My Left Foot......... (Seat Leon Stylance TDi DSG 5dr)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Seat Leon Stylance TDi DSG 5dr
Date:	05/11/08 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Many attributes of VAG quality at a lower price. Sportier styling. Well appointed

Disadvantages: Precious little internal storage

.......Now Has Nothing To Do!

After a somewhat turbulent love-hate relationship with my Citroën C4 (loved the car, but I hadn't planned on forming first-name relationships with the folks on the service desk), I set about looking for a replacement as the end of the much-needed (and used) 4th year warranty loomed.

I wanted something a bit eye-turning to replace the C4 coupé without spending 'exotic' money. Cars from the Volkswagen Group (VAG) beckoned, having not had one lately. I never tend to buy the same make twice in succession - the dealers start to take you for granted.

I ruled Audis out on service-cost grounds. I've heard it said that it's part of an Audi dealer's training; keeping a straight face when they present you with a service bill.

I can't put my finger on it, but I also ruled out VW itself. In the size-range I'm after (Astra, Focus, Golf etc) they're looking a bit broad in the beam, like a previously svelte Fräulein, now turned Hausfrau.

Worthy though the marque is, Skoda doesn't excite me. No, I'm not a name snob; In fact I'm just the sort of bloody-minded old codger who'd be proud to say I've got one, but I find styling important - well, certainly more important than they do apparently.

This leaves SEAT. Along with Skoda, they are in the bargain-basement end of the VAG range, but nonetheless ticking most of my boxes when it comes to looks.

"Auto Emoción" just about sums it up, especially the newer model León.

Strangely the previous version was a dead ringer for the 70s Alfasud and the Alfa connection isn't yet forgotten. It's nice to see a car that has made it from drawing board via 'concept car' to full production without too much compromise, and those familiar with the Alfa 147 may spot one or two styling similarities, having had the same designer. The tailgates are VERY similar with part of the rear light cluster built in, as is the method of opening the rear doors with seemingly 'not there' door handles.

One thing the whole VAG range shares is a worthy selection of diesel engines (my other criteria - I'm a committed oil burner now), from a 1.9 litre 105 b.h.p. version, through a 2.0 140 b.h.p. to a sporty 2.0 170 b.h.p. FR version, the latter pair mated to 6-speed gear boxes.

I'm not quite sure why I was initially attracted to the decidedly gutsy 2.0 TDI FR version of the León, all 170 horses of it. Maybe it was something to do with the 3-year's interest free credit* on this model, and the fact that the Citroën could so easily have become a money pit, now that the warranty was ending also swung me in that direction with a growing sense of urgency.

*After all, if someone is silly enough to lend the money with no strings, why take the cash out of the bank and lose interest?

THE FR FALLS AT THE FIRST FENCE

I tried ever so hard to like this car despite being 20 years older than the 'demographic' that normally buy it, given that the finance suited me down to the ground. After a 2 hour test drive, over motorway, A-roads and a typical 'commute' including the Hounslow Alps (speed ramps to you), I was sad to say that on all but the smoothest roads, the FR had a dreadful ride quality - oddles of power where it counts yes, but comfortable? Not really. Spirited driving on curvy roads needed SMOOTH curvy roads if the car wasn't to be bounced off line quite badly, so forget charging round country lanes too! Even 'cat's eyes' upset it. In my view, they'd gone too far overboard with the boy-racer suspension set up borrowed from the 'hot' Cupra version. On a personal note, even after two hours, I was having trouble driving it smoothly, as the power take-up when the turbo cuts in was somewhat vivid, and in wet weather, you'd be glad of the traction control.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT BASE CAMP, NIBELUNG HAS A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE

None of this altered the fact that I still fancied a León, so a crafty look round the forecourt of Spur Garage, Hampton Court revealed a 'Stylance' variant. This car carried just about the same level of gadgetry as the FR, with a more 'family-orientated' ride quality partly owing to its more conventional profile tyres. Still quite firm and sporty, as it turns out but at least chubby men (if I knew any) won't need a sports bra for de ol' man-boobs.

By way of a complete change, this one also boasted the 6-speed DSG (Direct Switched Gearbox) system.

This is an automatic gearbox without the fuel consumption penalties of the auto boxes of old.

