Another candidate for a TT’er Daily Drive made it’s way north of Gretna for us to have a look at…….so we took it to Sussex for the Goodwood Revival.
SEAT have taken their Leon family hatch and given it the Cross-Country / Allroad / Outback / Alltrack treatment.
Other manufacturers have previously been guilty of slapping on some big grey plastic bumpers and expecting us all to believe that this makes a car somehow more sturdily built and capable. However SEAT do seem to have gone further than the cosmetics with this car. There are some appropriately genuine changes.
The car gets the 4DRIVE permanently on-demand four wheel drive system and a 28mm increase in suspension height to clear those uneven bumps and lumps. It certainly looks the part, if a little angular in places.
The suspension clearance does make the difference. We took it up a track where many other TT cars have to be very careful to avoid grounding, but the Leon could fire straight up the track without any concerns about catching exhausts or undertrays.
Perhaps a sterner test was Glasgow’s Lillybank Gardens car park in the West end. The subsidence there has made it more like an off-road demonstration circuit these days, but the Leon coped well, delivering its occupants safely and comfortably for a “ubiquitous” spot of lunch and on to various errands before heading home.
The test car’s metallic brown paint was perhaps a little “1980’s nostalgia bandwagon” but I guess it suited the autumnal hues in the leafy University location. Over time I developed an aversion to the very sharply styled wing mirrors, but I think we can put that down to the foibles of the reviewer.
During the day, darting around the Greater Glasgow area, mainly in urban settings, the car was comfortable, easy to place, easy to control and with the 2.0 TDI engine combined with start-stop gadgetry, it returned a very respectable 42 mpg. As you might imagine, the 150ps diesel engine pulls strongly from very low revs, which makes for relaxed driving with less time changing gear. The torque is omni-present and power keeps building up to about 4000 rpm and hangs in there to the redline at 5000 rpm, but there seemed little point in exercising those last 1000 revs as we got to know the car.
Having experienced mpg in the 40’s “jukin’ aboot” Glasgow, we were anticipating great things for the long motorway haul down to Goodwood. However we were slightly surprised to find that we got about 46 mpg, travelling at very steady and sensible motorway speeds, with the occasional burst of 49 mpg through the 50 mph roadworks zones.
Perhaps this is the price we pay for the four wheel drive system or the chunky 18″ optional wheels.
Another option to feature on the long motorway drive was the Adaptive Cruise Control. At ÂŁ505 it is an expensive option, but what an amazing piece of kit it is. Using radar to track the distance to cars in front, the system will reduce the Leon’s speed in order to maintain a gap to the next car. The sensitivity is user-configurable and I found it a litle too intrusive beyond the shortest setting, but soon came to like and trust it.
I wonder how many accidents will be caused by drivers used to Adaptive Cruise Control, in unfamiliar cars, forgetting that the car they are driving doesn’t have such a feature and braking really late on a busy motorway.
I also found it interesting to see how the system would wait until the car in front is completely out of the way before accelerating up to resume the required speed. Normally, when I see the car in front signal and start to change lane out of my way, I usually accelerate straight away. The ACC system obviously can’t interpret (or guess!) the other driver’s intentions as I would do, so it waits until the car is completely out of the way. You can certainly override the system and allow it to take over again once all is clear, but am I driving to close when “interpreting” what the driver ahead is doing?
The long journey also gave us a chance to properly assess the interior of the Leon and it is a very nice place to be. The standard alcantara seats are very comfortable for all but the longest of stints and it may well have just been old age and not firm cushions that got to us in the end.
The driving position is good, with a nice notchy gearchange and a splendidly chunky and good looking steering wheel. The infotainment screen is well positioned and the system is easy enough to use in most respects. The DAB radio exhibited particularly good reception compared to others we are used to.
One respect that left us frustrated was the navigation system’s refusal to accept (or our inability to find the right option to input) a postcode. Two former IT professionals and a sat-nav is not always a winning combination.
Boot space was good enough for the bags, suit carriers and silly hats required for the Goodwood Revival weekend and we would have been even more pleased if we had found the handy under-floor compartment before we were unpacking the car back at home!
In the interests of completing a thorough test for such a country-oriented vehicle (and certainly not because we were late getting to the dog-sitter) we also had a quick spin complete with Cooper the black labrador in the back. There was plenty of room for the big lad and we observed no complaints, but the tailgate slopes quite severely and this left precious little horizontal space for his big thick head between the retracted cargo cover and the rear screen, should he wish to sit up and look out.
Long journeys are a good test for the interior facilities of a car. The report from the passenger was largely positive, but the lack of shelf or “cubby-hole” space to place objects was noted. The door bin seemed to be the only practical space for the various bits and pieces to be used or consumed on the long run. The slow response of and lack of postcode input into the navigation system also seemed to be the cause of much frustration.
We were also surprised by the lack of USB charging options on such a brand new car. A proprietary connector is available inside the glovebox and it does charge as well as connect, but we found that it wasn’t possible to leave the device outside the glovebox and shut the lid without pinching the cable too hard.
It seems strange for a TT review to leave the subject of handling until the very end, but it isn’t the most important aspect of a car like this. However I would suggest that it is one of its strong suits. The additional ride height and suspension travel are noticeable, but the steering feedback is good and the car is tuned very well to today’s poorly kept roads. It resists tramlining very well. The combination of the ride height, the torquey engine and the good grip from the big wheels actually made it one of the quickest cars I have ever driven over a particular twisty and rambling single-track country road that I often use.
In summary I think the car has fairly narrow appeal. It would actually suit me very well as I don’t spend a lot of time on the motorway and I would benefit from the car’s ability on poor surfaces, while enjoying sufficient space and comfort for most occasions without having to “go large” with the Land Rover all the time. However, if you don’t need the terrain capabilities then a more conventional Leon would probably be less expensive to buy and doubtlessly cheaper to run.
PRICE: From ÂŁ26,370
ENGINE: 1968cc TDI 4 cylinder
POWER: 150 ps
TORQUE: 340 nm from 1750 rpm
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 129 mph 0-62 mph 8.7 secs
CONSUMPTION: claimed 57.6 mpg (42-49 mpg experienced on test)
CO2: 129 g/km
