Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE

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Sun 3 Mar 2002 12:37
Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - David Neve
Im thinking of getting one of these diesels Leons and have checked HJ's test drive reports for info.

Has anyone who has a new one any thoughts on the car, good or bad, they would like to share?

Any info on the diesel, including the chipped 140 bhp from Europe would be appreciated.

Tahnks
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Sun 3 Mar 2002 13:31
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - Honest John
Check out the Golf Mk IV in the car by car breakdown for an ECU problem that seems to have come back again on Golf TDI 110s.

HJ
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Sun 3 Mar 2002 13:52
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - David Neve
Well I think that has just about put me off the car!

Went for a test drive in a demonstrator yesterday and a light on the dash (wire coil) kept flashing on and off plus the glove box didn't close properly. Dealer said the light was flashing because it hadn't been pdi'd yet! Hmmmm.

Other than that, it was a great drive. Shame.
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Sun 3 Mar 2002 16:41
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - Fred Stoat
Not nice at all but the 1.8 SE petrol is fine - like a latter day AlfaSud. But the Focus wins on most counts. The TDCi diesel trounces VAG's PD if you must go that route.
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Sun 3 Mar 2002 18:09
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - Pat
David,

I hired one for two weeks last summer in the French Pyrenees. It was brand new and a diesel, though don't know which engine. I looked under the bonnet and it looked different from my Audi A4 TDi 115 engine.

Pulled well, was very economical (though I didn't measure it, but you get a sort of gut feeling based on the mileage between fill-ups), cruised well at 130kph where permitted, softer ride than my Audi but more comfortable for it.

I was impressed, though I prefer the Golf body shape.

Pat
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Mon 4 Mar 2002 08:14
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - Neil
My wife and I looked at the 1.8T Leon last year before settling on a Golf GT TDI PD. The Leon TDI is not the latest VAG PD technology but the engine had been used in Audi and VW cars and was regarded as best-in-class.

Although the new Ford TdCi engine is now taken to be the most un-diesel-like diesel, the sense of quality in the cabin of VAG cars is unsurpassed - even the 3 series compact uses plastic door handles on the inside. As far as I remember, the interior of the Leon seemed remarkably similar to that of the Audi A3.

Also consider the Skoda Octavia.
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Mon 4 Mar 2002 08:57
Re: Seat Leon 1.9Tdi SE - Ian L
I dont know much about the new VAG deisels, but I saw one of the new Polo model in town at the weekend, looks good but it was a deisel and sounded awful.....worse than a truck with no exhaust.
As it approached a junction and then pulled away (slight incline) it sounded terrible, the previous petrol car was almost inaudible

From recent posts it would seem that there is a great deal of variation between individual VAG deisel engines
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