SEAT Leon 1.2 TSI SE - Comfort, Exterior, Safety And More Security

Our reigning Car of the Yeas is proving easy to live with, due to its superb smartphone integration

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying connected is more important than ever. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, I want to be able to keep in touch with people and events. And that’s one of the many reasons I love our SEAT Leon.

Thanks to its optional Technology Pack, the five-door can sync seamlessly with my mobile

Thanks to its optional Technology Pack, the five-door can sync seamlessly with my mobile. The set-up is brilliantly easy to use – not only was it simple to pair my phone the first time round, but now it automatically recognizes it every time I climb aboard. And when I reach my destination, a message pops up on the main screen reminding me to take my mobile with me. Neat.

This isn’t the only tech that’s impressed. For instance, the central touchscreen is a model of clarity and a joy to use. It’s taken car manufactures a while to catch up with smartphones in this area, but this set-up proves they are now bang up to date.

The SEAT system is shared with other VW Group cars, so has a sensor which detects movement from your hand hovering over the screen and automatically reveals the shortcut keys for the sat-nav and media functions.

The central touchscreen is a model of clarity and a joy to use

Better still, the graphics and fonts used are some of the best in the business, while the screen’s background id usefully color coded – blue for navigation, red for music and yellow for car settings. I especially like it in blue, as the sat-nav system is such a doddle to use. Like all the best systems it offers a full UK postcode search, which cuts the programming time down to a minimum. And if you don’t have the postcode, you can use the Points of Interest function, as I had to when I needed to find a hospital in Basildon, Essex.

Once on the move, sat-nav directions are displayed in the large LCD screen between the speedo and rev counter, so you barely have to take your eyes off the road. This also means the front passenger can access other functions on the main display without the map disappearing at a crucial junction.

It offers hundreds of digital radio stations

Then there’s the sparkling DAB stereo. It offers hundreds of digital radio stations, so my two daughters are never short of music choices. If I want to listen to something from my own music library, I can stream it wirelessly from my phone using Bluetooth or use one of the many cables to connect an iPhone or other music devices to the standard USB port. And if I want to go old school, I can access the glovebox-mounted CD player – interestingly there’s no slot in the dashboard head unit, which gives it the sleek look of t a top-grade hi-fi system.

SEAT Leon 1.2 TSI SE from the side

Of course, sometimes you just want to switch off the outside world and simply enjoy the drive – and our reigning Car of the Year proves its worth here, too. The effervescent 1.2-liter engine punches well above its weight and the agile handling encourages you to take the long way home. This car is such fun to drive, you can get carried away, miss loads of calls and end up with a full voicemail inbox by the time you reach your destination.