My Car History | Part Two

 Part two, and this has to be the car that had the biggest impact! This was my 2014 Seat Ibiza Cupra, it had the 1.4 twin-charged engine paired to a 7-speed DSG gearbox. Stock they run about 180bhp which is a respectful figure, however I couldn't just leave it at that.

The Cupra was on my hitlist after the Polo had been written off, mainly due to the fact I wanted something quicker, something I could modify more extensively and I wanted something a bit different. I had a mate who had a Bocanegra (a special edition) which definitely made it easier to know that this was the car for me. After a few weeks of searching, I found a nice example not too far from me. After a viewing and test drive, I knew it was the car for me. The following week I picked the car up and got straight to enjoying it and getting used to having an automatic. 

From purchase, the car had been tinkered with but I was limited on what had been done. I eventually got in contact with the previous owner and he ran through everything he had done with the car. From a full gearbox rebuild to each modification that was on the car. The only thing that had changed was that the remap he had, was taken off more than likely down to the ECU being reset at some point between the ownership change. 

Once I learned about the map being taken off, I got into researching who to go to for getting a remap done to take advantage of the upgraded exhaust, intercooler and intake. It was at this time I came across RTMG. If you know the Ibiza Cupra platform, you probably know these guys. If not, they do a whole host of tuning and parts for a wide range of cars however they have unmatched knowledge when it comes to the 1.4 EA111 engine in the Cupra. They hold the record (at the time of typing) for the fastest EA111, which is fitted into an Ibiza of course. Running 650hp it's certainly no slouch.

Once I learned about them I didn't hesitate to get the Cupra booked in, and sooner than later it had been mapped. I was lucky enough to meet Chris, who other than being a god amongst men was the one who mapped the car and made sure it was running perfectly and I was happy with it before I left. What was an amazing day did take a turn whilst on the way home though. Whilst heading home the waterpump decided to give up and threw all the coolant out. So what had already been an expensive day, turned into an even more expensive day. 

 

After the mapping, the car pretty much stayed the same. Apart from stripping out the majority of the interior to help with the weight and the usual servicing and maintenance. I felt the car was perfect, the power was useable and at around 240bhp, it wasn't the most powerful but it handled incredibly well and surprised a lot of people.

 

But I had an itch that needed to be scratched. Ever since I first started looking at Cupras, I always preferred the look of the pre-facelift, I'm not 100% sure what it is about them but I just think they looked better. So with this in mind, I began seeing if anyone had 'de-facelifted' an Ibiza. From all my research, I couldn't find much, people had spoken about doing it but no one seemed to have actually completed or even started to do it. So, what better way to be the guinea pig and have a go myself.

After a lengthy time of sourcing the right parts, I had a genuine Ibiza Cupra front bumper, the even harder-to-find pre-facelift xenon Cupra headlights as well as the bonnet. And that's all that was needed to make the change. Once I got it all together, I was buzzing, even though none of it was paint-matched just yet, I knew it wouldn't be long before I could finish what I had started. 

Little did I know though, this would be the end of the journey with the Cupra, it had developed the infamous mechatronic failure which is super common with these, and due to a bunch of personal circumstances at the same time, it was time to let it go. Something I wish I never had to do but it was the right thing to do.

Only recently did I notice the car up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and it was great to see the car in its former glory and the pre-facelift swap complete and all colour matched. At the time I had literally just purchased the S3, otherwise, I would probably have the Cupra sat on the drive at home instead of the S3. 

When it comes to the Cupras, I very much have unfinished business with them and likely I will own another in the future. However, for now, I am onto bigger and better things with the S3. The lesson learnt with the Cupra is sometimes you have to cut your losses with a car to get into a better situation. If I had kept it, who knows when it would've been fixed up and on the road the way I wanted it to be. If you have found yourself in a similar position, don't let your pride get in the way. Cars are replaceable but time isn't, focus on the important things in life and you'll find everything else just falls into place.

Part three is gonna be a bit different from the past car history posts, again with some more life advice if ever you should need it. 

As always, enjoy the ride,

E.