Other week I gave into my curiosity and went on down to the Seat dealership to take alook at the Leon range. The Seat Leon FR model with the DSG gear box to be more precise. At a fiver under 16K my main wonder was how this new fancy DSG technology worked, and secondly I pondered how the Leon compared to my old faithful Civic Type-R. At 16 grand my budget for a new car is stretched to the very limit, and although I do relise it was a 09 plate with just 5000 miles, not to mention equipped with the uber new tech DSG box, I also expect a Type-R beating machine which you can buy at half the price.

Although at first I did’nt like the Leon’s looks, the more I see them the more I admire the understated yet purposful look. Its the kind of car you will be able to speed along with yet gain little attention from the police. So not too shabby for first impressions but still not £16,000 worth of car yet. Climbing into the drivers seat and the first thing I noticed was the rather chunky yet perfectly styled steering wheel. For whatever reason the steering wheel is a very important part of the car for me, not just for feel but visually too. Its ashame whoever did design the steering wheel did’nt design the seats aswell. Although the seats do there job perfectly, they do look bland, even abit odd. Even though the car started off not in a bad way, I was’nt overly impressed either. I did like how the rear door handles was hidden in the C-pillar, I also could not fathem why in the boot there is a pertruded area taking space for the spare wheel instead of it been embedded like in all other cars. Another lacking aspect was the boring hard plastic dash which made the car shout “cheap” from the inside. Again this is a 16k car, and my old Type-R had is beat already in interior and exterior design, not to mention the proper boot!

So now the only part left is to drive the car and this is where and why I spend that extra bit of money on cars. Fun is the focus in all my cars, Id rather spend money knowing im going to enjoy the car when driving it rather than spend money knowing it is 3 tenths quicker around the topgear test track than car X like most other people base there buying decision on. The Fiesta ST had Perfect balance and did everything well. The Type-R had the best NA engine in the world, the MR2 was mid-engined and RWD. The Leon? well although so far it seemed like a average car over all, lets not forget it had a 210bhp turbo charged engine with a DSG gearbox. My question still asked if this will be a better combination than the Civic’s Vtec and Honda’s own superb 6-Speed manual transmission.

So I select drive, and without any hasle the smooth turbo-charged engine pulls me forward while the DSG box selects gears without any problem. Just like any standard automatic vehicle I can rest my left foot and only concentrate on the go and stop pedals. The only point to take note of at this time is that the suspension really feels solid and the feedback from the road is great. The good news is that if a true driver is behind the wheel you can nudge the gear lever to the left, this now enables you to go into F1 mode and use the neat paddles behind the steering wheel to change gear, which has a really nice blunty click to it. OR if you prefere you can go into touring car mode and change gear by nudging the gear lever forwards or backwards. Its up to you and if you get bored of one way of doing you can switch between the two methods as you please. Another nice point to take note of is you can still use the paddle shifts even if your in full automatic mode, which means if you need to drop a cog due to a urgent overtake maneurver or you suddenly realise your in a drag race, you downshift without having to go into manual mode.

Ok so theres fun to be had in this car and I have to admit that. But there are a few flaws which im suprised have’nt been adressed. One problem is the Volkswagon 2.0 liter petrol engine. Its so smooth and quite that is works against the car. When you downshift using the paddle there is no evidence that the gear has engaged. Yes there is a LCD panel in the dash showing you which gear your in, but this requires you to take you eyes off the road and taking your hand off the wheel so you can check. If the engine was just alittle bit more louder so you could hear the overdrive, that would be so much more better, so much more engaging. Gosh I loved dropping down a gear in the Type-R, you knew you had gone down a gear, the engine screamed its war cry to let you know it was ready to kick ass, it was similar to that sound you get from a F1 car when shifting down. But no, in the Leon you just have to trust yourself that you pressed the paddle hard enough and trust the car has done what it was ment to because cabin noise is a sin it seems.

Also Im use to playing GT5 with the steering wheel. I use the paddle shifts on GT5. When you read that the DSG box is instant, do not think that you will get similar results as in gt5, because GT5 is instant, the Leon isn’t. But it is still pretty darn fast so I’d like to make sure you know I’m not knocking it. Going up or down you will ALMOST instantly change gear, again its not as engaging as I thought but when flying down a straight with your throttle wide open, blipping your way up through 6 gears without the need to lift up, thats pretty impressive. Certainly fun. On point to make is if you need to go down two or more gears in succesion then that does take awhile so all in all its still not going to beat a manual gearbox. Thats my oppinion at least.

The Leon isn’t all about the Gearbox though. The handling seems very predictable and turns nicely, I managed to take a few round abouts and would be pleased overall with the way in which it handles. But again the extra weight over the Type-R is noticeable and as a result nothing in the handling department is on par with the Type-R. There is one very appealing aspect which the Type-R cannot match, and that is the brakes. The 4-pot brakes on the Leon and incredible and are very sharp. You barely have to touch them before they start shreding the speed away. Maybe too sharp, but the brakes definatly do there job so I wont complain.

So my conclusion is that although the Gearbox is amazing, it could also be more engaging by making it communicate and give more feedback to the driver by making the engine more vocal on the downshifts. Although the car is more modern, it feels slower, heavier and less engaging and ultimatly less of a car than the Type-R and if it was’nt for the fun aspect of the DSG I would’nt consider it at all. In comparison the engine and transmission in the Type-R do a much much better job together and as for the title of the best drivers car, it is a undisputed win for the Type-R.

Here is the first and last video of Chris’s 306 At the famous Buckstone going uphill at night. I’ll do a video showing the diffrents between the 306 and Type-R shortly.

Having no car for almost a month now is very hard to cope with. I do get to share my mums Zafria, so I don’t have a problem when it comes to travelling, but its no fun now that I’m reduced to a bog standard vehicle. Its just standard commuting now with no thrills what so ever, theres no power, no handling, actually the car has not substantial credit worth mentioning what so ever other than its better than walking. As a driving and car enthusiast the only way to get my fix is to but the hours in on Forza 3 on the xbox. Its working for now, and I’m getting enjoyment out of the new cars and tracks which I hadn’tgotten use to up to press. Into the real world though I thought if I couldn’t drive, then I’ll go for the theory and principle side of things. I purchased a highly recommended book which explains and illustrates the “art of going faster”. Its full of technical drawing and details on how to drive fast. Although I’ve covered a fair bit in just 14 pages (basically the basics on straights and corners) I’ve not come across anything that a enthusiast wouldn’t know, at least in some form or another, but what is good, is how the even the basics are broken down and articulated so you can maybe make more sense or see extra detail in what you do know, and relate that to your own driving technique which may benefityou. After quick browsing the later chapters in the book it does look abit more daunting and alot more in-depth, but I’m egar to read through it and see what it beholds.

Just a quick note on the MR2. The insurance are waiting for the total loss department to get a engineers report sorted so they car get the details on there system, or at least something like that. After a month I’m not really getting any further than that. So I’m going to have to start swearing at them down the phone so they get a move on. I’m still debating on which car to get next, but the Type-R is winning at the moment. The RX-8 seems to have too many problems engine wise with other little niggles. The R26 just seems to be a speed machine with nothing else say for itself. I’m wanting abit more of a GT car this time around, and with a drive to Spain coming up in the near future, I want to be able to relax and enjoy been sat in the car, aswell as been able to speed around in the hills. So Its a close call for the ST and Type-R. Which is funny considering I’m both a ex Type-R and ST owner. What is the right decision.