Other cars 2.2 i-CDTi Type S VS 2.0 TDI (170bhp) Seat Leon FR

[herdie]

Hello
My first post so here goes.

In a bit of a dilemma, I have the option of a lease car through work, I want something economical, practical but sporty. I have narrowed my choice down to the 2.2i-CDTi Civic Type S and the 2.0 TDI Seat Leon FR.

I understand that asking this question on this website may be a little crazy!!

The Civic I would choose would be 2.2i-CDTi Type S, with extras being Night Hawk Black paint, spotlights and I would want the front, rear and side skirt all body coloured – I’m sure the guy at my Honda dealer this was around £600, is this true?
I understand that the lights come as stand on GT models, but I don’t think I can afford the GT addition and the body coloured skirting!

The Seat Leon would be standard.

At the end of the day both seem to land around the £18,500 mark.

Things I am unsure about…
-What Car Magazine talks about a ‘jiggly’ ride at low speeds and a lot of reviewers mention rattles in the cabin, I must admit rattle are a pet hate of mine and would drive me mad – what are your experiences with these rattles?

-The Leon has a more powerful engine (2.0 lite 170bhp vs 2.2 litre140bhp) on paper there isn’t much in it, 0-60 times are around 0.3secs difference and top speeds around 8mph difference. – does this make a big difference in the real world?

I am waiting for quotes to come back for both at the moment, should have them in a week or so but I just wanted your guy’s opinion, being owners and all

Cheers

[DuncanP]

I had the same choice to make. Having driven both - there was no contest. The Leon is a nice car, but the suspension lacks is very hard and tiring, and the interior is not up to the civic at all. Engine wise the Leon has a narrower power band and is quite coarse. The Civic engine is simply a revelation - smooth as silk and with a far wider power band than most other diesels. Yep - I had to sort out a couple of rattles on my Civic - thanks to this website for the solutions!! Have a drive of both - see what I mean..........

[Koen]

Same here, I've driven both, and the Civic is a more pleasant ride all together. The Leon is maybe a bit more sporty, steering is more direct (but a bit overpowered too) and the suspension is definately harder.
Engine-wise the Honda 2.2 CTDi has only one competitor, and that's the BMW 2.0. VAG-diesels (Seat) are way to "peeky" IMO, even the 2.7 and 3.0. The Honda 2.2 is smoother, has a wider powerband and is not as noisy. All this makes the ride in the Seat seem faster, but I doubt there really is much of a difference.
As for the interior and trim, I think that you have to like the spaceship-approach in the Civic, but most people do, apparently. Build quality is in some areas susceptible to improvements, but overall it's ok and lines up with the competition. Personally I have never had any rattles or so, but others do. Can be a flaw in the production process, but there's nothing that can't be fixed, I think.
A lot depends on your personal taste of course. I personaly think the Seat is a bit overpriced, misses a lot of the gimmicks that are standard on a (pricewise) comparable Civic. The Seat has the better figures however. But for the price-difference you can have the Civic reprogrammed to 180-190 BHP, while your insurance is 140BHP.
I think you just have to test drive both, after gathering some info here.
Best of luck!

K.

[Minkster]

I ruled out a Seat Leon early on because I simply wasn't overstruck with the styling. Outside it semeed bit 'tall' visually and inside was a real letdown. Really disliked the dash and everything seemed very drab. For that reason, I never test-drove one.

What I can say however is that the ride in my Type-S is fine. I wouldn't even say its particularly jiggly to be honest. Just very comfortable - although the car I test-drove had larger wheels with very low profile tyres and the ride and noise in the cabin suffered as a result. My standard one is no problem.

No major rattles and squeaks that drive me crazy either. Occasionally *something* may make a noise but it resolves and I put it down to a seatbelt catch knocking against something or other mundane reasons. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary in that regard.

So yes, we are biased but I'd go for the Honda

[mrh339]

My wife and i also looked at the Leon although we were looking at the 2.0 petrol model, we found that the interior build quality was awful and dated compared to the Civic, I even said to the wife that the Leon dash felt like an airfix kit.So we ended up with a Civic and are very happy indeed.

[cb550]

Just swapped over to a type S diesel from my ES diesel.I was very happy with the (06) ES,obviously or I would'nt have stayed with Honda if that was'nt the case.

My ES did have the occasional cabin/roof 'squeak' over rough roads,which I put down to the glass roof combined with the 5 door body.It was'nt an issue and important to realise that is not necessarly the norm with that combination.

The Type S I've got is a revelation.The cabin/ride feels feels 'taught' and insulated from the road.The suspension is reasonably firm but definitely not uncomfortable.

As for the performance, having prevously owned Alfa's(147 mjet and 159 2.4 with 200 bhp),this car beats both of them.Test drive the Type S and form your own opinion-I don't think you're going to be dissapointed

[Brodick]

asking people their opinions is all fine and dandy but you need to make time and Go and testdrive them both

[Korkut Varol]

Did you post the same question on a Seat Leon forum; and if yes, what answers did you get?

[herdie]

Originally Posted by Brodick

asking people their opinions is all fine and dandy but you need to make time and Go and testdrive them both

Indeed, I intend too.

[Cap]

Its a Seat... Cant compare it to a Honda qualitywise And 170bhp from a 2.0 diesel sounds a bit overkill, so something has to be lacking somwhere... Havent tested the Seat, but the Civic 2.2 impressed me for a diesel. Potensial is alot bigger aswell beeing a 2.2...
But as the guys say, test drive them both....

[br1tt3n]

I recently test drove a Seat Cupra TDI (just to see the GT's competition) and was fairly impressed. Seat build quality has caught up remarkably, and the PD TDI engine was very punchy. Lack of toys and the badge struggles to entice the buyer though