Inspiration

SEAT Cupra Championship - Brands Hatch

I have often wondered about the multitude of tuning companies out there, all promising leaps in performance. Once, I was a whisker away from getting my Clio V6 chipped but after a rather nasty experience with a Superchips dealer I changed my mind.

Time though is a great healer and when I realised that for less than £700 I could give my Leon Cupra R a welcome boost, the tuning cogs started to turn once again.

I started researching a number of tuning companies in the UK looking for something that would suit. I stumbled across a company called Revo Technik who offered ODB2 port ( On Board Diagnostics level 2) tuning for a number of VAG group cars. The beauty of this method of tuning is that the ECU gets its new performance juice via the port and nothing else needs to be installed or soldered.

The knowledge, experience and passion for performance cars and tuning was reassuring to hear on the first phone call. Offering a free trial though was the clincher and I reached for my diary and searched for the first available day.

I was invited to the HQ for a chat about the products they offer (more reports to follow) and most importantly to have the free trial code put onto the Leon . We decided to do an article on the day and include a rolling road before and after comparison.

Judgement Day

The day finally came and the car was fired up and ready to go. The small matter of a two-hour journey just served to remind me how good the Leon was as standard. The long motorway sections showed off the strong mid range performance of the larger turbo 1.8T VAG engine. Branching off the motorway onto the country lanes of Northamptonshire the Leon was a pleasure to hustle along briskly, shifting through the gears and carving through the bends. Finally I arrived at Revo and was ushered into the workshop by Kev Hall, ready for the car to be checked over.

Plugged in and ready to go

Within a few minutes the car was plugged in and the code was being uploaded onto the ECU. Once it was uploaded a quick trip was in order to get some milk for the tea. Kev plugged his laptop in to the ODB2 port so he could run diagnostics on the move to ensure all was well. I reversed out of the workshop and engaged first gear, not really expecting much until we were really moving. Within 10 yards it was clear that the Leon Cupra R I remembered was no longer. The car tugged forward like a rottweiler on a lead trying to eat the neighbours cat. At this point we had not even got out of the car park and I had not pushed the pedal further than half way. Once onto the main road I waited for Kev to settle into his seat before burying my foot into the carpet. At that moment I did what most people would do and hit the red line and changed up and up and up. The time taken for that to happen has reduced drastically. This was no longer a quick car, it was a frankly ridiculous car, immediately changing my opinion on every hot hatch I have driven!

All these thoughts within a one-mile trip to get some milk! My mind was made up and within 60 seconds!

Small Talk

The choice is yours

Back to Revo HQ and number of tuning related conversations later we moved onto a rather flash range of gadgets they call the SPS1, SPS2 and SPS3 - Serial Port Switches . I was most interested in the SPS3 as it enables you to plug in to the OBD2 port and change the settings yourself. You can change the boost levels and the timing. Should you require more power, just fill up with super unleaded (or race fuel if you have some), increase the timing and then increase the boost as required.

I made a comment about the R32 parked outside, only to find it was fitted with a super charger and owned by one lucky member of the Revo team. We will be having a closer look at that car soon and I expect it will be rather special.

The time had come to find out how much power our Leon was now putting through its front wheels. Kev suggested I followed him and that we take it easy to keep the temperature down on our Leon before it went on the rollers.

The Numbers

I was not convinced Kev would be able to behave himself as he hopped into his rather hot 256bhp Seat Ibiza . Initial good intentions soon turned into a rather brisk cross-country excursion to Stealth Racing to get the figures. I found myself just leaving the car in 4 th or 5 th gear and letting the massive wave of torque take me to the next corner. I have driven a lot of fast cars, but watching the speedo climb so rapidly I could only think of one that was faster, the difference being that my old Evo 6, although quicker, cost a fortune to run and cost almost twice the price.

Once inside, the people at Stealth set to work quickly, strapping the car down onto the rollers. The car was set to the performance mode using Kev's SP3. The engine was started and the wheels started to spin up on the rollers. A short while later with the car and rollers making lots of noise, all became silent. Some tapping on the computer later and the results were ready. 271bhp and 286ft lb was slightly more than I had expected and it was a warm day! The car was left to cool down and set back to standard. Once again the wheels started to move and exhaust gasses flowed as the speed increased. More tapping followed and I was surprised to see such high figures out of the now back to standard car. It is normal for VAG group engines to be conservative but this was still pretty impressive.

Home in a flash

Fun on the lanes

The gulf in actual performance on the road is so large that the graphs, although very impressive, don't demonstrate anything like how much better the Revo tuning is than the standard setting. I found myself parting with hard cash for the upgrade and decided on an SP3 so I could change the settings when I want.

Driving back the journey seemed to fly past and I found myself prodding the pedal once in a while just to feel the kick in the back and wave of torque that follows. Country lanes were the order of the day for the first half of the journey and the way the Leon managed to deal with all the extra power really did impress me. Once on the motorway the pull in sixth gear was fantastic and changing down will now be a thing of the past.

Conclusion

I have to admit I was concerned that the car would lose something in order to gain the extra performance. Happily I can report that all that has happened is the car has been transformed in a very positive way. The acceleration is immense and midrange even more so. Best of all the fuel economy does not appear to have suffered and I can still get 33mpg on a motorway run.

Mid range is important to me and Revo have managed to provide it by the bucket load. The car is still smooth and easy to drive around town with a light foot. Should you feel the need, full throttle is only one stomp away and believe me you will be impressed!

A full road test with performance statistics will follow within the next few weeks.