Had Seat Leon 2.0 TDI FR for 2 weeks..

[Nick1974]

I'm new to this forum, so this is my first post.. I've had my Seat Leon 2.0 TDI FR for 2 weeks now, it's the 170bhp version.

Car seems good so far apart from seat belt sensor on the passenger seat, which seems to be faulty. I have to currently drive about with the seat belt in on the passenger side to shut the thing up. The dealer has order a new pad for the seat to hopefully remove this problem.

The car seems to hiccup a little when cold, i don't know if this is normal, I'm actually new to turbo diesels, this is my first one I have actually owned.

Performance wise, quite impressed, my last car was a Toyota Celica T-Sport, which was the 189bhp version, and this actually feels quicker when you put your foot down to that, although on paper at least the Celica is quicker. I've also had a Saxo VTS, and this feels as quick or quicker than that was.

Fuel economy, got to an average of 44MPG on the motorway, driving for about 3 hours, this was driving 70mph and quicker .

In town and short trips the fuel economy doesn't really get about 35MPG, and seems to hang around 30MPG.

Best fuel economy I have managed is 49.9MPG on A roads driving around the 40 to 60mph range.

Overall build quality seems good, and up to Toyota standards, from what I can see so far. Don't have any rattles or anything like that.

I will update this report over time giving further feedback so that anyone else interested in buying one of these can read it and get some idea from one owner's experience.

 

[johnvx220]

NICK 1974 I am sure you will enjoy the car. Its a great car with a different type of power compared to petrol and you have to learn to drive within the torque band of power. I get a rough idle when cold at first start but goes within 30 seconds. As to fuel I shouldnt worry to much about it, its performace car so just enjoy it with a smile every trip. I hope the dealer will sort your problems out shortly. JOHN

 

[Nick1974]

Thanks John for your reply. Yes I have noticed the different way in which the diesel delivers it's power, I am more or less used to it now, it is good to have feed back though just so I know what I am experiencing is normal. Must admit to getting a grin when I do put my foot down and although when it's sat at traffic lights sounds a bit like a tractor, when it's going along, listening to the whistle of the turbo is quite a nice experience!

 

[BanziBarn]

Going from the T-sport to the FR is one extreme to the other in regards to the power delivery!

I know exactly how you feel because I also have a Civic Type-r which is a fair bit quicker than the Leon but doesn't feel it under most situations.

However, I expect you will notice the lack of power in the Leon when you join a motor way or when you accelerate through the revs and through the gears - when I do this I really notice how quickly the diesel runs out of revs. But, for my normal driving the lazy delivery suits me much better than 6000rpm + action that you get in the civic.

I also agree the turbo whistle is very cool!

 

[JonoUK]

I'd agree with diesels running out of revs, but certainly not power. NOT that you said that, but hey

I know mine pulls like a big pulling thing all they way up to 4500 but i've normally changed up by then.

 

[processpaul]

Hi

If its low milage then the mpg will improve with age.

My Altea 1.9tdi is getting near to 20k and the MPG is better than at 12k when i bought it. Oh and the computer lies on MPG, calculate it on paper, my trip computer says 52mpg, but on paper i get around 47.

Cheers

 

[Michael B]

Id love the diesel to not run out of revs so easily, but its nice to drive all the same..

I also love the turbo whirl - where you just press the throttle half way you can hear it spool up.. nice!!

 

[Nick1974]

I must admit, I haven't run out of revs as yet, mind I am driving it in, so not pushing it to hard at the moment. It is hard to compare to a petrol though in that, although the rev range is shorter, the speed in which the revs actually rise is slower too. The Celica red lined at 8000rpm, but it didn't half get up to 8000rpm quickly!

News on my car seat sensor. It's going to the dealer next week to get some sensor pad changed. So hopefully this will fix the annoying air craft sounding bell everytime I drive off and forget to put the passenger belt in, even though nobody is sitting in the seat! Unless I have a ghost passenger of course.

 

[BanziBarn]

You've got a good point about the speed the revs rise actually....apart from in first.

I red line in first so quickly and before the turbo seems to have gained any pressure at all. I find it quite hard to get a swift getaway actually.

I've generlly found that it's a matter of chainging up to second ASAP, and only using first to get me rolling.

But I've heard this is normal for a diesel?

 

[JonoUK]

Yeah, first is pretty useless for trying to do a quick getaway in. I made that mistake on my first test drive trying to get onto the A66 from a short sliproad. Pretty much immediately hit the limiter

I just get rolling, up to about 15mph in first then into 2nd and off I go, if I really need to. Shame the gears are so short, but once you get used to it, it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

 

[Nick1974]

Have to agree with the 1st gear being fairly useless. Awkward to drive in as well, when I first drove my car nearly darted out of junction as it hit the power band! I thought slow down boy! Turbo Diesels do seem to be a bit like taming a wild beast!

