t-sport vs Leon 20VT

[gramacar]

Hi

Has anyone tested Seat Len 20 VT (180Bhp) against Corola Tsport? I have heard that Leon is much faster in acceleration (not 0-60) due to its huge torgue (240Nm). What about its built quality? Does it reach the standards of toyota?

regards

john

[mark vodden]

I would think that out and out acceleration is very similar, but in gear performance of the Leon is likely to be better (as usual) with the blown 1.8's. The 1.8T is very tractable and fast, over a twisty unknown back road the Leon would be the better choice. Although, I haven't driven either, but been in both.

The Leon is very well built, a far nicer car than the golf IMHO, if not as quality indside (although not far off). The new shape Leon in Yellow or Red looks wicked!!! Which is where it has the corolla licked IMO.

But you still wont get the fantastic revvy nature of the T Sport. ;-) Or, I doubt the service and ownership satisfaction of a Toyota. Plus, depreciation on the Leon is heavy. If you wanted a Leon, get a big discount, under £14k is a must.

[spwolf]

heh, it cant be as fun as my TS... nothing is as fun as changing gears @ 8,200 rpms...

and dont get confused - TS can be fast in curves as well... lower it and put bigger and wider tires and voila...you got one big bad machine

[Ken]

2-cars ago had a toledo biggest pile of poo i ever had.I can not think of a worst car than that,it was in the garage every week cost me a bomb:mad:

[gramacar]

Concerning the depreciation of Leon I have heard that a facelift is about to come in the next few months. Has anyone heard something about it? The Corola is also going to change in a year and a half (facelift). This I thing is a standard policy from Toyota. New model every almost 3 years. The constand changes of a model (even facelift) adds a lot to the depreciation of its value.

[grum]

There's a new Golf out this year, which means there'll be a new Leon, Audi A3 and Skoda something or other either just before or just after.

Seats, being re-worked Volkswagen's have a new-found reputation for quality construction and value, and in group tests have done pretty well. Criticisms tend to be that the chassis is a bit stodgy (although much better than the Golf or A3 ). I've never driven one but was seroiously considering it before getting the Corolla. Eventually decided against it because my local dealer seemd incapable of getting one to test drive :o

Haven't seen any group tests that included both the Leon Cupra and Corolla T-Sport.

[Bobby]

Hey gramacar TOyota is renowned for keeping the same model for at least 3 years, and that was the case of the past corolla and the past Corona, but they did that because those models needed to get to the standards...

but just look at how many years the 4runner kept the same model!

[spwolf]

well a3 is due to replacement soon, but I dont think Leon will be replaced that soon...

I saw german magazin review and compare 210 HP Leon, Focus ST170 and TS... they judged them cars for different kind of ppl, Leon was the fastest, and Corolla was the slowest on the slalom test - but they noted that everything would have changed if they had same kind of tires on TS as on Focus and Leon...

They absolutly loved TS sounds...

[Bobby]

Hey Spwolf where I can find some performance tests based on the Corolla T Sport, like skidpad, slalom test, braking distances, etc...

[spwolf]

buy local mags with TS tests ;-)... UK mags are pretty good about it... I have Top Gear comparison between Type R and TS, etc...

It is pretty hard to find real info in the net... everyone just quotes manufacturers info...

[Jake]

The current Leon cupra is the newest in the Seat/Audi/VW line up and is the car that all the above will be based on it has the latest floor pan, that the rest will use, this was in all the motoring press last september, so any changes to the Leon will only be minor face lifts, I had a Focus ST170 for under a month, brake problems wich could not be rectified (took Ford 5 mths to fix), so having already ruled out the cicvic type R (to wild in the wet, not enough toys) I paid a visit to the Seat dealer, and took a Leon Cupra for a test drive (R version was not available at the time) the turbo is good and handling was good to, build quality suprised me,(but given my 2 previous cars where new corolla,s) it did not impress me.

But when you look at the spec of the Cupra R, you'd have to spend a lot of money on all the revivals to match the quality extra,s.

But i couldn't wait, I got a T Sport and have never looked back, passing 6200, is fantastic, staying there trough 4 gear chages is an experience i frequetly enjoy, and the looks on the faces of BMW, Audi,VW,Alfa drivers ect, is that of "what the **** was that" lol :D :D :D

I'm wait to fit lowering kit, already have 17x7's on, and also want the quick shift kit, which will help keep the revs high as i change.

[spwolf]

I really wish Toyota would have TTE version of TS with factory lowering, wider and bigger tires and spoiler kit... It would not cost more than Type R still, but it would be much better car for reviewers to drive so lots of criticism of Corolla would go away... of course, then every single owner of TS would not spend at least 500 Euros on upgrades ;-)

I for one, thanks for our bad roads here, definetly would never even think of getting bigger and lower profile tires, no matter how better the car would handle... I already feel bumps as it is...

[MALCOLM]

With regards to the Leon, it's not a bad car. I have tried every sporty hatchback you can name whilst in search of a new car for myself. It was a vey hard choice to make as indeed it is when buying any car. After a long and very dissapointing road I ended up going for the Corolla. Why?

It came out the best, The engine is a very good one, and being Japanese you can be sure it will last, and it looks good(even though im going to modify it bigtime). Now this you may find od, but my last two cars could'nt be more different. My last car was a HONDA S 2000, which i traded in to get a Corolla! and before that I had an IMPREZA TURBO!

Im sure you will think im mad. but I wanted a quick smaller car with an understated side to it. The Corolla is just that. I cant tell you how many clio's, novas and so on which have been left at the lights by me in my corolla.All in all it's a very good car. But the choice is yours.