Seat Leon FR+ Announced
The Spanish automaker Seat has announced this week a new trim level for the Leon model, dubbed FR+ which is in fact the top-spec model at the moment. Over the standard FR level, the new one comes with bigger 18-inch Ibera alloy wheels, DAB radio, a 5-inch color touchscreen satellite navigation system, front parking sensors, adaptive headlights and Bluetooth connectivity.
Clients can choose from either a 2.0-liter TSI gasoline engine that produces 208 hp or a 2.0-liter TDI that generates 168 hp. As standard you get LED taillights, rear parking sensors, sports seats, twin-chrome exhaust tailpipes, automatic headlights as well as rain-sensing wipers.
As far as the Leon Cupra R is concerned, it now comes with LED rear-light clusters, bi-xenon adaptive headlights, Bluetooth and the company’s own Media System 2.2.
The Leon FR+ with the TDI engine costs from 22,615 pounds, which is 1,070 pounds more than the standard FR versions. Regarding the hotter Cupra R, its price has been reduced by 10 pounds (like it matters anyway) and it will set you back 25,995 pounds, which is a lot of money for a Seat…
Source: Seat via Autocar.co.uk
Post tags: Tags: Seat, seat cupra r, seat leon, seat leon fr
Crashes are, sadly, an essential part of motorsport, as contact between cars, either Formula 1 dedicated racers or touring cars, ends up pretty badly.
The latest car crash comes from the UK’s Brands Hatch circuit, where a race in the Seat Leon Euro Cup competition was held.
During the race, Portuguese driver Francisco Carvalho was touched by a fellow racer, which sent his Leon touring car out of control. The car crashed into a barrier which sent it flying over the heads of race officials.
Miraculously, no one was hurt, not even Carvalho, who now has one heck of a story to tell.
Check out the terrifying crash in the video after the jump.
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Post tags: Tags: Car Crashes, Motorsport, racing, Seat, seat leon, Video
The Seat Leon is a pretty powerful hatchback model, sharing many of its engines with the Volkswagen Golf. The Seat Leon Cupra takes things one step higher, and offers quite a lot of performance. The Leon Cupra R takes it to the max, and unleashes 261 HP from that 2.0-liter turbocharged engine.
But the max isn’t always the end, at least according to the tuners at JE Design, who have unleashed a brand new cosmetic and performance tuning package for the Spanish hatch. After quite a lot of fiddling with the electronics, a recalibrated ECU and many more, the peak power is now at 330 HP and 420 Nm of torque, dwarfing the factory output of the car.
Handling has been improved, with JE Design adding not only a new, more rigid suspension system, but also a revamped brake system and a quad-pipe exhaust with a much beefier sound.
The looks have also been improved, with a complete body kit consisting of extended front bumper, new mesh grille, badge removal, as well as side skirts, an extended rear bumper and a new wing in the back. All of this is complemented by a new gray color, but we’re not so certain about the red accents.
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Post tags: Tags: je-design, Seat, seat leon, seat leon cupra, seat leon cupra r, Tuning
Although this might annoy some of you petrol-heads which believe that gasoline is the only true fuel for a car, Seat has just won every award in the World Touring Car Championship, largely due to its Leon TDI model.
The carmaker is represented by Spanish Touring Car Company (Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo) team, which has won the manufacturer’s title, inching ahead of arch rivals BMW and their 3 Series model as well as Chevrolet, with its Cruze-based car and Lada. The drivers’ title was earned by the team’s Gabriele Tarquini, which now holds the honor after his teammate, Yvan Muller, earned it last year. Also, the Spanish carmaker also helped private driver Tom Coronel earn his Independents Trophy, as the piloted a gasoline-powered Leon car.
Overall, this calls for champagne for the Spanish manufacturer, and what better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the TDI engine, which is ruling both the WTCC and the Le Mans competition through the Audi R10 TDI model.
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Post tags: Tags: Seat, seat leon, tdi, wtcc
After North American tuners had their “little” get together at the SEMA show in Las Vegas last week, it’s time for the European companies to prepare for their own convention, at the Essen Motor Show in Germany, which will start on November 28 and end on December 6.
This means that already quite a lot of companies are revealing to the press the creations which they will debut in Essen. The latest to do so is JE Design, which has revealed some very special packaged for the Seat Leon FR models, both the diesel and the gasoline variants.
Although the team preferred not to mess with the inner workings of the engine, by adjusting the ECUs, JE Design managed to squeeze 270 HP from the TFSI unit and 204 from the TDI one (as opposed to the standard 211 and 170 HP, respectively. Torque has also been increased to 355 Nm for the petrol and 380 for the diesel one. The engine modifications result in a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.2 seconds for the TFSI and 7.6 for the TDI.
