Spanish car maker SEAT has been carefully building its value-for-money fun image for years but what it lacked was a star, writes David Duffy.

The new Leon could be just the sparky mid-range performer it needs to ignite sales. Since Volkswagen took the Iberian marque under its wing, the range, quality and flair of the models available has been steadily increasing.

With the five-door Leon, SEAT is set to take a major bite out of the mid-market, which is dominated by strong contenders, including the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.

Slotting in below the four-door Toledo and above the Cordoba Vario, SEAT expects to sell about 4,200 Leons in the UK this year.

The test car, the 20V T Sport, is a sparkler, combining the practicality of five doors, a superbly refined level of equipment which includes electronic air conditioning and a six-speed manual gearbox and the performance of a 180 horsepower engine. Sitting on large 16-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels and skinny Michelin tyres, the car looks and feels different with a definite sporty air.

The chunky, three-spoke, leather-trimmed steering wheel adjusts both for rake and reach and both driver and front passenger seats are height-adjustable.

Smooth, swift and quiet on the move, the car handles with reassuring precision, without sacrificing long-distance comfort.

The interior looks and feels like the larger Toledo with sensible, well laid out controls and instruments back-lit in red.

A prominent single 'nostril' grille, narrow headlights and dark surrounds give racy looks to the front end while SE models and above bear small round fog lamps mounted low in the front spoiler.

A high waistline, which rises towards the rear of the car and wide, curvy rear pillars accentuate the sporting looks. I'm not quite so convinced by the car's rear end. SEAT describe it as 'pert'. Less kind folk might think it dumpy. A neat touch is the large boot-mounted chrome SEAT logo which doubles as the opening handle. The only small blot on the Leon's copybook was the cupholder, which refused point blank to emerge from the dashboard.

The 20V T Sport and flagship Cupra models can be spotted by their twin-chromed exhaust pipes, and larger alloy wheels, but anyone who still feels the car is too discrete can opt for dazzling Ovni Yellow paintwork, which is only available for the Sport and flagship Cupra models.

Unseen benefits for the range-topping versions include an electronic system that delivers traction control and the Cupra also uses an electronic stability programme which attempts, within reason, to keep the car pointing the way the driver intended whatever the road conditions.

The Leon range starts at less than 11,000 with a choice of six engines across the nine-model range.

Every model is well equipped with anti-lock brakes and four airbags fitted as standard. They also have three three-point rear seat belts with individual headrests and Isofix child-seat mounting points, which allow child seats fitted with the mounts to be securely fixed in place, removing the potential danger from not strapping a seat in place. Every Leon, except the S models, has sports suspension which lowers the car by about 15mm.

All Leon models have a galvanised body with a 12-year anti-perforation, three-year unlimited mileage mechanical and three-year paintwork guarantee.

A high performance, four-wheel-drive version, called the Leon 20V T4, is planned for the UK but no date has yet been set for its introduction.

AUTO FACTS

SEAT Leon 1.8 20V T Sport

PRICE: 15,995 on the road

INSURANCE GROUP: 16

LUGGAGE SPACE: 12 cu ft

DIMENSIONS:

Length 165in

Width 68.5in

FUEL CONSUMPTION:

Urban: 23.5mpg

Extra Urban: 42.8mpg

Combined: 32.8mpg

TOP SPEED: 142mph

FUEL TANK: 12.1 gallons

COMFORT: Excellent