| Long Term Test | SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI Sport |

Arrival date:		December 2008
Price:		£18,197 (including £1,317 of options)
Current mileage:		8,686-miles
Average economy:		37.1mpg
Relevant links:		Euro NCAP results for SEAT Leon

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Been anywhere interesting?

I have, but the Leon? Not really. That's not to say we haven't spent a lot of time with it though, because we have, it's just that the gargantuan road trips down the M1 - usually via the A1 and M18 - seem to have stopped, mercifully. If you've been following the Leon you'll know that we in the Nichol household have been enjoying its general usefulness immensely (not enough to clean it mind, but I feel pretty much the same way about my face). But frankly, we've also been taking it for granted, which became abundantly clear when we were forced to put the family Citroen C4 back into action...

Anything stand out...?

Erm, how much better it is than a Citroen C4. I knew that already, obviously, but a little gap in my test car schedule meant that the unloved and untaxed Citroen had to be reinsured and put back on the road. And without indulging in the cathartic anti-C4 rant I'd quite like to at the moment, the Leon really is chalk to the C4's vanilla yoghurt. Compared to the Leon, the C4 feels about as attached to the road as Burger King is to Weight Watchers. The Leon, conversely, is a little too attracted to the tarmac, never letting go of the urge to inform your tailbone of every unyielding detail. I swear if you put a blind man in the passenger side of the SEAT and drive over some Braille, he'll be able to recite every word.

The traction control is becoming ever more redundant (by which I mean I'm turning it off) leading to the discovery that the Leon breaks adhesion at the front with surprising ease, but at the same time, there's never any doubt about what it's doing, and nor is there enough power to get into any real danger. Power understeer - usually a pejorative term - is a proper laugh in the Leon, as is the ease with which it will lift-off oversteer. Right, I'll take my head out of my backside now - lift-off oversteer, in a family car?

...and for the wrong reasons?

I've noticed a new sharpness about the clutch, which now tends to thump the drivetrain into action and suggests there might be some premature wear. There's no slippage though, so I'm prepared to hold my hands up and accept that the sensation may merely be the legacy of not driving the Leon as much as I'd like to.

What is certain, however, is that the brakes are fading. There just isn't the positivity there once was. Adequate stopping power is still a given, but I have to work harder for it now. I blame Mrs Nichol though, who, if you recall my last update, has been confirmed as the rightful recipient of the SP30 notification that landed on our doorstep - 40mph in a 30mph zone. The photograph took pride of place on the kitchen wall for some time, but then went mysteriously missing. Hmm.

Where next?

I'll be gunning for the horizon en route to The Intercontinental Dab of Oppo Lift-Off Oversteer Championship for Car Hack Stereotypes. Not really. The Leon is officially due back now, so I'm avoiding people at SEAT and hoping they'll forget, as well as being extra nice about all SEAT products. That Exeo ST - better than an RS6 Avant.