Our Fleet Test Drive: Seat Leon X-perience: 3rd report

Under our Seat Leon X-perience’s sculpted and flared, jacked-up exterior, lurk some quirky Latin elements that manifested themselves as we become more familiar with the Spanish wagon.

Firstly, and initially frustratingly, attempts at using postcodes in the otherwise intuitive satnav system were met with the blunt, off-putting black and white screen message: “No street data available for this location.”

Thankfully, the device does not involve a threatened postcode lottery, and if you ignore the incorrectwarning by pressing the start guidance pad it directs you in an effective, streetwise manner to the keyed-in destination anyway.

Secondly, our ST X-perience comes with a standard, space-saver, spare wheel – that’s below the 1470-litre maximum capacity, split-level boot – specified in the context of potential all-wheel drive, off-roading.

However, the optional (£255) 135W Seat Sound System’s integral subwoofer is embedded in the spare’s mounting assembly. Should things go flat, it can allegedly be detached with minimal hassle, although you can request a mousse inflation kit too.

Curiously, over the opening 631 miles of logging fuel consumption, the 184hp diesel, with six-speed DSG automatic transmission, has, on both refills, returned identical 43.7mpg figures. That is a reasonable 24% below the official combined 57.6mpg tally.