After a 3 month delay I picked up my
Carbon Edition from Norwich on Thursday.
The delay was worthwhile because I think the deal at £29k was a good one,as promised the car was immaculate and had not been used,there were only 17 miles on the clock.The salesman said that they could have sold it a dozen times over at that price,but that could have been just talk,of course.
They do have another one in stock,must be one of the last,but I think they may be holding out for close to list for it.
Early impressions are very good.You can only fairly compare it to other cars recently owned,and for various reasons I've swapped cars a bit to quickly in recent times so the last two have come and gone in the last 18 months,but both are cars that are sort of comparable.
In 2017 I had a new M140i.It was very quick with a superb engine an 8 speed auto box.The rest of the car was nothing special and the suspension was very poor,with the comfort setting being bouncy and sloppy and the sport setting being bouncy and too hard....spring rates too high,dampers poor quality...and the car was a bit small when it came to practicalities.Also I thought if the back end let go,would I be quick enough to catch it,probably not!
In 2018 I went onto a new Civic type R GT,still very quick,super manual gear box and great handling,also could be comfortable as well,although not a naturally relaxed drive.Now I am in my sixties and had some serious health problems in 2018 and the car was hardly used and my opinion changed.They are great cars but I suddenly felt I was too old for it.I know the extreme looks trouble a lot of people,but I've had quick jap cars before so it was more that I started to feel nervous about who the looks might attract,in other words I lost confidence in leaving it in a car park for some time for fear of vandalism or theft.
So on to the Leon.I think it's a great compromise,comfortable cruiser,spacious,plenty of performance,good handling,discreet looks.In particular I find the dcc modes spot on for each purpose.Nothing to complain about yet although it's early days.
This one ought to be a keeper!
