• Scores well for passenger space
• Boot space is good but not class leading
• Easy to park

How much space is there?

There’s plenty of space for four passengers. Foot space under the front seats for those sitting in the rear is particularly impressive, and the broad windows give a good view out.

All models come with storage pockets in the back of the front seats, while all four doors get large door bins that can accommodate tall bottles. This is needed because if you sit up front, the cupholder located on the centre console is close enough to the gear lever to obstruct you from changing gear in manual models.

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At least there’s a handy – and huge – cubby hole between the front seats, perfect for storing phones, wallets and bottles on the go.

Boot space and storage

Boot space measures in at 380 litres. It’s a long and flat space, making the most of the capacity – and it’s certainly more than capable of dealing with the weekly shop for a small family. The boot floor itself is quite low though, meaning you’ll have to lift and drop items over the hump.

The rear seats split and fold 60:40 for larger items. We successfully carried an office chair in the boot with ease, once we’d flopped the back rests down.

Plug-in hybrid versions have a smaller boot. You can blame the various electrical gubbins associated with the motor and battery for this. The boot loses 110 litres worth of space, meaning the SEAT Leon e-hybrid’s boot space is just 270 litres.

Is it easy to park?

The large door mirrors help when getting into a space and rear parking sensors come as standard. The view out is good thanks to front and rear pillars that aren’t too thick. Plus, the top of the dashboard is set quite low.

The windows are also big, with a waist line that isn’t high enough to make it difficult to judge where the alloys are. Bottom spec cars don’t come with a rear-view camera, which seems a bit stingy in this day and age.

Safety

• Five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP
• Wide range of driver assistance tech on offer
• Advanced Driver Assistance System as standard

The SEAT Leon is bristling with safety systems. Cruise control is standard but there’s also a predictive adaptive cruise control system, which uses mobile and satellite traffic data along with traffic-sign recognition to automatically set the car’s speed depending on the conditions ahead.

The advantage to the driver is that the car will assist in the steering and will potentially anticipate dangerous situations up ahead. It’s not a ‘hands-free’ system, though, and like all of these systems, there will be warnings from the car if the driver takes their hands off the steering wheel for more than 15 seconds.

Benefitting night-time driving, the Leon also comes with full LED headlights, while top models come with fully automatic and adaptive lighting. This is in addition to the usual suite of safety systems that includes Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) as part of SEAT’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and lane-keeping assist.

We found the lane-keep assist system annoying, always nibbling at the steering with warning lights and bongs sounding if you didn’t stay precisely in the middle of your lane. Make sure you test the system on your test drive.

There are also two Isofix points for the outer rear seats, making it easier to fit and remove child seats – handy for parents of young children.

Watch the SEAT Leon Euro NCAP crash test video