SEAT Leon Sport: month 5

Arrived: Dec 2008
List price (including options): £18,197
Average economy: 37.1mpg

The SEAT Leon Sport has been -

Facelifted, which has made our particular Leon feel a bit last gen. Funny how that bothers me, but it does. Nonetheless, KR58 DZJ is due to go back to SEAT soon anyway and we'll miss it very much. I like it more at the moment because there have been no epic motorway excursions of late, which means my lower back has enjoyed some much needed respite.

Without checking, I must have gone on about the Leon's spine jarring ride every month, for which I apologise, but to quote my old business lingo coach, the elephant in the room marked 'Leon Sport' is its suspension setup. Five hours on a motorway in the Leon and the resultant sensation can be akin to having been stood on by an actual elephant.

We're loving the -

Sunshine. Nice weather's great, isn't it? We're also loving turning the Leon's traction control off, which while forcing the 'ESP off' button even further into its recess on the centre console, is also making the car a whole lot more entertaining. The Leon is so easy to place on the road and the feedback each corner of the car sends through the steering column is so clear, that removing its traction control doesn't seem at all frightening. It's just so malleable, because while it grips hard through fast, sweeping bands, it's also very easy to get the front end sliding about on a roundabout or whatever - often a bad characteristic in a front-drive car, but in the Leon's case it's so easy to bring under control that it's a bit of a hoot.

But not so impressed by -

The brakes, whose feel is fading definitively. There doesn't seem to be any dip on actual stopping power, it's just that I have to work the middle pedal harder to get it these days. A new sharpness has developed at the clutch's bite too, giving gear changes (particularly first to second) a jolty characteristic, and perhaps signalling the beginning of an issue.

The rattle from the central air vents that likes to engage under acceleration from about 50mph and above is still going strong as well, but to be frank there's very little wrong with the Leon. In fact, a recent re-acquaintance with the family Citroen C4 has brought the SEAT's dynamic strengths into sharp focus. Where the French car is Andrex soft and painfully ergonomically inept, the Spaniard is feisty, infinitely more involving and, despite its rock-like springs, more comfortable because the driving position was conceived with real human people - with arms and legs - in mind, unlike the C4.

We're looking forward to -

Seeing what comes next. I'm avoiding SEAT people for the time being because I'm more than happy to hold on to the Leon for longer. Yet it will, you'll be unsurprised to hear, be intriguing to try something different. One thing the SEAT has proved resoundingly, though, is that even in a world of a million niches for every pocket, circumstance and motoring predilection, the old family hatch still does a fine job for a family. Sure, an urbanite sporting activity crossover utility vehicle action car would provide a slightly more capacious way of carrying the kids, but would it be anywhere near as entertaining when I'm in the car alone? Probably not.

Mark Nichol