Ibiza Cupra

For those that don't know, the Ibiza Cupra runs the 1.8t from the VAG range, but from factory only has a tiny turbo and conservative map, running only 156bhp.

I bought this as a Stage 1 with a fairly aggressive map, exhaust, large air filter and several bypasses done running 185bhp. It's also lowered on H&R Cup Kit, and was on 17" O.Z Superturismos.

Pictures from the advert.


CIMG3695 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


CIMG3683 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


CIMG3690 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

First thing I did was change the 2 foot long standard aerial for a stubby one from a Citroen.


20101025_001.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr

I then changed the rear wiper for one from a Mk5 Golf.


Filthy cupra by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Did the front and rear badges black, got UK legal pressed plates with my personalised reg on them and picked up some plate surrounds from a German car dealer whilst skiing.


20110214_003 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


20110215_001 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

I also fitted subtle tint Lamin-X to my headlights and the splitter from a Leon Cupra R.


20110222_002 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Fitted the factory stickers from the Ibiza Cupra R to my wheels.


20110222_004 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Ran it looking like this for a while


20110222_017 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


20110222_018 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

 

[ndbrgr]

Then I kerbed one of my superturismos.


Ahh bugger! by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Then whilst at work, someone hit it and drove off.


20110525_002.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Annoyed, I decided it was time I fitted the wheels I had had in storage for a year.


20110525_021.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr


20110530_002 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


20110530_003.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Porsche D90s, 8J rears and 6J fronts.

This brought the car down a bit more.


20110604_027.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr


20110620_001.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Now has a roof rack for lugging my bike around.


Ibiza Cupra with Fairing by Nick Berger, on Flickr


IMG_0932 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Winter snow pics.


IMG_0973 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


IMG_0972 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


IMG_0980 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Next plan is to get some Coilovers to bring the front down lower, as the H&R kit is only a 60/40 lowering kit.

 

[ndbrgr]

Picked these up yesterday. Polished 9J D90s.

9J D90 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Plan is to run these on the back, and move the 8s I currently run on the back, to the front.

 

[turbonutter69]

Car looks sweet buddy.

 

[obi_waynne]

Very nice write up nick, I feel like I know the cars full history now.

I think the new rims will look great when they are on the car.

What's left on your to do list then?

 

[ndbrgr]

Quite a bit is left on the list. Need coilovers as it's not low enough, front bumper still needs repairing from when it was hit, plus I want to go hybrid turbo.

The 9J next to a 6J. Thought this was kinda funny.


D90s by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Going over the polishing.


Polished 9J D90 by Nick Berger, on Flickr

 

[MasterAuron]

Love it!

 

[obi_waynne]

You do like your stretched tyres don't you.

I know a guy in deal who does good body repairs and is quite cheap. He did a perfect t residue on my rear bumper when someone rear ended me. Send me a pm if you want his details and I I'll send them over to you.

 

[ndbrgr]

Stretch tyres, negative camber and excesive lows.

I've done a trial to see if everything fits.


9J Rear Trial by Nick Berger, on Flickr


8J Front Trial by Nick Berger, on Flickr


8j and 9J Trial - Front by Nick Berger, on Flickr


8J and 9J Trial - Rear by Nick Berger, on Flickr


8J and 9J Trial - Rear 2 by Nick Berger, on Flickr


8J and 9J Trial by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Just need to polish the 8s and get some coilovers now. Seriously cannot wait.

 

[T9 man]

Very nice!

 

[obi_waynne]

That is looking really nice nick. Have you thought about a dark tint for the rear lights? I think that will look awesome.

 

[thexav]

Awesome looking car, you've done really well on this.

 

[turbonutter69]

Lovin the rims. :love:

 

[Zwaf]

Lovin the rims. :love:

Lovin' the whole car! :love:

 

[pgarner]

do like

 

[davalav]

Amazing is an understatement in this case.

There is a yellow Ibiza Cupra R up near were I work going for a £1000 I am tempted to pick it up... Of course ensurence is a killer.

