Shortly after handing back the León TDI I happened to have the opportunity of talking about it with several colleagues who had driven the same car in the same week. Differences of opinion are not unknown in these situations, but I can safely say that I have never felt quite so isolated in my views as I did on this occasion - certainly not to the extent that I wanted to mention it in a published article.But there it is. Although I would not expect any of my fellow writers to change their minds about the León, and I know they won't try to make me change mine, the fact is that what I think about the León is not remotely the same as what others think. I just thought you should know that.My colleagues, in varying degrees, loved the León. Some of them thought it was very good, others thought it extremely good, and still others seemed to be saying that it was the best thing they had driven all year. One, who had driven non-stop for 300 miles, was as lavish in his praise as I can remember him being about any car.And then there was me. I was appalled by certain aspects of the León almost from the moment I stepped inside, and I remained appalled. And I said so. And my colleagues smiled politely and looked at each other with eyebrows raised.Even the worst curmudgeon could hardly complain about some aspects of the León. It's the third production model (after the Altea and Toledo) to incorporate design themes first revealed by SEAT when it displayed the Salsa concept car, and to my mind it's the most attractive.The basic silhouette is clearly intended for a range of vehicles which would include a compact MPV, but the stylists have made a good job of pretending that they meant the León to be a coupé from the start. One of the most celebrated ways of doing this has been to hide the rear door handles so that at first glance it's not obvious that there are rear doors at all, a trick employed in the past by Alfa Romeo and in the near future by Honda.It also works to the León's benefit that a lot of its componentry is already familiar from elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group. It shares its platform with the Golf and the Skoda Octavia, and in the case of the test car it also uses the superb two-litre TDI turbo diesel engine and six-speed manual gearbox. No cause for complaint there, except perhaps that these fine aspects have been supplied to SEAT rather than being the company's own work.The things that grieve me about the León are, in contrast, definitely created by SEAT itself. This is a car which seems to have been designed specifically to be difficult to see out of. The A pillars are too large, the rear side windows are too small, and the interior mirror is so badly placed that it obscures most of the left half of the windscreen.The screen itself, furthermore, is surprisingly shallow, and the general lack of glass area gives the interior a slightly claustrophobic feel (actually more than slightly in the rear, where the view is further blocked by the front seats) even though there is physically quite a lot of space for passengers.There's also a decent amount of luggage room, but I'm glad I didn't have to put anything large and heavy in there. I would have had to lift it over a very high sill and across a very wide bumper, which would not have done these old bones much good.And since we're on the subject of bones, they got a right old shaking during this test, thanks to the León's unbelievably harsh ride. On familiar roads I found myself being jostled by bumps I never knew existed. It can't be insignificant that the day I received the León I also drove a Mitsubishi Evo IX, and the day it was taken from me I drove a Nissan pickup, and that even in this company it felt ludicrously unforgiving, no matter how apparently smooth the tarmac nor how gentle the driving.If the León handled well there might just be a case for excusing the ride, but it doesn't and there isn't. A passenger wondered why the car continually veered from the chosen path along a dead straight, though admittedly quite bumpy, piece of road; I had to explain that I would have preferred it to keep going the way it was pointed, but that the contours of the tarmac seemed to have more influence than anything I did with the steering wheel.Actually, I had to convey that information by barking out monosyllables. Normal conversation was difficult because of the level of road noise, which is the worst I have encountered all year. In fact the only road car with higher interior sound levels I have driven recently was the Evo IX, and at least that had the excuse of 345bhp and a massive exhaust tailpipe. It's less easy to accept that a family car like the León, surely intended partly for long-distance running, was loud enough to give me a headache after just 50 miles.In his launch report of the León, Graeme Giles suggested that the best versions are to be found at the cheaper end of the model range. In that case, I look forward to driving those more modest cars, but I'll be happy to leave the TDI Sport to those who appreciate it more than I do. Engine 1968cc, 4 cylinders Power 138bhp Fuel/CO2 50.4mpg / 154g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 10.0 seconds Top speed 125mph Price £16,495 Details correct at publication date
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