Seat Leon FR Black Edition: 'I test drove a Seat Leon in dreadful Yorkshire weather - it was tough going but I like the car'
Frederic Manby got behind the wheel of the Seat Leon FR Black Edition and enjoyed the ride despite a few gripes. Perhaps the recent grey weather was not akin to test driving!
Few family cars get near the lifetime success of Volkswagen’s Golf. They are always in demand but have an accessible close cousin in the SEAT Leon, Spain’s national brand and part of the Volkswagen Group.
This means you get similar quality and kit in a different body at a better price, as SEAT is now a more budget brand in the group.
Hola shines at your feet when you open the Leon’s door. This Spanish lion is named for a grand ancient city in north west Spain, with a magnificent 13th century cathedral.
Leons are made in the north east, near Barcelona. They date from 1999. The current, 4th Leon was new in 2020 and is now past middle age but will be with us for a few more years.
It shares its basic structure with the Golf, the Skoda Octavia and the Audi A3.
I spent a dank, wet week with this popular and stylish Spanish hatchback in grim North Yorkshire weather.
The fireside was more attractive than the splashy roads of the Dales.
Sadly, the big wheels and shallow Bridgestone Turanzas and sports suspension on the FR Black version combined to make life in various measure, noisy, harsh and uncomfortable over ridges and so forth.
There was little respite from the Bridgestone’s howl, even on good surfaces. Front and rear passengers were often unable to talk easily. It was firmly sprung and the wrong Leon for me.
The entry model should not be overlooked.
This is the SE from £25,655 with a 1.5 litre 113bhp petrol engine includes keyless entry and push button starting, LED lights, AC, 16 inch alloys with 205/55 tyres, front and rear parking beepers, forward collision alert and braking. There is height adjustment for the front seats.
The SE Dynamic (£27,335) runs on 17 inch wheels with 225/45 tyres, a larger, touch screen and navigation, digital displays, a three zone AC, darker rear windows and a reversing camera.
The FR (£29,135) adds ambient cabin lighting, a wireless phone charger, sports bumpers, heated and folding mirrors and significantly, lowered and stiffer sports suspension and four driving settings which adjust the throttle response.
The FR Sport (£32,745 with the 1.5 148bhp engine) is on 18 inch wheels with 225/40 tyres, matrix moving headlamp technology, heated front seats with lumbar adjustment and powered settings for the driver, a leather flat bottomed, heated steering wheel and an interior lighting strip. The FR Black (aka the “bold one”) from £33,845 with the 148 bhp engine, has black wheels, side skirts, roof spoiler and mirror casings and a sunroof.
The DSG automatic gearbox is available with the 113bhp engine for all grades (from £28,690 on the SE) and with the 148bhp engine on FR models (from 32,785).
Diesel engines with manual or DSG gears are available with all trims. The other engine option on FR models is a 201bhp plug-in hybrid 1.5 DSG, from £37,180.
Prices with the more versatile, longer estate body start at £27,195 for the SE. The sportiest models have transferred to its CUPRA sister brand.
The FR Black, which we test here as a hatch, came last year to lift interest. Ours was painted graphene grey. It toned nicely with the black trimmings.
Black, red, two blues and white are the other options. I lean towards white these days. It is easier to spot. Those variations on grey can blend too readily into the urban background.
So, I’d have the glacier white Leon and on standard suspension which eliminates the FR models en bloc and means the entry model SE, maybe with a few add-ons, on its sensible 16-inch wheels and chubby tyres or the SE Dynamic for its improved on-board tech stuff and fairly sensible wheel and tyre combination.
The manual gear selection was clunky and too easy to select the wrong gear. I was also prone to misjudging the throttle input to revive the stop-start cut-out at junctions. It can be switched off.
More noise comes from the engine, when revving hard to get adequate momentum for overtaking, or so it seemed. Disclaimer: I like the Leon.
I like its shape, the interior space and style. An FR (formula racing) may indeed suit your mood. It sits well, handles well at speed.
The standard FR on its 17-inch wheels rides a bit softer and the Sport and Black have smart-dipping headlamps, winter-friendly heated seats and upmarket fabrics.
In the lexicon we should not forget Cupra, from cup racing. It was the high performance name tag for a hot SEAT but as CUPRA is now detached, its own boss, big in electric models, and last year outsold SEAT. The buyers favour Cupras but together they set a new sales record. Yet with a SEAT you still benefit from the VW Group’s engineering. The standard three-year warranty can be extended to five years though some rivals offer more.
SEAT also faces competition from Skoda, its no longer humble Czech cousin, which easily outsold SEAT and Cupra in the UK last year. Here now are the updated SEAT Ibiza compact hatchback and its Arona crossover. Prices start respectively at £20,995 and £23,105.
You may find deals on the previous models, in a range which has shrunk, along with SEAT’s wider ambitions. January UK sales fell by a third while CUPRA rose by a fifth. Source SMMT. SEAT Leon FR Black Edition 150ps hatch. £33,845. Engine: 1.5 petrol turbo with 148bhp and 186 lb ft. Transmission: six speed manual. 0-62mph: 8.7 seconds (max 135mph). Economy: 47-49 mpg (38 to 45 in testing). Tank: 11 gallons (45 litres). CO2 132g/km. Braked towing limit: 1500 kg. Length: 172 inches, 4.4m. More: seat.co.uk