 

[covboy]

Coincidently, I traded in my Celica T Sport 2 weeks ago for an Altea Fr Tdi 170. Had the Celica for 25k miles and loved it but the fuel consumption was costing me well over £200 a month and I wanted to get it down. It does take alot of adjusting to with the different power delivery. I loved the kick I used to get in the Celica above 6000rpm but got equally frustrated in waiting for it at more urban speeds . The double amount of torque in the tdi is fantastic round town and feels just as quick on the roads I normally drive on - and so much quieter too in contrast to the Celica's ultra-low gearing and loud engine. Before the Celica I had an Ibiza Tdi Sport 130 and I remembered then having to learn to be quite heavy footed on the accelerator when pulling away so as to not get bogged down in first before the boost kicks in or over doing it and spinning the wheels if it had rained within the previous week ! After a few weeks you learn it and get used to it. I miss the drama of the Celica and as I've been lead footed in the tdi , I'm only getting 34mpg but its still a good saving and I'm really beginning to love the car and the suprise it gives other drivers !

 

[Michael B]

I also have to agree with the first gear being very short, why do they make it so short? It means you have to short shift to stop it jerking then flatten second..

 

[Nick1974]

I picked the TDI FR version to have a fast car that doesn't hit me too deeply in the pocket. I looked at the petrol but as diesels seem to be holding their values these days I thought a diesel was a better investment overall.

What made you chose the TDI over the petrol version?

Also, what is the real 0-60mph of the TDI FR?. It says on Parkers that it is 8 seconds, on some websites they say 8.2. The Golf with the same engine seems to be 7.9 seconds.

 

[JonoUK]

Was that aimed at everyone?
I chose the TDI over the TFSI because of the number of miles I do to/from work at the moment. Hopefully that will decrease if/when I move closer, but I don't really get a chance to get all the performance out of the petrol flavoured one, and diesel should give me pretty good economy if i'm pootling along most of the way there, but with enough oomph to get past pretty much anything when the opportunity arises. Something I couldn't do in my yaris d-4d.

I don't know what the 0-60 is of the TDI. And quite frankly I don't care. I'm not one for traffic light grand prix 30-80 is what I care about, and this car is perfect for that (imho). Of course the TFSI is probably able to do it all in 3rd, but I like changing gear ... . If I want the performance, it's there. If I want to drive economically, I can. I reckon 50+mpg is possible on my commute, but more likely is 46. I didn't buy it for mpg though, really.

 

[Michael B]

^^ i find 4th Gear amazing, it has great pull low down and will go right up to almost 100 (where legal!)

I went for a diesel because I do high milage and I can get diesel free of charge, when servicing etc i have the oil at hand due to my dads lorrys. I love my TDI..

 

[Nick1974]

Question was aimed at anyone who wanted to answer it

I got the TDI myself simply to cut fuel costs and still have a car that is easy to drive. Nothing worse than being stuck behind a lorry and not being able to overtake because you haven't got enough grunt. I found the Celica was getting rather greedy on fuel. Looked around at turbo diesels, actually went for the Vauxhall Astra 1.9 turbo diesel at first, but as the Vauxhall dealer seemed to be more interested in having his cup of tea I went eventually turned towards the Seat Leon. And after my test drive, I was convinced!

I'll agree the 0-60 isn't probably that important, it's how it drives that matters, but was just interested as I know book values can sometimes be under estimated.

 

[Tam]

^^ i find 4th Gear amazing, it has great pull low down and will go right up to almost 100 (where legal!)

I went for a diesel because I do high milage and I can get diesel free of charge, when servicing etc i have the oil at hand due to my dads lorrys. I love my TDI..

Have to agree, if i'm not in town at a snails pace, i usually find myself in 4th gear, its sooo flexible and the speeds shoots round the needle when needed

 

[WildWestHero]

Went for a TDi as car is used for work. Anything below 30 MPG and I'm paying out of my own pocket when travelling for work. The Leon FR TDi was a fairly easy choice as I had a Leon Cupra TDi before and the Golf was just too dull. TDi gives you decent performance without the fuel pump becoming your second home.

Find this car a totally different beast to my MKI Leon (which my dad now has). Sits and and handles differently. Felt weird sitting in my old car the other day. On the new car I love the engine and handling, but installed Koni's as the ride became a bit tiresome.

 

[Moley RUFC]

Question was aimed at anyone who wanted to answer it

I got the TDI myself simply to cut fuel costs and still have a car that is easy to drive. Nothing worse than being stuck behind a lorry and not being able to overtake because you haven't got enough grunt. I found the Celica was getting rather greedy on fuel. Looked around at turbo diesels, actually went for the Vauxhall Astra 1.9 turbo diesel at first, but as the Vauxhall dealer seemed to be more interested in having his cup of tea I went eventually turned towards the Seat Leon. And after my test drive, I was convinced!

I'll agree the 0-60 isn't probably that important, it's how it drives that matters, but was just interested as I know book values can sometimes be under estimated.

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114059&highlight=0-60