I've never owned an automatic before. You still have the option of driving 'manually', or in other words, once a year. Joking apart, this box changes gear so subtly that, it left me wondering whether I'd be bothering with the override more than yearly. Well, maybe to prevent it running away on a steep downhill slope where the effective engine braking may well still be needed.

BEING IN A LEON

Frontal visibility is quite good, but the heavily raked screen, the bottom of which seems to be a mile away across a football pitch of dashboard can leave you feeling a bit, well, distant and removed.

Likewise, the MPV-style triangular quarter-lights ahead of the doors do nothing for visibility on right turns or when trying to hug the correct line through a roundabout. I can see this triangle becoming the position of choice for a sat-nav sucker. The front windscreen pillars are also rather thick, since they hide the parked wipers vertically.

Curiously, the front screen seems to be almost flat, which is a first in this century, the last one I can remember being the original FIAT Panda. This has the advantage of giving the wipers very few contortions to manage, leaving them to get on with their main task.

Rear visibility is slightly hampered by the coupé-like feel of the car despite having a full set of 5 doors, and the 'Alfa Romeo-like' concealed rear door handles contrive to reinforce this impression.

I'm a six-footer (that's my height, I'm not an insect) but the amount of seat adjustment, both in height and leg length seemed fine, as was the ability to not only alter the rake of the steering wheel but its nearness to your beer-gut also. Controls fell readily to hand, even on the test drive.

Seats felt good, with height and lumbar adjustment for both up front - I'm less likely to worry about the back. Anyone with any objections is welcome to get the bus instead.

The only thing I could initially fault was the choice of plastic materials that were slightly shinier and harder than I'm used to - it kind of takes the edge off any thoughts you had of buying what at least specification-wise is a 'Volkswagen Golf GTD' for thousands less, and held in contrast the one item where I felt the Citroen to be superior. Mind you that was a £20K car four years ago. This is a £16K car now. However, after a while, it's growing on me. The combination of a pale blue metallic section around the centre console, and the use of a 'carbon-fibre' chequered pattern on the rest of the dash do work quite well together. Background lighting is a pale red with white instrumentation markings.

THE "STAND THERE AND ADMIRE IT" EXPERIENCE

Some might think that I'm putting too much emphasis on looks, but the way I see it is this. If you accept car ownership as a necessary and expensive evil, then all other things being equal (specification, price, quality, fitness for purpose etc) you may as well get one you like the look of. It so happens that I like the Mark 2 León. The front is sleek, the side view is coupe-like and the read end business-like. It also has a subtle flowing body line like a 'lazy S' reminiscent of times more elegant when cars had mudguards and running boards, and were called Lagonda or Auburn. You don't have to buy the top model to get this effect either - they all look good.

THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE

Given that this version, despite having the same sized 2.0l diesel engine, has some 27 bhp less than the FR, things don't quite happen at such a break-neck, or rather jerk-neck pace. However, thanks to the DSG system, it accelerates as well as its manual equivalent. In reality, it may be even faster in the average driver's hands (i.e. mine), since those fabled 0-60 times only seem achievable in the hands of experts willing to wreck the gear box, whereas any fool can floor the 'go-juice' pedal of an automatic. Having said that, it's no hot-hatch, but still comes up to a mile-a-minute in just over 9 seconds.

Where it does excel is in 'kicking down' to overtake safely. Here, the combination of near-instant gear changes and the torque pushed out by a diesel combine to make this a much less fraught experience than expected, with minimal time spent on the wrong side of the road.

Road noise seems well damped, partly down to the less sporty tyre profile, but some credit must go to build-quality and overall tautness of the chassis. The VAG PD (Pumpe Düse - Pump Jet or Nozzle) series engine, whilst not exactly cutting edge technology seems civilised and smooth enough (but only 'enough'). If I'm honest, I'd have to give the Citroën the edge here in sophistication, but since things started to go wrong with it at low mileages, I think I'd rather put my money on the VAG offering which is a bit more tried and tested if coarser.

Power and torque output wise, there's nothing in it, both at around 140 bhp with 232 ft/lbs of torque. At 1.3 tonnes, the car has a reasonable power-weight ration.

All diesels have a tendency to sounds a trifle shall we say, industrial when first switched on, but once warmed up and with the radio on, you'd have to listen hard to tell it's an oil-burner.

