#03#SEAT has spent recent years building up a motorsport heritage with its successful entries into the World Touring Car Championship, the British Touring Car Championship and throughout Europe with the one-make SEAT Cupra series. The UK SEAT Cupra series has already provided a number of BTCC drivers such as James Pickford and Gordon Sheddon while Rob Huff followed his successful first season in BTCC with a WTCC drive, not to mention being used for the Racing Rivals TV programme. To build on this motorsport image, SEAT has introduced the FR (Formula Racing) range, adding sportier derivatives of its cars to the range.

The SEAT Altea may seem an unlikely starting point for the FR treatment. Its unique looks disguise a tall five-seat MPV type vehicle, yet in FR guise SEAT buyers can choose from a 197bhp 2-litre FSI petrol engine or the 168bhp 2-litre TDI engine. Our car came with the diesel option. The 168bhp diesel engine is only available in the FR version of Altea, FR spec also bringing the six-speed manual gearbox, 17-inch alloy wheels with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, big (312mm) ventilated disc brakes at the front (with solid discs at the rear) and gloriously figure-hugging sculpted sports seats with FR logos all around the interior.

I still hadn't really bought into the idea of a sporty MPV when I jumped aboard and drove off. One look at the wheels and the seats and I wanted to laugh out loud at how ludicrous it seemed. All that changed at the first whiff of open road; in my case it was opening out from a roundabout onto a dual carriageway slip road. I hadn't really tackled the roundabout with much aplomb, so handling comments would have to wait, but as I accelerated down the slip road the SEAT felt pretty darn quick. As I joined the dual carriageway I brushed past the car I had been following with little effort, then looked down at the speedometer. Oh-mi-God, what was the needle doing THAT far round already? Coming back to more sober speeds I soon found a quick prod on the throttle had the same effect every time. Surely the speedometer must be over-reading; this MPV just can't be that quick; 258lb.ft of torque can have that effect.

Off the dual carriageway and onto some more exciting roads. It didn't take long to realise that turn-in was of the highest order; the steering didn't feel particularly low geared, but it didn't take much movement of the wheel to get the front wheels to point into corners. Better still, the back wheels were following the fronts faithfully, even when I upped the cornering effort to 'seriously fast'. Inside the car there was no drama, except for another oh-mi-God moment when clocking just how fast that last corner was taken! The Altea FR might be a spacious MPV-thingy, but it drives fantastically. #p##01# The SEAT Altea FR is so good, so much fun, that I got a little carried away. Our tenure with the car coincided with the worst snow the South East has seen in years. I had to sweep at least four inches off the car with a broom just to go out. Tip-toeing on treacherous lanes full of packed solid snow, I made it to the main road to find tarmac with a bit of slush in the middle. And everyone doing less than 20mph. A mile or two of this and I needed to escape. So I turned off up into the hills to take the cross country route. The snow was deep, not much traffic had been up and down the road, but on I ventured until right near the top of the hill, I got stuck! Serves me right I guess, the traction control picked up the wheelspin and cut the power so I couldn't move. Without it we could probably have scrabbled up the last bit of the hill, but in the end I had to turn back and join the convoy of drivers who have forgotten how to drive in less than clement weather. In many other cars I would have worried, but the Altea FR's abilities were such I felt no qualms on braving the back lanes.

It's hard to say the Altea is a babe amongst cars; it's quite strange looking, following the unique look that SEATs of recent times have. But look again; it's very sleek for a tall vehicle and disguises its bulk well. Swage lines run back from the grille all the way up the A pillars, then you realise the windscreen doesn't sit flush with the pillars like on other cars. They are more like buttresses to the sides of the screen. Turn the wipers on, and oh, that's different. The wipers don't park at the base of the screen, they are hidden away in the A pillars to the side of the screen. There must be some aerodynamic benefit to this, but it also helps the Altea look uncluttered.

