| Week at the Wheel | SEAT Exeo Sport |
Key Facts
Model driven: SEAT Exeo 2.0 TSI Sport saloon
Pricing: £22,935 (as at June 2011)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Body style: four-door saloon
Rivals: Alfa Romeo 159, Honda Accord, Mazda6
CO2 emissions: 159g/km
Combined economy: 40.9mpg
Top speed: 152mph
0-62mph: 7.1 seconds
Power: 208bhp at 4,600 - 6,000rpm
Torque: 236lb.ft at 1,500 - 4,600rpm
Inside & Out:
Lots of cars are based on other cars. Some bear no resemblance, like the
Bentley Continental GT and the
VW Phaeton, while others can't hide their underpinnings. See a mid '90s Honda Accord and a Rover 600 for details.
As far as badge engineering goes, the SEAT Exeo is current king, because it's virtually indistinguishable from the 'B7' generation
Audi A4 (a 2005 facelift of the 2000 car). If you can stomach that, it's a winner, because SEAT has never offered such a quality interior. A relatively old cabin it may be, but it gets everything - build integrity, driving position, switchgear feel, front-, rear- and boot space - pretty spot on, from a mid-level three-box saloon point of view.
Ride & Handling:
Audi is commonly criticised for mimicking sportiness by way of winding up the springs and dampers, especially on its diesel S-Line stuff. It's a trap SEAT has fallen into here. Only available in Sport trim, with 17-inch alloys, relatively thin tyres and firmer suspension, the Exeo feels too hard on any surface, at any speed.
It's far from unbearable - and it's not as bad as our long term Leon TDI Sport was - but the Exeo struggles to settle down. On streets that means it judders and on the motorway it is slightly bouncy. It does compensate with more steering feel and weight than you get in, say, a
VW Passat. In this car, though, how often will you drive in the sort of fashion that makes the advantage worthwhile?
Engine & Transmission:
The 208bhp 2.0-litre TFSI engine doesn't fizz as much here as it does in the
VW Golf GTI, naturally - the SEAT is a heavier, less sporty car - but it's still potent enough to make this Exeo entertaining. It doesn't have the instant shove in the back of the 141- or 168bhp 2.0-litre diesel engines you're far more likely to find in an Exeo, but unlike those cars, this one makes holding onto a gear fun.
And when you do change, you'll find a shift action of far more weight than the average SEAT. It's not the most mechanical or tactile of shifts, but it does add to the sense that this is a well-built machine, and a cut above other SEAT products in that regard.
Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:
It's on this basis that the SEAT Exeo makes most sense. In this petrol version economy is only an average 40.9mpg, which is not bad, but a good deal less than you'll get on any of the rest of the range, which is all diesel.
However, given its quality, specification and performance (0-62mph in 7.1 seconds), the £22,935 list price of the one Sport version is very reasonable. Consider that this engine in the current Audi A4 S Line costs over £30,000. Granted, if you're thinking about company car tax - highly likely - you won't want this petrol model, but for an image-unconscious private buyer, it's quite enticing stuff.