‘Leon’ is the last in the ‘Salsa’ show car trilogy from VW-owned Spanish carmaker Seat. Despite the Leon being designed and ready for production at the same time as the clever ‘Altea’ hatchback and the booted ‘Toledo’, the Seat board decided to bring the biggest seller to the market last.
The most striking design element is the two-door coupe look. The rear doors are opened using recessed handles that are positioned in the rear quarter light glass, taking Alfa’s clever 156 door handle idea a stage further. Seat sees its cars as more than just transport and says they don’t have customers, just drivers!
Leon’s classy exterior looks especially good in darker colours. Of course it is bigger outside and in (aren’t all replacements) yet the Walter de’Silva-designed car retains handsome proportions. It is as classy to look at as a Golf and easier on the eye than the super Ford Focus (Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2005). Inside the car is driver orientated with high back seats and a clear tangible sporty ambience. There are, however, some nasty hard dark plastics but this is par across the ‘B’ sector.
Improvements include greater rear passenger room and boot access. The chassis is much stiffer too. On the road the Leon is pretty useful thanks to sharp suspension and the use of a new close ratio six-speed gearbox. It enhances the sporty experience by allowing the enthusiastic driver to wring the last ounce of poke from the engine by keeping the revs spinning in the sweet spot. The clever rear suspension set up combines with direct steering to great effect.
Available in the Seat is a new improved ESP stability control system. In an emergency situation it can give the driver clues through the steering wheel as to the direction to steer by slightly turning the steering wheel in the right direction to avoid loss of control. Seat points out that at all times the driver has total control over the direction the wheel is actually turned.
The car feels tight and sporty even in entry-level form (1.6 litre/102bhp). For me the 2 litre TDi (140bhp) fitted with a DSG gearbox is a winning combination. The five engine range (all sourced from VW and then tweaked at Seat) starts with a 102 bhp 1.6 petrol unit. As of now Seat has no plans to fit the more modern/powerful 1.6 FSi engine found in the new VW Passat. A 150bhp 2 litre tops the petrol range with a 1.4 litre entry level Leon on the way next February. There are two diesels, the 1.9 TDi pushes out 105bhp while the 2 litre TDi has a healthy 140bhp. Both 2 litre Leons are available with the superb DSG gearbox. Specification is kept to just ‘R’ and ‘S’, with the latter being top, so you gain 16” alloys, climate control, cruise, front fogs and electric rear windows.
The Seat is best described as stylish in its approach. It has a clear mandate from the VAG group to be the youthful, fashion-conscious brand. At the moment Seat is happy to produce 450,000 cars per year although it has a 500,000 capacity. Irish prices have yet to be announced but expect to pay €19,500 for the entry level 1.6 petrol.
The quickest of the range is the 2 litre turbo TFSi, which has 185 bhp on tap, but we can expect hotter versions to come like the FR and Cupra in the next couple of years.
I think of the new Seats as Alfas that work.
Michael Sheridan