All the usual 'sporty-model-in-the-range' cues are there. The big alloy wheels (17-inch standard with optional 18s), silver painted door mirrors, twin exhaust pipes, sportier front and rear bumpers, along with those sports seats, white instruments (which light up in red) and the FR branded sports steering wheel. That wheel seemed smaller than in most family-oriented cars and was just perfect in feel and size, and connected to power steering that is well-weighted for fast driving. #p##03# SEAT claims the Altea FR TDI takes just 8.6 seconds for the 0-62mph run and will carry on to a maximum speed of 130mph. Those figures just do not convey the mid-range acceleration, nor the speeds which can be maintained easily. On motorways at outside lane speeds the Altea FR is rock steady despite being of tall design. Wind noise is also commendably low. On twisty roads its grip levels are astounding, body roll is minimal and it's easy for the press-on driver to make very fast progress cross country neither breaking into sweat nor upsetting the passengers. SEAT also claims a combined cycle fuel economy of 45.6mpg; even driving near hooligan-mode for some of the week we managed to better 40mpg.

Equipment levels are good; the Altea FR has heated folding door mirrors, dual-zone climate control (although it seemed difficult to regulate temperatures), front and rear electric windows, light delay when switching off, and of course ABS, traction control (necessary!) with ESP, a tyre pressure monitoring system, six airbags and the VW Group trip computer system that displays average speed/economy, time/distance travelled and distance to next fuel stop all at the touch of the tip of the wiper stalk. ISOFIX rear child SEAT mountings back up the family car emphasis.

It's an MPV (really!) and I've saved all the practical stuff till last. That's a measure of the Altea FR. There are more than 30 storage compartments (no, I didn't try to count them, nor even find them all). Aside from the normal glove box, container between the front seats, cup holders all over the place and the like, there are under seat drawers for both front pews, the door panels front and rear can hold bottles and even straps at the base of the rear seats to secure an umbrella. In the boot it's more of the same. The full-size rear hatch opens to reveal massive boot space, but then in addition there are rings for fastening nets, side storage straps and hooks for hanging bags, and even the parcel shelf as a false floor compartment to store an emergency triangle or similar slim items. The boot itself optionally has a two-tiered floor and with the rear seats folded you get a completely flat area. And the rear seats can also slide forwards by 14cm to further increase boot space.

Got skis? No problem, just fold down the lower rear armrest and post them through from the boot. And if you really do insist on carrying the kitchen sink as well, the Altea comes with roof bars.

The SEAT Altea FR is proof that having a family doesn't mean having a boring car. It does all the practical stuff a family wants, has all the safety a family needs (five-star occupant protection in the Euro NCAP tests, along with four stars for child protection and three stars for pedestrian protection); yet with all that, it's a driver's car for the keenest of drivers. And in diesel format, even the insurance is a lowly group 11E. It might look a bit different, but pick the school kids up in this and you will be Daddy Cool. #p##03#

---

2007 SEAT Altea range overview

Model	UK (£ on-the-road)	Ireland: (€ on-the-road)
SEAT Altea 1.6 Essence	£11,895	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.6 Reference	£12,595	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.6 Reference Sport	£12,895	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.9 TDI PD Reference	£13,595	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.6 Stylance	£13,595	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.9 TDI PD Reference Sport	£13,895	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.9 TDI PD Stylance	£14,595	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 FSI Stylance	£15,895	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI Stylance	£16,595	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 FSI Tiptronic Stylance	£16,795	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI Special Edition	£16,995	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 T FSI FR	£17,295	€32,690
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI DSG Stylance	£17,495	n/a
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI DPF FR	£17,795	€34,190
SEAT Altea 2.0 T FSI DSG FR	£18,195	n/a
SEAT Altea 1.6 R 102 BHP	n/a	€19,900
SEAT Altea 1.6 S 102 BHP	n/a	€22,790
SEAT Altea 1.9 TDI R 105 BHP	n/a	€23,380
SEAT Altea 1.9 TDI S 105 BHP	n/a	€25,805
SEAT Altea 2.0 FSI S 150 BHP	n/a	€28,020
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI S 140 BHP	n/a	€29,660
SEAT Altea 2.0 FSI S AUTO 150 BHP	n/a	€29,980
SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI S AUTO 140 BHP	n/a	€31,630