“Full details on the most extreme production SEAT Leon ever” screamed the press release in the PH news folder this morning! What, the Spaniards have raided the VW parts bin, nicked the Golf R’s 300hp engine and made a true successor to the mad, bad Cupras, Supercopas and K1s we once knew and loved? Just imagine a cut price combination of
Golf R power
and front-driven GTI flickability, tamed with the nifty VAQ active differential experienced recently on the
Golf GTI Performance
Expensive, slow, diesel - not what we wanted
Oh, hang on, this is in fact the Leon Ecomotive and instead the “most extreme environmental performer ever”. So it’s a white goods Leon with a 1.6 diesel that does 85.6mpg and 87g/km thanks to low rolling resistance tyres and a blanked off radiator grille. Still, must be cheap, right? Um, actually it starts at £19,360.
Given SEAT’s proven ability to plunder the best bits of the Golf family’s go faster bits and stir into a more feisty and affordable dish it’s gutting to see there’s still no news of a properly PH-worthy car in either the Ibiza or new Leon ranges. Sure, you can have a 180hp Cupra version of the former but why would you when you can have a Fiesta ST, upgrade to 200hp Mountune spec to go chasing Clio 200s and still have £165 in change over the base price of the SEAT? Same story in the Leon range, where the lukewarm 180hp 1.8 FR is nearly £2,000 more than the 204hp and considerably more exciting looking Kia Pro_Ceed GT. SEATs used to be fast and affordable – now they’re looking pricey and off the pace.
Still, according to Autocar there are hotter versions of the Leon on the way and they can’t come soon enough. We’ll be more wary of superlative laden press releases in the immediate term though.