It's when you realise that you're not visiting the filling station quite so often that it really hits home. Its official 'extra urban' figure is 57.6 mpg (4.9ltres/100 kms) although past experience shows me that this figure is more of a discussion document. I've both bettered and worsened this figure.

Driving very conservatively, I've achieved over the magic 60 mpg mark with very little effort except to use 6th gear wherever possible, combined with a light right foot. Even my wife's Smart can only squeeze another 10 mpg out under the same conditions.

Long drives leave you as relaxed as you can be in Britain, and if you fancy some 'sounds', there's an 'AUX In' socket for playing any kind of personal stereo over the speakers. The CD player also accepts CD-ROMs with say 12-album's worth of music, so the lack of a CD Changer is neither here nor there.

Mine came with a 'Bluetooth' dashboard, which enables you to control a compatible mobile from the steering column. This is particularly useful as it 'borrows' the phone book from your mobile, and allows you to build up a set of numbers that can be called by voice commands, having only one button on the steering wheel to press. You don't get much more 'hands-free' than that.

This latter aspect plus metallic paint are the only extras I paid for.

In general, the Stylance variant is well appointed anyway, with cruise control, dual zone climate control, an 8-speaker stereo with steering wheel controls, tinted glass, electric retractable door mirrors, a full range of adjustments for BOTH front seats (lumbar, height etc.), one touch anti-pinch electric windows all round, air bags coming out of yer ears (Oh I do hope not!) and alloy wheels.

There are many others, but since most cars beyond the entry level model have them, I've not listed them.

LIVING WITH IT

It's difficult to say how I'll feel in three years time, but at the moment it's doing fine. We don't have any great need to carry anything or anyone beyond the front seat, although now having something with back doors for the ageing M & P to get through is nice.

The seats fold down in the now customary 40%/60%/100% mode and lie reasonably flat. I can just about get a full length bike in on its side, but one with a quick-release front wheel is a better idea.

My only major niggle is that the tailgate is rather more like a generous porthole, in the manner of the E-Type Jaguar 2+2, and like most hatch-backs, there's a sizeable lip over which to hump your luggage.

I can't think of anything it does 'uniquely well', but since it's cobbled together from VAG parts, this is no surprise. It's not bristling with gadgetry/gimmickry unlike my last car, but to be fair, all I miss is the self-dimming rear view mirror and the parking sensors, the latter being rectifiable for about 50 quid and time spent under the rear bumper on my back.

As for comparisons with other current models, I really can't say. Magazine reviewers have the luxury of access to just about anything - the average buyer is limited to whatever he test-drove or what his friends already have. All I will say is that it is about the right size, easy on fuel, at a price I can afford, feels well made and it's a nice drive. I probably should also have tried a Honda Civic too but I really cannot STAND those bloody 'pimp my ride' rear lights!

PETTY NIGGLES

Storage seems to be at a premium in the León. The glove compartment put me in mind of Fawlty Towers' Mrs. Richards, as in "Call that a bath? You couldn't drown a mouse in that!" only in this case it's be "Call that a glove compartment? You'd just about hide gloves in that!" Honestly, it won't even hold the plastic wallet they give you to keep the car documents and manuals together. "Oh well" I though, "there's always the drawer under the passenger seat" Wrong - yes you can hide sat-navs and mobile phones in it but it has no depth to speak of.

This leaves the open pockets in the doors, so all in all, the storage capacity is a trifle limited. Since this car did not have the "smoker's kit", there's nothing to pop sweetie papers into until you get home. There are also no handy cubby holes on the driver's side at all - nowhere to keep the money for bridge tolls and the like.

Yet again, I've bought a car which won't carry my folding bike upright. Ironic really, since 'two cars ago', my Toyota Yaris would. There are some useful anchorage points in the boot to strap down wayward luggage, but they're all at floor level, so trying to keep something tall from falling over isn't on.

Oh yes, and the manual contains quite a few schoolboy howlers, some to the point of self-contradiction. It has obviously been translated into English by the first Spaniard to get his hand up with a flamboyant claim of 'Yo hablo Inglés muy bien!' Why don't they at least pass it to a native English-speaker for proof reading? Then perhaps I wouldn't be puzzling over "Oil Level in Area B - Oil CAN be topped up. The indicated level should be AFTER the zone A". Maybe "After topping up, the oil level should be in Zone A" guys! Dipsticks!

