What's the news?

SEAT has opened the order book for 'the hottest Leon to date', the FR 2.0 TDI 184. It offers the combination of a claimed 0-62mph time of 7.5 seconds with CO₂ emissions low enough to qualify for zero first year VED. Prices start at £22,075 for the three-door 'SC'.

Exterior

The Leon TDI gets the usual touches applied to models wearing the red and black FR badges. Fitments include LED tail lamps, FR bumpers and twin chromed exhaust pipes. Sports suspension is also standard along with 17-inch alloy wheels.

Interior

Equipment includes sports seats, dual-zone climate control and a touch-screen media system that features Bluetooth and an eight-speaker sound system. SEAT Drive Profile is also standard, providing three modes to alter power steering weight and accelerator responsiveness.

Mechanicals

The Leon FR uses a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine that develops 184hp and 380Nm of torque. SEAT has also fitted it with Ecomotive Technology including stop-start, which contributes to an official fuel economy figure of 67.3mpg plus CO₂ emissions of 109g/km. Like the 180hp Leon TSI this model comes with multi-link rear suspension rather than the torsion beam design of less powerful versions.

Anything else?

The Leon FR TDI is also available in five-door form for £22,375. Cars will be at dealers for test drives from mid-July with the first customer deliveries in September.