Today I picked up my Leon 2.0TDI Sport.
After what seemed a lengthy paper filling in excercise I checked over the car with the dealer and the keys were mine.
Kicked myself for not negotiating a set of mats when I did the deal initially, and the official Seat set cost me circa £45.
It was the first time I'd seen the Lluvia Blue on the Leon and I'd been been slightly nervous of the choice, even though I'd briefly seen the colour on an Ibiza. I shouldn't have worried as its exactly what I wanted and looked great. (pics tomorrow in daylight)
I jumped in the car, adjusted the drivers seat and started up. The delay for the glowplug is almost non existent... a pleasant surprise and it fired up instantly.
I got just out the dealers into traffic and it felt weird - maybe I should have moved the steering wheel position
Drove it round the block feeling a bit awkward and decided to pull over and rectify, much better whens its in the right place.
I'm fairly tall at 6'3" and had the seat all the way down, the front pillars don't bother me at all but I have found that the rear view mirror does slightly obstruct my view to the left causing me to shift my head to get the best view.
Coming from a V5 Toledo with its near silent tickover it seemed noisy, though not to bad for a diesel - at least I know its still running! Power delivery is effortless in all but top gear, I seemed to be in 5th most of the time. The gate on the gearbox needs a bit more precision than I was used to but I quickly got the hang of it. Running in should be a breeze given that going over 4000rpm isn't needed thanks to all that low down torque and I've not needed to change my driving style.
Handling is fantastic and the car feels really planted on the tarmac. Tyres are the Bridgestones. I had concerns after reading comment of the ride being too firm, but my driving on some of the very poor local roads removed the worry. Its taught and connected with the road and not at all jarring. Overall very happy with the sporty feel. Steering is a pleasant weight and its turns in beautifully.
I chose the MP3 option (£25) for the radio on the basis that it was more flexible and massively cheaper than the cd changer. I turned on the radio for the first time and its sounded decidely average, definately not as good as the Aura set in the Toledo. That was until I got an MP3 cd loaded and fiddled with the basic EQ. Someone had pumped up the mid range and dropped the bass. Yuk. It needed a healthy dose of treble (+5) the mid setting to 0 and the bass at +2. Faded 2 clicks to the rear. Massively better. Bizarrely there is no way to enable "Loudness" (which you can get on the American models) but I reckon my manual EQ settings are close to that. I love the steering wheel controls for safety and useability. Without hearing the head unit with uprated speakers its difficult to score but I'd call it 7/10.
Another option was the auto dimming mirror (neat) and auto lights and rain sensor. Rain sensor worked really well to control the wiper speed (it rained tonight) going from slow intermittent to a constant wipe automatically. I enjoyed not having to think about toggling between wipe speeds. Washers spray out a really fine fan shaped mist which is cool to watch and clens very well.
Bi-Xenon lights. Ever since I was a passenger in a mates VW Polo GTI with xenons I was converted. That bright white with a hint of blue really cuts into the darkness. Full beam is very good and on dipped I seemed to have a lot more light than the Philips Vision Plus bulbs I ran in the Toledo.
I've clocked up nearly 100 miles on day one and can't wait to do some more.
If you've any specific questions, ask away
After what seemed a lengthy paper filling in excercise I checked over the car with the dealer and the keys were mine.
Kicked myself for not negotiating a set of mats when I did the deal initially, and the official Seat set cost me circa £45.
It was the first time I'd seen the Lluvia Blue on the Leon and I'd been been slightly nervous of the choice, even though I'd briefly seen the colour on an Ibiza. I shouldn't have worried as its exactly what I wanted and looked great. (pics tomorrow in daylight)
I jumped in the car, adjusted the drivers seat and started up. The delay for the glowplug is almost non existent... a pleasant surprise and it fired up instantly.
I got just out the dealers into traffic and it felt weird - maybe I should have moved the steering wheel position
Drove it round the block feeling a bit awkward and decided to pull over and rectify, much better whens its in the right place.
I'm fairly tall at 6'3" and had the seat all the way down, the front pillars don't bother me at all but I have found that the rear view mirror does slightly obstruct my view to the left causing me to shift my head to get the best view.
Coming from a V5 Toledo with its near silent tickover it seemed noisy, though not to bad for a diesel - at least I know its still running! Power delivery is effortless in all but top gear, I seemed to be in 5th most of the time. The gate on the gearbox needs a bit more precision than I was used to but I quickly got the hang of it. Running in should be a breeze given that going over 4000rpm isn't needed thanks to all that low down torque and I've not needed to change my driving style.
Handling is fantastic and the car feels really planted on the tarmac. Tyres are the Bridgestones. I had concerns after reading comment of the ride being too firm, but my driving on some of the very poor local roads removed the worry. Its taught and connected with the road and not at all jarring. Overall very happy with the sporty feel. Steering is a pleasant weight and its turns in beautifully.
I chose the MP3 option (£25) for the radio on the basis that it was more flexible and massively cheaper than the cd changer. I turned on the radio for the first time and its sounded decidely average, definately not as good as the Aura set in the Toledo. That was until I got an MP3 cd loaded and fiddled with the basic EQ. Someone had pumped up the mid range and dropped the bass. Yuk. It needed a healthy dose of treble (+5) the mid setting to 0 and the bass at +2. Faded 2 clicks to the rear. Massively better. Bizarrely there is no way to enable "Loudness" (which you can get on the American models) but I reckon my manual EQ settings are close to that. I love the steering wheel controls for safety and useability. Without hearing the head unit with uprated speakers its difficult to score but I'd call it 7/10.
Another option was the auto dimming mirror (neat) and auto lights and rain sensor. Rain sensor worked really well to control the wiper speed (it rained tonight) going from slow intermittent to a constant wipe automatically. I enjoyed not having to think about toggling between wipe speeds. Washers spray out a really fine fan shaped mist which is cool to watch and clens very well.
Bi-Xenon lights. Ever since I was a passenger in a mates VW Polo GTI with xenons I was converted. That bright white with a hint of blue really cuts into the darkness. Full beam is very good and on dipped I seemed to have a lot more light than the Philips Vision Plus bulbs I ran in the Toledo.
I've clocked up nearly 100 miles on day one and can't wait to do some more.
If you've any specific questions, ask away