I did honestly prefer the O.Z wheels mate, did you consider the Leon Cupra R rims? They look so good for standard.

Good work!

 

[ndbrgr]

Cheers guys.

Amazing is an understatement in this case.

There is a yellow Ibiza Cupra R up near were I work going for a £1000 I am tempted to pick it up... Of course ensurence is a killer.

I did honestly prefer the O.Z wheels mate, did you consider the Leon Cupra R rims? They look so good for standard.

Good work!

17s are too big for this really, which was the main problem with the SuperTs, that and they weren't wide enough.

They used to rub on the inner arches on full lock.


20110312_007.jpg by Nick Berger, on Flickr

LCRs are 5 x 100 and Ibizas are 4 x 100, and again they are 17s.

How much is insurance then? I'm 21 and only pay £700. The nice thing about the ICRs is they came with the 4 pot Brembos.

 

[t5frankie]

nice little motor mate

 

[Prince]

Very nice so far mate! When it comes to coilovers, do yourself a favour a stay away from eBay specials!

 

[ndbrgr]

Yeah I know to stay away from JOMs and TA Technix. Had Weitecs on my last car, probably going to run APs on this one.

Unfortunately this month, since picking the wheels up, pretty much everything has gone wrong.

My first coilpack went, and since then I've had nothing but trouble with cylinders 2+3 constantly giving random missfires.


Pop the hood by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Fitted my 5000K HIDs, all went perfectly.


1 HID by Nick Berger, on Flickr

When fitting them, I realised my front tyres were both either on/past the legal tread depth limit.


Baldy by Nick Berger, on Flickr

With no money to replace them, and the tyres on the new 6J front wheels I picked up being unevenly worn Nankangs I had to fit my current back wheels at the front and my new rear wheels on the back. Something I didn't want to do until I had got my 8s refurbed.

Mismatch wheels by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Today I've noticed a problem with my suspension.


Untitled by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Oh and to top it all off, despite being well over the min mark, my coolant warning keeps flashing when I start the car in the early mornings.

Now a random picture that pretty much sums my last month up.

Broken - again! by Nick Berger, on Flickr

At a cost of £120 I finally replaced all 4 of my coil packs with brand spanking new Hitachi bolt downs, and so far it seems to have cured the problem.

 

[obi_waynne]

I feel your pain buddy, as they say though the only way is up! Hope you get it all sorted soon.

 

[Zwaf]

Unhappy to read about problems with your beautyful Cupra. Cross my fingers to sort all of it!

 

[Prince]

Unhappy to read about problems with your beautyful Cupra. Cross my fingers to sort all of it!

x2.

Looks like that strut needs re-enforcing.

 

[thexav]

Is your water pump shot? The plastic propellers are always breaking on these which is why they should always be changed with the cam belt every 5 years or so. I think Waynne managed to get a metal water pump for his A3 to avoid this problem.

 

[ndbrgr]

Pump was changed to a metal one when the cambelt was done. Only comes on first thing in the morning when I start it up to go to work and stops after 20 seconds. Never happens again in the day.

My fat ass.


Wide enough? by Nick Berger, on Flickr

 

[obi_waynne]

What is the handling like on the new rims then Nick?

 

[ndbrgr]

I haven't noticed any difference in the handling, but it doesn't spin up as much any more.

 

[ndbrgr]

Problems with the car finally came to a head last week. After weird boosting issues and randomly going into limp mode, the car decided that it was not going to fire on cylinders 1, 2 and 4. I limped it back home, and posted up on my local VAG forum, vagingit, about the problem and one of the members offered to have a look. Turned out to be.... a dirty MAF. He sprayed it with carb cleaner and I'm now hitting 19psi in every gear.

He also pointed out that my filter was dead, and was also damaging my paintwork. So..
New Jetex cone filter rated to 420bhp.

Untitled by Nick Berger, on Flickr

He also pointed out that one of my engine mounts was quite spongey, so BFI 0.5 mounts were ordered.

