to be strong at a gazzilion revs and crap down low? It does have an adjustable cam gear which is currently set at max retard so am I missing out on the real 16v experience?

I took out the drivers seat this morning and swapped it with the one from the spare car. The old one isn’t supporting my back properly and needs rebuilding but it did have a couple of wires attached and the other seat didn’t. I’ll check tonight what the wires are connected to but why is one car different to the other? I thought VW brought 54 Cupras in one batch to Australia so they should all be the same?

Why has mine got leather seats with red trim front and back (+ red leather trim in the doors) when all the other Cupras I’ve seen pictures of have cloth seats?



Why has mine got a red tartan headlining? Factory fitting or did someone get drunk one night at a Bay City Rollers concert and take hero worship to a whole new level?



The battery doesn’t sit square to the body but at an angle. Is it supposed to be like that?


Did these cars come with central locking (which isn’t working) or has someone fitted an aftermarket electric setup just to the drivers door?


Is there any way to fit a bigger fuel tank? 45 litres is just enough to last me 3 days if I drive carefully but I’d rather drive it like I stole it.


When my mates drive the car they don’t want to hand it back. Is there a cheap electric cattle prod available that I can wire into the seat and operate remotely?


If I’m driving down Tuggeranong Parkway late at night at the speed of light, will the headlights work?


I eagerly await your replies.

Cheers

Paul

[tonijov]

Chipped ECU is why you are getting good throttle response from 1000rpm, and not just any chip, you've got the Garlock chip, those things are 250euro!

[h100vw]

Chipped ECU is why you are getting good throttle response from 1000rpm, and not just any chip, you've got the Garlock chip, those things are 250euro!

Do you know the car? How can you be so certain of the make of chip?

OP

I had a MK3 Golf 16V in the UK. That would do 30mpg at 100mph and 50 if you dribbled at 60-70 mph. The Cupra should be able to better those numbers being lighter etc.

Go on partscat.info and look up the MK3 16v, you can get the part number of the bits you need to convert to hydraulic pedal.

The routing of the cable has some effect but hydraulic is just better, more mechanical advantage and smoother in use. Even a new cable might make it better.

You could wire the lights so both beams remain on. Just be wary of heat. Use a relay. If you also relay the dip beam direct from the battery, you'll see an improvement too.

Gavin

[sports racer]

Thanks for the info Toni and Gavin.

The car used to belong to Michael (mikinoz) and then Hayden (HaydEn) so I know it's history for the past 3 years. Michael fitted the chip when he did the top end rebuild back in 2013. When Michael fitted extractors to the sports exhaust system he said there was a noticeable increase in low down torque.

The headlights are very bright so might already have the relay mod. If not I'll add relays for low and high beam and see if it gets better before I wire the low beam to stay on when I turn on the high beam. Heat was my main worry too.

[Water Boy]

The clutch is heavy. Lots of people modify it to a hydraulic clutch but why is it heavy? I know Seat is the poor cousin to the Golf so did VW cut corners and fit the Cupra with cable clutch and the Golf with hydraulic clutch so the wimpy Golf drivers wouldn’t strain their legs? What parts are needed to convert to hydraulic?

A very nice upgrade using Mk3 VR6 parts.

The headlights are fantastic. Low beam is bright and has a nice wide spread. High beam is bright and has a long narrow beam. Unfortunately I need a wide spread with a long beam to spot the kangaroos that sit on the side of the road waiting to scare the crap out of me. How do I get both? The headlights have dual lenses identical to this one in my spare car and I’m tempted to modify the lights so when high beam comes on the low beam lights stay on.

Headlights stock are pretty poor so upgraded bulbs is a must.

The 16v ABF engine pulls from 1000 rpm, even in 5th gear, so sometimes I get lazy and go from 1st to 3rd to 5th gear. If I’m really lazy I’ll go from 2nd to 5th. There’s no noticeable power hike up high and I’m revving it to 6500 which it does easily. I thought the ABF was supposed to be strong at a gazzilion revs and crap down low? It does have an adjustable cam gear which is currently set at max retard so am I missing out on the real 16v experience?

I just rev the crap out of mine.

I took out the drivers seat this morning and swapped it with the one from the spare car. The old one isn’t supporting my back properly and needs rebuilding but it did have a couple of wires attached and the other seat didn’t. I’ll check tonight what the wires are connected to but why is one car different to the other? I thought VW brought 54 Cupras in one batch to Australia so they should all be the same?

Why has mine got leather seats with red trim front and back (+ red leather trim in the doors) when all the other Cupras I’ve seen pictures of have cloth seats?

Looks like a car yard special.

Why has mine got a red tartan headlining? Factory fitting or did someone get drunk one night at a Bay City Rollers concert and take hero worship to a whole new level?

DIY job.

The battery doesn’t sit square to the body but at an angle. Is it supposed to be like that?

Correct

Did these cars come with central locking (which isn’t working) or has someone fitted an aftermarket electric setup just to the drivers door?

Check for vaccum leaks on the central locking pump.

Is there any way to fit a bigger fuel tank? 45 litres is just enough to last me 3 days if I drive carefully but I’d rather drive it like I stole it.

I get 500km to a tank of trashing. 650ish on hwy.

[sports racer]

Thanks for that info.

I put 48 litres in today after doing 647 ks. So much for these cars having a 45 litre tank.



Got to love Costco pricing for 98 octane, especially when a tank of petrol lasts me 3 days.

[h100vw]

Thanks for that info.

I put 48 litres in today after doing 647 ks. So much for these cars having a 45 litre tank.



Got to love Costco pricing for 98 octane, especially when a tank of petrol lasts me 3 days.

My Polo has a 45 litre tank. I squeezed 55 litres in a short while ago.

[sports racer]

Challenge accepted.

[Bora Sport]

I have had two Beezas, actually still have one. Both had/have great torque from low revs and will rev to the limiter. I have a tuned Polo (stage 2 from Gavin) that goes really well and yet I can still get in an enjoy the Beeza which is totally stock. I found with both that they are actually quicker than they feel.