SEAT Leon 1.6 Range
To some people £1,800 is pretty small beer. Its the sort of money theyd splash out on an impulse buy for a watch or a laptop computer. For most of us, its a meaningful slice of our annual salary. It also represents the difference in price between a SEAT Leon 1.
6 Reference and a Volkswagen Golf 1.6 FSI S. Both run on the same underpinnings and both are modern, five door family hatches built by different arms of the same automotive conglomerate. As good as the Golf is, is it really that much better than the rather attractive Leon?
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Looking to make money back on the Golf when the time comes to sell. Count your pennies. Predicted residual value for the Golf after three years is 50.5% and for the SEAT 50.
2%. Spain looks to be holding the advantage. The £12,422 Reference is the middle model in the Leon 1.6 line up.
To really drive home the advantage, youd need to buy the £11,722 Essence, but theres also a £13,622 Stylance model for those that arent watching the bottom line quite so beadily. This is a car that offers some big-car features for a decidedly compact price. Follow-me-home headlamps, electrically adjustable door mirrors with park function, dual zone climate control and an eight speaker radio/CD system with steering wheel controls is just the start of it. Theres illuminated sun visors, cruise control, electronic stability control and electronic brake assist, locking wheel nuts to protect your 16-inch alloys, trip computer, and height- and lumbar-adjustable front drivers seat as well.
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The 1.6-litre engine is a little less sophisticated than the unit found in the Golf and is just about enough for this 1,320kg car. The old Leon was offered with a 1.4-litre engine but unless SEAT can wheedle the 1.
4-litre Twincharge engine out of Volkswagen, its doubtful well see a smaller capacity unit in a current Leon. With 109lb/ft of torque available, you may need to use the gearbox on longer inclines, especially if youre fuilly loaded. Throttle response is a little unusual, commands to the engine feeling as if theres a small capacity turbocharged unit on the other end of the bitstream, a slight lag in reply to your bidding being a rather odd characteristic for such a normally-aspirated powerplant. The Leon will get to 60mph in 10.
2 seconds and keep going until the whiteflag is waved at 114mph. A combined fuel economy figure of 38.1mpg is reasonably good although when we tried to replicate this in real life, we found the Leon to be consuming fuel at a rate of around 31mpg. A six-speed gearbox would help increase economy while cruising on motorways but the Leon 1.
6 gets a five-speeder. If you want an extra cog, youll need to trade up to a 2.0-litre model. Its worth reminding ourselves what a SEAT Leon actually is.
Weve become very taken with hotter Cupra versions of the Leon over the past few years, but Britain is a special case, and in mainland Europe, its the more prosaic models that plump up SEATs profit margins. Therefore theres a slight disconnect between how we perceive the Leon and how our European neighbours do. To us, a Leon is a snorting hot hatch that offers terrific value for money and Germanic build quality all wrapped up with a strong sporting pedigree. Think Jason Plato doorhandling Yvan Muller out of the way in his SEAT touring car.
Thats only a small segment of what the Leon represents to SEAT. Instead it must go head to head with some of the class best in the shape of the Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Astra, the Renault Megane and the Citroen C4. The Leon is a good deal bigger than its predecessor and this extra space is particularly noticeable in the rear. The old car was pretty tight in the back but the addition of 12cm to the latest models length is felt particularly in the rear, where theres now knee room for six-footers.
Although theres no armrest in the back and the bench is a little flat, you wouldnt feel hard done by undertaking a longer journey here. The rear tailgate opens wide to reveal a load bay thats a little awkwardly shaped for bulky items but is otherwise perfectly adequate for this class of car. Weight has gone up by a mere 8kg, helped in no small part to innovative panel stamping procedures and an acrylic rear side window that incorporates the door handle. Both the front seat and the steering wheel are multi-adjustable and theres plenty of headroom up front even for taller drivers.
The nose curves rapidly out of view and shorter drivers may want to specify parking sensors. The windscreen pillars are annoyingly chunky which means that youll probably be doing a fair bit of see-sawing in your seat as you negotiate roundabouts. One can almost excuse this feature due to the fact that the windscreen wipers park vertically into the pillars a rather neat trick that helps with the vital showroom wow factor. All-round visibility isnt a Leon strong point, the three-quarter view being hampered by thick pillars and the rearward view consisting of a number of headrests.
The Leon 1.6-litre models acquit themselves very well in a tough marketplace, offering a top value alternative to the likes of the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf. The interior may be disappointingly barren given the stylistic flourishes of the exterior styling but thats a small grumble. If you want to make the view look a little better, think of the money youve saved over a Golf.
An Omega Constellation would probably look pretty good on your wrist
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: SEAT Leon 1.6 range
PRICES: £11,722-£13,622 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 6
CO2 EMISSIONS: 183g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 114mph / 0-60mph 10.2s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 38.1mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: six airbags, 3-point seatbelts with pre-tensioners, ESP, EBA and DSR.
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4315/1768/1458
