SEAT Altea XL Road Test

SEAT ALtea

The test car was the 1.6-litre Reference, costing £12,995. Prices rise to £18,045 for the top-of-the-range Stylance 2.0TDI PD with Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). In between, the petrol choices are a 1.8 TFSI and a 2.0 FSI with Tiptronic, while the diesels range from a 1.9 and a 2.0 TDI PD. The latter comes with either a 6-speed manual gearbox or the clever DSG, automatic transmission.

The four-cylinder, 1.6 petrol unit produces 102PS at 5,600rpm (that’s just over 100bhp in old money) and 148Nm (109lb ft) of pulling power at 3,800rpm. Because the aluminium engine block weighs in at only 16.5kg and internal friction has been reduced, the fuel consumption is reasonable. Careful drivers can hope to get somewhere near the official figures of 26.9, 46.3 and 36.7mpg for the urban, extra-urban and combined respectively. CO2 emissions are 187g/km putting the test car in VED band F, which is £190 per annum.

If you’re looking even more frugality, however, the 1.9TDI PD is the car for you. With similar power output and over 100Nm more torque than the 1.6, the fuel consumption figures are posted as 40.9, a massive 62.8mpg for the extra-urban and the combined is 52.3mpg. Both the 1.6 and the 1.9 TDI come with 5-speed manual transmissions.

Whereas it takes the test car 13 seconds to reach 62mph from standstill and can achieve a top speed of 112mph. The 1.9 takes 12.3 seconds to do the sprint and has a maximum speed of 114mph. You will have to pay £2,000 more for the diesel but remember that the price includes the Stylance specification.

The car feels quicker than the 13-second dash would suggest and is in fact very willing as long as you don’t stray too far from the torque band and the XL has quite a low centre of gravity, which helps with stability. There is very little body-roll when driving the bendy bits con gusto and the car feels taut, as you’d expect from SEAT, who has the knack of making even their lesser cars feel sporty.

In choosing the Reference, buyers may have to forgo some niceties but safety isn’t one of them. All Altea XL's have ABS and a switchable Traction Control System (TCS) however; ESP including EBA is a £305 option. Six airbags (front, side and curtain) are standard across the range. In the event of an accident, the crumple zones will do their bit and if it is a frontal impact, the brake and clutch pedals move away from the driver’s feet and the steering wheel is collapsible. The Altea XL scored 5-stars for occupant safety, 4-stars for child protection and 3-stars for pedestrian protection.

All in all, I found the SEAT Altea XL to be a good all-rounder. It is competent and capable I just would like to have seen more entertainment options for the kids.

Seat Altea XL