I always address you all as folks in my blog… I’ve gotten fed up with it, so I looked on Thesaurus.com to try to find an alternative… I love some of the alternatives, Citizens??? Hmmm, a bit to Roman!! Dudes??? A bit too Bill and Ted!!! Kinsmen??? A bit too Shakespeare!!! Plebians??? A bit to insulting… so I have decided to address you as ménage … admittedly, it’s not strictly a good definition… but it sounds good! For now!
So ménage, my blog has veered off its normal track this past couple of days and towards shiny pretty things hasn’t it? Hmmm, so I thought I would make a bit of a return to my usual type of thing and do you a car review (well it’s similar to what I usually do, I usually do fashion, bars and places)… anyway, if it’s good enough for Emma Parker Bowles and Tatler, then it is good enough for me! And I hear you ask, why on earth would I be doing a car review? Well you see, I’m having a spot of trouble with the ‘motor’ and it has gone to be fixed… while it is in, I have a courtesy car. A brand new 2006 SEAT LEON.
Looks wise, this is an attractive car, it has curves in all the right places and looks like a hybrid between a family saloon and a sporty little number. The cats eye lights and rear spoiler give added sporty effect and little details such as the rear door handles being hidden behind their windows are very effective… not to mention aerodynamic. Inside though, the car is a little less pleasing, the deep dash board is fantastic and really makes you feel as if you are driving a larger car and there is masses of space for cups, storage etc. The large screen radio is impressive… although it is a bit disappointing that it does not serve as a sat nav system also… perhaps this can be bought higher up the range I don’t know. The steering wheel feels very small though and after sometime driving it can start to make your shoulders ache, and there is a great deal of plastic inside. The dash, the console etc, it’s all high grade plastics, it serves to do the job well, but visually it isn’t as appealing as it could be. The steering wheel could also do with being more adaptable. There is a mass of space for both the driver and front passenger, but strictly speaking, the space of the driver is limited by the manoeuvrability of the steering wheel. Something which I have noticed about the car is the blind spots. Due to the front design of the car, there can be excessive blind spots on the driver’s side; this is especially notable when approaching roundabouts.
For the rear passengers, the space is adequate, although no more adequate than the SEAT IBIZA which is the next car down the line.
Something which is considerably impressive is the boot space, there is masses of it, you could easily fit 2-3 Louis Vuitton luggage trunks in there ;o) and as it’s a hot hatch, there is even more space available by folding down the back seats!
Where this car doesn’t let you down is performance. With a powerful VW Golf engine in this car, it really knows how to perform. You can feel the kick as soon as you hit the accelerator and the car can go from 0 – 60 in very little time indeed. Braking is equally impressive, smooth. The car has great road handling and going round roundabouts in 3rd possibly 4th gear and there is still little body roll… although the torque could be better.
In true Volkswagen group tradition, the build quality of the vehicle is great. It feels like a really solid car and you do feel safe when you are driving it.
The car price starts at £11495, which all in all for the quality of car you are getting isn’t too bad.
Looks – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Interior styling – 7/10
Space – 8/10
Cost – 9/10
