SEAT Leon S Emocion Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: SEAT Leon S Emocion
Prices: £13,990-£15,130 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 5-6
Emissions: 135-169g/km
Performance: [1.9 TDI] Max Speed 114mph / 0-60mph 11.3s
Fuel Consumption: [1.9 TDI] (urban) 43.5mpg / (extra urban) 65.7mpg / (combined) 56.5mpg
Safety: six airbags, 3-point seatbelts with pre-tensioners, ESP, EBA and DSR.
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4315/1768/1458

IT’S BEEN EMOCIONAL

Our Rating: 7.1 / 10

SEAT’s Leon S Emocion is aimed at cost-conscious younger buyers but there are benefits for everyone. Steve Walker reports.

SEAT’s ‘Auto Emocion’ tagline is meant to tell us a number of things. One is that SEAT is Spanish; owned by Germans yes, but Spanish in its roots and attitude. Even Brits with a working knowledge of Spanish that extends to ordering a fried breakfast and enquiring as to the price of that sombrero will also glean that ‘Auto Emocion’ is chiefly about emotional cars. For emotional, don’t read temperamental: that would be bad for business. Instead, it’s meant to be about flair, Latin vibrancy and youthful exuberance - the stuff that younger buyers are supposed to like. What they like even more is a good deal and SEAT’s Leon S Emocion has that base covered.

SEAT has been shaped by its Volkswagen Group owners to do the things with which German brands tend to struggle. It’s being positioned as a younger, trendier alternative to Volkswagen and Skoda. The Leon family hatchback is particularly convincing in this role. Based on MKV Volkswagen Golf underpinnings, it marries the resulting engineering competence with a swoopy, curvy exterior. Performance models at the top of the range provide the hot hatch kudos but they will be on the expensive side for the majority of younger buyers. The S Emocion models come from the opposite end of the Leon spectrum and bring those exciting looks within a more accessible price range.

Performance from the S Emocion engine options is modest. The 100bhp 1.6-litre petrol unit can spirit a Leon to 60mph in 11.7s before hitting a 114mph top speed. The 1.9-litre TDI diesel has 103bhp and is slightly faster over the 0-60mph increment, but still within a second of that Emocion. It’s clocked at 11.3s. What will make more difference in the real world is the diesel’s 250Nm of torque at 1,900rpm (the petrol has 148Nm at 3,200rpm). It’s a comparatively old-fashioned unit and not the most refined you’ll encounter but that torque gives it a satisfying punchy feel at low revs.

As you might expect given this car’s heritage, it’s pretty much like a Golf to drive but with firmer suspension for a ride and handling compromise aimed at SEAT clientele who are supposedly more appreciative of a sporty feel and less likely to have back complaints or teeth that are in danger of being shaken out. The standard cars like the S Emocion models are comfortable on most surfaces – much better for many than the sporty FR and Cupra derivatives, cars that really let you know you’re in a hot hatch with their hard ride.

There’s good feel through the electric power steering and the manual gearboxes are a joy to use, with mechanical precision and a lovely slick feel to the action. In an attempt to differentiate the Leon from its MPV siblings, SEAT has created a driving position that sees you sit low down in the car. This is one of the reasons why the driving feels quite sporting, far more so than in the Spanish maker’s Altea models.

The Leon is a good deal bigger than you might expect for this class of car and this extra space is particularly noticeable in the rear where there’s plenty of knee-room, even if you’re transporting six-footers. Although there’s no armrest in the back and the bench is a little flat, you wouldn’t feel hard done by undertaking a longer journey here. The rear tailgate opens wide to reveal a load bay that’s a little awkwardly shaped for bulky items but is otherwise perfectly adequate for this class of car.

Both the front seat and the steering wheel are multi-adjustable and there’s plenty of headroom up front even for taller drivers. The nose curves rapidly out of view and shorter drivers may want to specify parking sensors. The windscreen pillars are annoyingly chunky which means that you’ll probably be doing a fair bit of see-sawing in your seat as you negotiate roundabouts. One can almost excuse this feature due to the fact that the windscreen wipers park vertically into the pillars – a rather neat trick that helps with the vital sh