Seat Leon FR TDIModel: Seat Leon FR TDI CR
Mileage: 14,634
Fuel consumption: 47.1mpg
Insurance: 28E
Price: £18,900 on the road
Options: 18-inch Orion wheels in black (£500), Technology and Convenience Pack (£1,565), Bi-xenon headlights (£730)

More updates:
3,000 mile update
6,000 mile update
10,000 mile update
 12,000 mile update
15,000 mile update

Likes

Colour: How many other sub-£20,000 hatchbacks can turn heads like a Lumina Orange Leon?

Power: The more miles the Leon gets under its wheels, the faster the car gets as its diesel engine loosens up

Seats: Think sports seats mean titanic backache on long distances? Think again: the FR’s supportive seats are hugely comfortable

Dislikes

Steering vagueness: It’s not been a huge problem, but vague steering feel a few degrees either side of the straight ahead has become noticeable

Convex wheel spokes: They look the business, but a huge amount of care needs to be taken to avoid kerbing the black Orion alloy wheels

Sat-nav slowness: The sat-nav works well, although it can be painfully slow to calculate routes, especially short ones


Full gallery: Seat Leon FR TDI

Seat Leon FR TDI six month test

Verdict

The Seat Leon FR TDI might not be a car for the pragmatic buyer – there are more cost-effective cars on the market – but it’s certainly a bit of a bargain for the enthusiast.

Its £19,000 asking price puts it £5,000 less than the Volkswagen Golf GTD, £4,000 less than an Audi A3 S Line and £2,000 less than the Skoda Octavia VRS.

All three of these rivals offer the same engine, and drive – more or less – in the same way, but there’s no doubting the Leon is the most visually exciting.

And don’t think you’re getting much more equipment for your money. The Leon only really gives hill-hold – for easier hill starts – to the Golf and A3, and Audi also gets ‘start and stop’, which kills the engine at traffic lights. The Octavia gets a six-CD autochanger.

Hardly the equipment of dreams and besides, hill-hold can be selected from the Leon’s options list for just £150.

Better equipped

The Leon betters the Audi and VW for standard cruise control, and the Audi doesn’t even have electric windows in the back.

The Leon offers a choice between playing a CD and following the sat-nav which is frustrating for motorists still consigned to small silver discs for their musical entertainment.

Given our audio and nav system is a £1,500 option; the lack of a standard lead to connect an IPod is a surprise. Expect to pay another £50 for the privilege.

Performance for all four models is virtually identical, with an eight second 0-62mph time and a top speed around 140mph.

The fuel consumption claimed by manufacturers varies though, with the A3 topping the table with 60.1mpg and the Octavia bringing up the rear with 49.6mpg. The Leon sits somewhere in the middle with 53.3mpg.

47mpg over 15,000 miles

However, these figures depend entirely on how the car is driven, and over 15,000 miles of driving the Leon has returned a little over 47mpg. That’s not bad for a big-ish car that enjoys being driven hard, but a fair way off Seat’s claim.

The foursome’s emissions vary considerably; strange given the amount of common components they share. The start and stop-equipped Audi is by far the greenest, emitting 123g/km of CO2, followed by the Golf (134g/km) Leon (139g/km) and Octavia (149g/km).

But scratch beneath the emissions and this variance only makes a £35 between the best and worst performers – hardly a bank-breaker.

Most buyers will choose the model based on some tangible factors – the badge on the grille, the looks, the price or the locality of their dealer.

But the Leon’s appeal is more subtle than that – it is the car you buy with your heart as much as your head. And in that respect, Seat is a Spanish Alfa Romeo.