BFI 0.5 Engine Mounts by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Hopefully everything will be spot on for when I take it to the BHP Show at Lydden Hill on bank holiday Monday, as I'm on the vagingit stand.

 

[T9 man]

That's good news buddy and the best of luck with the show next Monday

 

[Zwaf]

Glad you have located your problems and find solutions for them!
Can you tell more about MAF cleaning with carb spray? What spray? How to clean? Just for info if aanybody would need it in future - maybe even me.

 

[ndbrgr]

I think it was this. LINK

He removed the MAF, sprayed loads of that into it, that dried it out and refitted it.

 

[Zwaf]

OK, thanks! So, just spray it and wait to dry away.

 

[davalav]

Well... I am 19, trying to get insured on a 1.8 T would be a nightmare. Worth a shot I guess. Funny how the simple things are quite often WAAAAAY overlooked!

 

[obi_waynne]

Nice one nick - I bet it feels good to have it running properly again.

I might be at the show myself Monday as well so i'll probably see you there.

 

[pgarner]

zwaf, carb cleaner, electrical contact cleaner or Iso Propane Alcohol will clean it up. just spray and leave to dry.
just a point through it could be on its way out as well and the clean has just helped

 

[Zwaf]

Thanks! Good to know such things incase first aid for MAF needed.

 

[ndbrgr]

I've broken it again. It's now refusing to start. Turns over, but it's not firing into life. Decided to just leave it until I can be bothered to look at it.

It's currently sitting at the side of the road looking like this.


Ibiza Cupra by Nick Berger, on Flickr

I don't know why my photos always make the glass look so green.

 

[ndbrgr]

Just scanned my car, 14 codes. Hmm.

16684 P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
16685 P0301 Cyl.1 Misfire Detected
16514 P0130 O2 Sensor Circ.,Bank1-Sensor1 Malfunction
17633 P1225 Cyl.1-Fuel Inj.Circ. Short to Ground
17634 P1226 Cyl.2-Fuel Inj.Circ. Short to Ground
17635 P1227 Cyl.3-Fuel Inj.Circ. Short to Ground
17636 P1228 Cyl.4-Fuel Inj.Circ. Short to Ground
17833 P1425 Tank Vent.Valve Short to Ground
17955 P1547 Boost Pressure Contr.Valve Short to Ground
17525 P1117 O2 Sensor Heater Circ.,Bank1-Sensor2 Short to Ground
17843 P1435 Sec.Air Inj.Sys.Pump Relay Circ. Short to ground
17829 P1421 Sec.Air Inj.Valve Circ Short to Ground
17697 P1289 Turbocharger bypass valve short to ground
17949 P1541 Fuel Pump Relay Circ Open

Is it just me or is that a lot of 'Short to Grounds'? Think I have a damaged earth somewhere.

 

[T9 man]

Looking at that lot, I would start to look where the last accessory was fitted or the last lot of mechanical work was done just in case a hole has been drilled or a screw has gone through into a loom somewhere or a section of the loom has been pinched by something *easily done*.

Check all of the big and small multi-plug connectors under the bonnet first to see if they have been coupled together properly then try the car again. After this and the fault has not been found then I would start to pull all of the multiplugs apart under the bonnet. Get some electrical contact cleaner from Maplins, RS etc and start spraying liberally onto the plug and socket connections while checking for any signs of corrosion.

At least you can start to eliminate some of the basics before paying a garage lots of money per hour to investigate for you. Make sure that you tell them what you have done and where so that this is not done twice.

Good luck buddy

 

[ndbrgr]

About time I update this.

Fixed that old issue, earth had got rusty on the battery.

I got bored of the car and put it up for sale in September was gone within a week. Left me looking like this.


Ibiza Cupra garage by Nick Berger, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Berger, on Flickr


Rolling by Nick Berger, on Flickr

Replaced it with this.


330CD by Nick Berger, on Flickr

330CD.