Other impressive modifications include a double-lipped front spoiler, side skirts and center diffuser, as well as new headlights and a set of very popular LED daytime running lights. In the back, you’ll observe a quad-pipe exhaust system, which joins the new springs, which lowered the car by 35 mm, the adjustable coilover suspension and the set of polished, multispoke 19-inch wheels.
As you can see from the pics, the major enhancement, at least in the eyes of JE is the Lamborghini-style vertical doors. They let you enter a leather interior, with the material coating everything from the heated, massage seats, doors, armrest or steering wheel.
In case this tuning package sparks your interest, you’ll need to fork out €12,652 for the gasoline TFSI version and €12,552 for the TDI one.
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Post tags: Tags: essen-motor-show, je-design, Seat, seat leon, seat leon fr, Tuning
Spanish carmaker Seat is definitely not resting on its laurels after producing one of the most successful lineups of cars since it entered under the Volkswagen AG corporate umbrella, as the boss of sales and marketing, Jan Lafrentz, revealed that a lot of new models will appear in the following years from the automaker.
Among the new models will be a Coupe version of the Leon, a new Alhambra MPV people-carrier, crossover based on the Tribu concept and even its own version of the Volkswagen Up!, which will be revealed next year.
Let’s start with the Leon shall we? The Spanish hot hatch will be on the receiving end of a coupe model, in vein with what Volkswagen did with the Golf and the Scirocco. It will borrow a lot of things in terms of design and will definitely cater to a more exclusive market, when it will be released at the beginning of 2011.
Until then, the company revealed that it will once again attack the MPV (multi purpose vehicle) market, where the Ford Galaxy reigns supreme. The new replacement for the Alhambra will target the consumers who are very loyal to the brand and Lafrentz revealed that it will definitely be successful in taking care of said user base.
The Seat executive also tackled the company’s version of the Volkswagen Up city car, saying that it might arrive in late 2010, early 2011, and that an electric version might also be made, but it will be expected to sell in a limited quantity.
Another area of the market where the company is eager to appear is the crossover one, by releasing a production model of the Tribu concept, probably based on the VW Tiguan, which will rival successful city crossovers like the Nissan Qashqai. “The Tribu has been under discussion since we showed the concept,” said Lafrentz. “There is great willingness within Seat to make it, but the final decision has not been taken yet.”
While sources indicate that other current models might get 4×4 traction and receive the Freetrack label, Lafrentz was eager to deny any rumors about a convertible version, possibly based on the Tango concept or the Exeo midsize sedan, by saying that Spanish people don’t really like convertible cars.
Are you excited about these new models? Drop a comment with your thoughts.
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Post tags: Tags: crossover, Seat, seat alhambra, seat leon, seat leon coupe, seat tribu
Now don’t get too excited, as the cars mentioned above will only act as safety cars in order for the organizers to test out the special stages of the rally and see if they are up to par with the safety regulations from the WRC.
This continues the long lasting partnership between Seat and the Catalunya Rally competition. The Spanish automaker will offer 86 cars for the officials and the technical assistance crews, among them being the special 180 HP Ibiza Bocanegra, the 200 HP Exeo TSI and the 240 HP Leon Cupra models. As a special tidbit of information, the Ibiza model will be driven by Joan Vinyes, the Andorra pilot which won the first edition of the Sear Supercup in 2002.
The rally has started yesterday and will end on Sunday, after all of the 18 stages will take place.
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Post tags: Tags: rally, Seat, seat exeo, seat ibiza bocanegra, seat leon, seat-ibiza, wrc
The Seat Leon is one of the most good looking hot-hatches in the market today, combining the agressive latin design with german engineering, all wrapped in some very cool colors, like the Crono Yellow or Candy White. But the spanish manufacturer didn’t think that these colors would be enough, at it has announced that it will offer a 4 new colors available in a custom pallete.
For £550, UK customers will be able to choose from Lumina Orange, Speed Blue, Kiwi Green or Furia Grey. Like on the Ibiza, Seat took advantage of being in the Volkswagen Group and borrowed some colors from Lamborghini, providing them to further differentiate the Leon from it’s competitors. One thing’s for sure, these new colors really make the Leon stand out even more on the road and complete the agressive image of the model. More pictures after the jump. (more…)
Post tags: Tags: Seat, seat leon
The German tuner RDX Racedesign has decided to do its magic on the Seat Leon. The aerodynamic bodykit, called “1P”, features a “GTI-Five“ front spoiler bumper ($399), devised Turbo-look side skirts ($129.95) and a “GTI-Five” rear apron ($349), which doesn’t have exits for the exhaust pipes, so you can fit it very easily to yours. Besides that, the tuning package also includes Audi S6 daytime runnning lights placed above the air inlets on the left and right side and four different matching grid designs. Check out one more photo after the jump. (more…)
Post tags: Tags: rdx-racedesign, Seat, seat leon, Tuning
