IT is sporty looks all round for SEAT's new Leon five-door hatch with the coup appearance.

The new Leon's face is recognisable as a SEAT by its headlamps, strong bonnet lines and grille, with its central logo.

From the side, the car's dynamic line can be seen sloping downwards from the front wheel arch, over the door to the rear wheel. Incidentally, if you are wondering about five-doors when only two door handles can be clearly seen in the photograph, the back door releases are hidden in the door frame.

Another distinctive feature is the positioning of the windscreen wipers, which sit vertically at rest and sweep with a butterfly pattern, although unlike the Altea, they are fully visible and not hidden by the windscreen pillars.

The new car is slightly larger than the outgoing model, it has grown in length by 132mm to 4315mm, and width by 26mm to 1768mm. The wheelbase is longer by 65mm, taking it to 2578mm, which altogether means more room for passengers and luggage. Boot space is 341-litres.

At launch (the UK date has still to be announced) there will be a range of four engines available, two diesel, two petrol. The petrol units are 1.6-litre 102PS and 2.0-litre FSI producing 150PS, while diesel fans can choose either the 1.9-litre 105PS turbo injected or 2.0-litre 140PS turbo injection. The gearboxes will be a standard five-speed manual with the 1.6-litre and 1.9-litre models, while both 2.0-litre engines will have a six-speed manual box as standard, but the option of an automatic with sequential (clutchless) Tiptronic with the FSI model or the direct shift gearbox with the 2.0-litre diesel.

The car sits on a company-developed "agile chassis", that is the independent front suspension with MacPherson struts is mounted on a new aluminium sub-chassis. The rear suspension is fully independent and uses a four-arm multi-link axle.

There is power steering with ventilated disc brakes at the front and solid discs at the back. Other safety measures include anti-lock brakes, traction control and electronic stability control.

Passengers are also protected by front, side and curtain airbags, with rear side airbags as an option.

Dealer: Wills & Ellis, Poppleton Garage, Boroughbridge Road, York (phone 01904 792651).

Updated: 11:37 Friday, April 29, 2005