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With its stylish looks and practical interior, the SEAT Leon ST is a great small family estate
car. It is very closely related to the 5 door hatchback - which we crowned our Best Family
Car in the 2014 Carbuyer car of the year awards
for example the passenger space in the back is just as good with plenty of head room and
leg room.
another similarity is the standard equipment you get - this includes Air conditioning,
a touchscreen display and Bluetooth connectivity. The interior is smart and the soft touch dash
adds a quality feel
and it doesn't feel too different to drive, it's still rather fun, steering is precise
yet light - meaning it's great to drive on a road like this but also easy to manoeuvre
around town. It's quite planted on the road and with a wide engine range there should
be something to suit everyone. What's more, the more powerful models get an advanced suspension
system which helps make the car feel sportier yet more comfortable at higher speeds
However let's not get too excited, this is an estate and there are differences over the
hatchback. The added weight for example prohibits it from being quite as much fun -- the roll
in the corners is noticeable if you are being picky. It also means fuel consumption suffers
slightly, the entry level 1.2 petrol returns 57.6 miles to the gallon while the 1.6 litre
TDI hits us with an impressive 74miles to the gallon but the most purse friendly is
the free to tax 1.6 TDI Ecomotive which delights with over 85 to the gallon and free road tax
- of course.
I'm not getting anywhere near those figures in this powerful 1.8-litre FR petrol version
though. But if performance, sporty seats and suspension is what you are after then a drop
in fuel economy figures to 47 miles to the gallon is unlikely to phase you. Thankfully
the road tax is not dear -- emitting a reasonable 137g/km of CO2.
now though the time has come to moan about the Leon ST. First things that immediately
comes to mind is the cost -- it's £1000 more expensive than the hatchback! The Volkswagen
Golf Estate on which it is based only £765 more expensive than its hatchback equivalent.
Hmm, how can that be right? Still, it's the Skoda Octavia Estate that offers the best
value. But don't look at those videos just yet...
I haven't stopped moaning about this car yet. Look at this boot, I know it looks fine you
can hardly tell BUT it is smaller than both the Octavia and the Golf estate versions.
That's the price you pay for a more stylish car. I think we should let it off though because
it redeems itself with a moveable boot floor, split folding rear seats and a front passenger
seat can be folded down to accommodate really long items.
There you go that pretty much sums up this Spanish stylish estate car. Sporty, economical
and despite The Skoda Octavia being a bit bigger, the Leon ST still offers good levels
of practicality and value for money. If you are still unsure, why not watch the Ford Focus
estate video here, the VW Golf Estate video here and don't forget to subscribe to our
Carbuyer channel by clicking here!