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New Seat León is a lot more than a flattened Altea
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 29 June 2005 | 
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At the last Geneva Motorshow, Seat had shown a prototype of the new León, now here it is in flesh, sporty, dynamic and almost identical. It strongly recalls the Altea, but offers a more slender silhouette. With its hidden rear door handles, the new León looks like a 5-door coupe, in the manner of the… Alfa 147! Actually, it’s not by chance, for both were drawn by Walter De Silva.
Technically speaking, the new León is very similar to the Golf V, just like the previous León was based on the Golf IV. We find the same engines and floorpan, but the Seat has a different suspension tune up, for it’s supposed to be sportier. More charismatic than its predecessor, the new León is bigger too, now 4315mm long and 1768mm wide. As a consequence, accommodation has been improved.
The client can choose between 3 petrol engines (102bhp 1.6, 150bhp 2.0 FSI and 185bhp T-FSI) and 2 diesel engines (105bhp 1.9 TDI and 140bhp 2.0 TDI). Top units are coupled with a 6-speed gearbox, while the DSG is available on the 2.0 TDI only. The 2.0 T-FSI can reach 137mph and sprint from a standstill to 62mph in 7.8 seconds. Too bad this unit does not deliver 200bhp like on the Golf GTI. We can expect more powerful engines to be released. There’s a choice of 4 trims, Reference, Sport, Stylance and Sport-up. ABS, air-conditioning, 6 airbags and CD player are standard on all models, while the dual-zone climate control or ESP require no extra pound from the Stylance trim only.
Prices will be inferior to those of the Golf: a stylish competitor for the Vauxhall Astra, Renault Mégane, Ford Focus, Peugeot 307 or Citroën C4.
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