Stylish and speedy Seat Leon

The Seat Leon is a beautiful looking hatchback

Once I got the driver’s seat into the perfect position for me, I really began to enjoy driving the Seat Leon.

The Leon is a beautiful looking hatchback, on the outside. Sleek and respectable looking, the five-seater will get you to your destination in style.

Unfortunately, this styling isn’t continued to the interior, which, with dark cloth upholstery in the model I was driving, was a little on the plain side.

It was well equipped though, with auto lights, auto wipers, cruise control, Bluetooth, Radio/CD/USB/Aux and built in Sat Nav all fitted in the test car.

It also had dual control air conditioning and front and rear parking sensors, with on screen distance indicators.

While the interior of the Leon wasn’t the most exciting, I really liked the styling on the touch screen radio

I was rather taken by the well-designed touch screen radio, which looked like an old style phone dialler. Some thought also went into the positioning of the USB port, which was easily accessible in the centre console.

The wipers were also on the quirky side, wiping in from the sides, rather than the more usual up from the base of the windscreen.

I also liked that the volume lowered automatically when you put the car into reverse and resumed its previous level when you went back into first gear.

However, I thought the Sat Nav, which was also in the centre console, would have been better placed at a higher position as I found it wasn’t really at a level you could just quickly glance at.

Interiors gripes aside though, I absolutely loved driving the Seat Leon, it’s fast and zippy yet grippy when needs be.

Our magical mystery tour took us across the Wicklow mountains, really putting the Leon through its paces on narrow, winding and bumpy roads, some stretches of which had hidden speed bumps. It overcame the challenge though, handling very well.

The Seat Leon is a really smooth car, with really nice gear changes. On the motorway, it was fast and you could really see the acceleration in urban driving when pulling away at the lights. Start/stop technology also contributed to the Leon’s great fuel economy.

Overall, I can say I’m a fan of the Seat Leon. It’s a beautiful looking car, was well spec’d and offered a great drive.

The Seat Leon is available in Ireland in both petrol and diesel engines with prices for the entry level 1.4l MPI starting from €17.180. The biggest seller in the Leon range is the 1.6TDI 105BHP Special Edition, which starts from €21,040.

The Style model I was driving costs from €24,135, with extras such as tinted windows (€168), 17” Alloys wheels (€418), Technology pack (Auto dimming rear view mirror, Park distance control, coming home lights, rain sensor & 8 speakers €419) & Technology plus pack (Sat Nav, Xenon headlights with daytime running lights, dynamic bending & rear LED + headlight washer & Bluetooth €1,813) bringing the price to €26,953.

Tech Spec:
Engine: 1.6l 105bhp (diesel)
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Acceleration: 0-100km/h in 11.3seconds
Top speed: 185km/h
Combined Fuel Consumption: 4.2l/100km
CO2 Emissions: 109g/km
Annual road tax: €160 (Band A)

Visit Seat.ie or Seat Ireland’s Facebook page for further information.