Prior to the introduction of a still quicker Cupra version in 2007, this is the second hottest León there is. The FR in its title stands for Formula Racing, which correctly suggests and advanced if not ultimate level of performance. There are two FRs, and the other one uses the 198bhp 2.0 T-FSI turbo petrol engine which is becoming increasingly common among Volkswagen Group products.That car is expected to sell in smaller numbers than this one, though, and it's not difficult to see why. Apart from the ever-increasing popularity of turbo diesels, the 168bhp TDI FR is only slightly more expensive - a £500 premium, low for the industry - and should be substantially cheaper to run since it uses far less fuel and is two insurance groups further down the scale.It's also not a great deal slower. The bald figures show a 7mph shortfall in maximum speed and a 0-62mph time inferior to the tune of 0.9 seconds, but what those numbers don't reveal (as they never do or can) is the TDI's vastly superior reaction to the accelerator pedal once it's actually up and running.In acceleration away from tight corners more than any other situation, the TDI is a charmer, and as with most really strong turbo diesels it's fun to see just how low an engine speed you can get away with. The thing can be overdone, of course: 1000rpm is just taking the mickey, but by 1500rpm useful work is going on, and at anything from 2000rpm upwards serious performance is available whenever you want it.The FR looks much more aggressive than the already stand-out models elsewhere in the León range, thanks to three massive air intakes in the front bumper and rear-end treatment which recalls the Supercopa race cars. The actual body shape isn't affected, of course, so visibility - particularly past the badly-placed rear view mirror and the huge C pillars whose small triangular windows are not nearly as helpful as they might be - is just as bad as it is in all the other models.All SEAT FR models these days have the same, rather peculiarly-styled gearknob which I know has inspired derision in other commentators but which feels comfortable enough to me. Similarly, I seem to be on my own in liking the rest of the interior, particularly the action of the steering, gearchange and pedals - none of these are as communicative as they might be, but I still like the way they feel.The position is reversed in other matters. I have listened and read open-mouthed as other journalists have praised the León for its excellent road behaviour. That applied to the 2.0 TDI Sport I drove some time ago and it applies here too. As with the Sport, this is not a universal opinion, but it's one I hold very strongly.To start with the good news, the TDI FR's straightline urge is matched by high levels of grip, as I found during a session at the Prodrive test track in Warwickshire. Both round the perimeter track - interrupted by second-gear chicanes through which the León could be hustled nicely - and through the twists and turns of the much tighter handling course, there was no doubt about it: the TDI really digs into the road, and resists all but the most determined efforts to create tyre-squealing understeer.(A brief piece of trivia about tyre squeal. The TDI FR uses Bridgestone rubber, while the petrol version uses Pirellis. From the outside it's clear that the Pirellis squeal a lot more readily than the Bridgestones do. I didn't take a petrol FR on the handling course, but I'm assured that it grips just as well, despite audio evidence to the contrary.)Prodrive could have turned its venue into something like a race circuit, but it deliberately didn't. The result is that there are a lot more bumps and rough patches than you might expect. Although these can unsettle the León a little, you can still drive the car flat-out over them quite happily. Unfortunately, this gives no guide as to how the car is going to behave on public roads.My first road experience of the TDI FR came after a medium-sized lunch, and I regretted that very quickly. The car was monumentally uncomfortable over the back roads round the Prodrive facility, and if you're thinking that making a judgement on that basis alone would be ridiculously unfair, well, so did I at the time.But since then I've taken the TDI FR through towns and along dual-carriageways and across several other very different types of tarmac, and I have not found any surface over which its ride is remotely acceptable.I just don't follow SEAT's thinking on suspension set-up. There are too many instances of cars whose chassis behave in a downright perverse manner. That of the León TDI FR, specifically, can be both too stomach-squirtingly soft and too crunchingly hard depending on circumstances, and on many roads those circumstances change several times a second, leading to a rapid-cycle wallow-thump-wallow-thump ride that makes you want to avoid driving it at all, never mind driving it with any degree of enthusiasm.As I say, other people don't seem to mind, but personally I can't take the car seriously because of this. It would take a lot to make me forgive the León's visibility problems, and the road-behaviour issue just makes things worse. Despite the good points which it undoubtedly has, the TDI FR is in its current form a long way from being a car I would consider buying for myself.If one were forced on me, I would take it out on trackdays and have a lot of relatively safe fun with it, but I'd probably take it to and from the circuits on a trailer to avoid having to suffer any road miles. My sincere hope is that SEAT will get things right with the Cupra, and then transfer that rightness to the FR and make it the car it should have been in the first place. Engine 1968 cc, 4 cylinders Power 170bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 47.1mpg / 161g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.3sec Top speed 135 mph Price From £18036.00 approx Release date 25/06/2006
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