Leon FR - A family car??

[redwell]

Hello again. Had the test drive this afternoon. traffic was pretty terrible on the way out towards some dual carrigeways and some nice bendy roads - looked at the trip and thought - this is terrible. The car in traffic was a doddle to drive - light steering which does weight up under load at speeds. Door mirrors a bit small after what I am used to on my 159 but this is a matter of me getting used to the car.

Got pretty comfy - need to play with the seat a little more to get it spot on but even with the sales guy in and his seat well back and mine a little further up the leg room in the back (I tried it when I got back to the garage) was very impressive :thumbs:

Boot is obviously smaller than my 159 estate but on a par with out Golf so I know it will fit most of our needs.


Anyway got out onto the open road and went for it - wow - this is a fast car - impressive acceleration (car only has 4500 miles on it) - this should improve as engine is bedded in. Brakes were spot on too - very sharp even coming down from high speeds.

Some nice twisty bits and car handled well - probably not as neutral as the 147 with a Q2 diff I tried but the lowered suspension and Seat tweeks certainly make this more enteraining than our Golf :thumbs:

Back to the garage and keeping to the speed limits where applicable, pulled up looked at the trip and it said 43.0 mpg :wow: again - in my 159 for the journey I would reckon 28-29 mpg.

I got out and looked at the car (Brisa blue), 17'' alloys and thought 'I liked that and I like this car' - I was surprised - honestly. I am such an Alfa fan and have had three of them so the link is deep set but the FR impressed me.

The cabin isn't as well appointed as my 159 but on a par to a 147. However there is an 'AUX in' for my MP3 player

Front sport seats were very comfy for me.

Overall :thumbs:

The deal on the table is very attractive and I have a refundable deposit on the car - what to do?

The main reason for buying this car is to have a family car I can have some fun and also to reduce my running costs - I know this car can do all this - I have to switch off my Alfa mode however and make the decision.

Anyone driven and Golf GT Sport in comparison?

Thanks for all the comments so far - you are a friendly lot

 

[redwell]

just looked up my potential new car on the DVLA (thanks for the tip from this website) and my particular car has a CO2 rating of 160 Cheaper band of tax for me

Is the any reason why I didn't buy this car yet???

It also has the airbag deactivation switch, no bluetooth though and no rain sensing wipers /

 

[shuikit]

Although I find the boot big enough for my needs most of the time, one thing to look out for is that I find the boot opening a bit narrow. I think it's a bit of an odd shape, but once you get it past the opening there's lots of space.

 

[Rob66]

redwell, FR is a great car thats for sure. But i went out ini a Mazda 6 yesterday (the new one) very impressed, if i was looking for a bigger car that would be well worth a look. Loads of kit and space in the back and looks really sporty.

 

[redwell]

redwell, FR is a great car thats for sure. But i went out ini a Mazda 6 yesterday (the new one) very impressed, if i was looking for a bigger car that would be well worth a look. Loads of kit and space in the back and looks really sporty.

Thank you for all your replies. I have now decide to stick with Alfa Romeo and am buying a 159 1.9 JTDm saloon in replacement for my 2.4 JTDm Sportwagon. The Alfa deal is very good and I plan to run the car for the full 4 years of my loan agreement. With a dealer approved remap the car will provide 178bhp and a nice flat torque curve. Once the car has done over 20k I am probably going to do this.

I enjoyed driving the Seat and it was close run thing but once the finance on the Alfa bettered the Seat my heart and head said Alfa.

Best of luck to everyone with your cars and if you ever consider an Alfa drop in here for some help and advice: http://www.alfaowner.com/aohome.php

We are as friendly as this forum.

 

[RickyD1975]

Hello all

is the Leon FR (or any Leon for that matter) a family car? I thinking of purchasing one (test drive tomorrow) and although I have seated my two children in the car and they had room aplenty in the back (I have a 15 month old in a forward facing baby seat and a 3 year old in a booster seat) is the car practical as a family car?

During the week it will just be me driving it but at weekends and trips away it will be me, my wife and my 2 children and the buggy and bags

My wife has a Golf and it's no problem getting us all in and comfy and the Leon looks as big in back and the boot looks not too small (at least as big as a Golfs.

Any comments please

I hope it is a family car as my other 1/2 is expecting in 3 weeks or so. It's going to be our 1st one, so hopefully I can keep the Cupra for a while.

I did however raise concerns with the size of our 3 wheeled push-chair which fills the boot. We have decided to also buy another smaller 3 wheeler for weekend trips away as out luggage won't fit in the boot.

I previously owned a Focus and the Leon's boot is slighly deeper although it looks longer.