2014 Seat Leon Sports Styling Pack review
* Optional Sports Styling Pack * Available on SE and FR cars * Add £3999 to price...
The Seat Leon is already one of the most eye-catching family hatchbacks. However, Seat is now offering the chance to make your Leon stand out even more in the form of an optional Sports Styling Pack.
The new pack costs £3999 and brings a more aggressively styled front grille plus front and rear bumpers, sportier sideskirts and a larger rear spoiler. Also included are new twin exhausts surrounded by a black diffuser.
The pack is available on all SE and FR verions of the Leon and Leon SC.
What’s the 2014 Seat Leon FR Sports Styling Pack like to drive?
We tried the 181bhp 2.0-litre diesel. The changes are purely cosmetic, so the engine remains as strong as ever. True, there's a slight pause while the turbo spins into life, and the power tails off beyond 4000rpm, but keep the engine in its sweet spot and there’s near hot hatch pace to be enjoyed.
The engine can sound strained at higher revs, though, and our test car came with optional (£999) 19-inch alloy wheels, so road noise was also a constant companion, too.
All Leon FRs get stiffer, lowered suspension, while higher-powered FR models (including this 181bhp model) are lower still. Despite this (and the 19-inch wheels) the ride is firm but reasonably well controlled over broken tarmac in town, and gets even better at speed.
Even so, we’d save the money and stick to the FR’s standard 17-inch wheels; their larger profile does a better job of absorbing sharper ruts and potholes.
The FR stays impressively flat when cornering, and there’s plenty of grip to exploit, too. The steering can feel a little vague around the straight ahead in ‘Normal’ mode, but set the driving mode – a standard feature on FR models - to ‘Sport’ and it weights up sooner to provide extra reassurance.
What’s the 2014 Seat Leon FR Sports Styling Pack like inside?
There are no upgrades inside, so we’d still call the Leon 'smart' rather than 'luxurious'. Only a few things, such as a cheap-feeling cubbyhole cover in front of the gearstick, let it down.
There’s a clear multi-function display between the rev counter and speedometer, but the Leon's main touch-screen infotainment system is positioned at the top of the fascia. This makes it easy to access and you don't have to tilt your head far down to see the display.
There's plenty of space in the front for two adults, who get supportive sports seats, and enough head- and legroom for three six-footers to sit in the rear. Five-door models offer a good access to those rear seats, too, and all Leons get a generous 380-litre boot.
FR Leons come well equipped, with climate control, LED tail-lights, front sports seats, front and rear parking sensors and cruise control all as standard.
Should I buy one?
At just shy of £4000, you’ll have to really love the look of the optional Sports Styling Pack for it to make any sense at all.
In fact, in this higher-powered 2.0 diesel form, adding the pack pushes the price up to £26,254. That’s £564 more expensive than the Seat's flagship Leon Cupra hot hatch.
Ultimately, our favourite version of the Leon remains the standard 1.4 TSI FR. It’s still stylish and usefully powerful, while being more refined and far cheaper to buy.
What Car? says…
Rivals:
Specification 2.0 TDI 184 FR Sport Styling Pack
Engine size 2.0-litre diesel
Price from £22,255
Power 181bhp
Torque 280lb ft
0-62mph 7.5 seconds
Top speed 142mph
Fuel economy 67.3mpg (official combined)
CO2 109g/km
