Wando

£17,995 for a seat leon cupra 180 bhp, S3 gearbox 6 speed I assume and all the gadgets we had to pay extra for in as standard, including leather, esp, raintronic, climate control, auto dip mirror,etc,etc. They can only push brand loyalty so far, check out seat.co.uk and see what you think.
John A3/GolfIV/Leon/TT,etc,etc.

AL B

I really don't know what to say. It's sickening.

4 rings are only worth *so* much, and then people will think "hey, it's the same car underneath anyway, so I'll have the other one!"

Obviously, each brand should have their performance cars, but surely not at the expense of the cars in the other brands?

It obviously pisses me off that
a) it [the Leon] has a more powerful engine
b) it has the same dashboard as our A3/S3's and
c) it's got more equipment as standard!!

But think about how the 180TT guys will feel? Okay, the TT is a nicer looking car, but same performance with 4 seats for nearly 10grand less!! Something to think about.

Also, I'm sure I read somewhere (so correct me if I'm wrong) the A3 in Germany is available with 180bhp FWD! Over here we only get 180bhp quattro A3's!!

Audi make nice cars, very desirable, but they *are* pushing the brand loyalty thing a bit too far.

Alan (love a good rant now and then!)

David R

but the only saving grace is one of perceived quality. Yes, the Leon has the same greasy bits and dash, but overall, the quality (or rather the perceived quality) is less. The doors don't have the same thick, indestructible feel to them, the radio and climate control are more brittle, the actual instruments in the binnacle don't have the warning lights in the clocks themselves but in a standard collection where we find the drivers info system. I had seen many photos of the Leon and thought I was being conned, however on visiting the dealer who had one demo model, I was no longer dissapointed. Yes, the price gap is HUGE, but its the little things that count (like an "S" on the nose etc)

But clearly, VAG need to listen to their pissed off customers, you can buy the Leon with 4wd, 6 speed box etc etc for 17,000, a quick trip to AmD = 200+bhp - this pakage is 10,00 less than the S3!

Problem is that VAG cannot lose either way!

Regards

David

AL B

Good points. You are absolutely right. VAG can't loose!

DHA

You can get a FWD 180 bhp a3 in germany, i had my a3 quattro against a leon in the wet today and the leon was slower, i know wet was an advantage but what sounds better in the pub? "I drive an audi quattro" or "I drive a seat leon".<p>2000 A3 quattro
Brilliant Black
Black Leather RECARO seats!

David R

I agree with you, but 4000GBP is a lot to pay extra to get 1 up in the pub!

AL B

I agree with you also, and David.