STATISTICS

Model - SEAT León Stylance 2.0l TDi DSG (Auto)

Price - £16,500 including metallic paint and Bluetooth dashboard - this would appear with hindsight to be a considerable discount over the official 'web site' price of around £18,500 with the metallic paint and Bluetooth dashboard.

VED Band D - £145 p.a. (based on 157 grammes of CO2 per kilometre)

0-60 mph in 9.1 seconds (based on 0-62 mph in 9.3 seconds)

Power @ 4000 rpm, 140 bhp (103 kwatts)

Torque @ 1750 rpm, 236 ft/lbs (320 NewtonMetres*)

*(The equivalent of having 320 Granny Smiths drop onto your head from a height of 1 metre, seated under a tree.)

Urban MPG = 38.7
Extra Urban MPG = 57.6
Combined MPG = 48.7




NERDY VAGUELY RELATED BITS

For those interested, I've added a few more generic comments about the automatic gearbox and the diesel experience.

DSG? SURELY JUST ANOTHER AUTOMATIC?

Yes and no really. Yes, you can drive it like any other automatic, with the right foot only (OK, ya gotta steer too smart****!), but this one's got 6 gears in contrast to a more normal 4 or 5, and there's a 7-speed version on the horizon! Thus, just having the same number of gears as a manual car in itself is an economy advantage not previously available with an automatic. It also doesn't slip in the same way that an auto box with a hydraulic drive does, hence there's not really any fuel consumption penalty there either, since its clutches (plural) use friction just like a manual car.

Clutch A is for gears one, three and five, whilst B serves two, four and six. As you pull away in first gear, clutch A lets itself engage, and B readies itself by selecting second gear. Then, as the up-change becomes necessary, A disengages at precisely the moment that B engages. The upshot is that you only spend 8 milliseconds in 'neutral' compared to say 500 milliseconds on a typical manual change and 'sometime by next Wednesday' in my wife's Smart.

Control freaks will like to be able to select Sport mode for later changes, increasing the car's acceleration at a fuel cost. You can even drive as if you know what you're doing by selecting each gear yourself, just without a clutch. This is useful for increasing the braking effect of the engine on a steep down-slope. If you select a gear and then slow down, the car will protect the engine from over-labouring in the wrong gear by changing down - thus you could be cruising in 6th gear, brake for a roundabout, and find you are in first again to pull away.

QUIET DIESELS?

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the makers of the original London cab put a van engine into a car. Today's engines are lighter and mounted more supplely to stop the "wings having a flap" at traffic lights. They rev faster, more like a petrol engine, and they have what are known as dual mass flywheels to further take the kick out of idling - these have a two-part flywheel, the secondary part being attached slightly nebulously to the first by flexible mountings. On top of all this sophistication, diesels now deliver fuel under such fearful pressure direct into the engine (9.5 tons/sq in the Citroen!) as an aerosol that it screws every last drop of calorific value from the fuel, hence the superior consumption and pollution figures.

Quite apart from the fuel economy and ensuing lower emissions, which need to be viewed against more expensive fuel in the U.K, diesels do have their other benefits. There's no ignition system, so no ignition system to get damp!

Many magazines only advise buying a diesel if it 'costs in', i.e. if the higher purchase cost and pricier fuel can be overcome by years of better fuel economy.

Sadly, they're missing one very big salient point; driving pleasure.

Driving a diesel is different, and to me, in a pleasant way. All the extra 'twisty-turny' torque that a diesel pushes out at only its mid-range of engine speed makes it a very nice drive for those who don't want to be constantly changing gear. In fact I'd go so far as to say that it makes a 2.0 litre car feel like a 3.0 litre petrol car in these circumstances.

A manual diesel is much harder to stall than its petrol equivalent, which is why a lot of driving schools are now getting them, presumably.

The fuel is not volatile at room temperature, so there are no fumes to go 'bang' in a crash. There'd be no fun in using one in a James Bond film because they steadfastly refuse to explode in a mushroom cloud of flame. Most diesels are now unwittingly running on 5% eco-diesel, with the ability to operate on 20%.

Beware though - modern diesels cannot be run on the output from your local chippy's dirty deep fat fryer!

Leave that trick to the owners of decommissioned taxi cabs and Top Gear stunts with old Mercs.

Summary: 5-door hatchback, 2.0 litre turbo-diesel automatic

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