Diesel Powered Vehicle of the Week: Seat Sport TDi Leon

The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) was just one of many venues where automakers have touted their prowess. The first was held in 1985 in conjunction with the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Successful racing events bring together drivers, venues, organizers, sponsors and media. From 1985 there have been several iterations of the WTCC and ETCC, bringing much gratification to racing fans everywhere.

In 2007 and 2008 the Spanish automaker stunned the racing world by fielding 280-horsepower 2.0-liter diesel race cars. The Seat Sport TDi Leon created such a ruckus in racing that all the other manufacturers cried "Unfair!"

See the Car Buzz story for more. (Link at end of this post)

Seat had found a loophole in the rules and exploited it. They saw that with no limit on turbo pressure, the diesel cars could bear down and take advantage of the extra torque while accelerating out of corners. As a result, the Seat Leon took two championships in a row before the rules were changed. Afterwards, diesel-powered cars were limited to 1.6 turbocharged 4-cylinder engines making around 380 bhp.

León means Lion in Spanish. Introduced in 1998, the Seat León--a hatchback compact--is named after the city of León. Seat itself is owned by Volkswagen so the engineering meets the usual VW standards of excellence. The Seat has a spacious, well-designed interior as well. It has a sporty feel on the road and is not your usual "Box" car effort.

In Scotland the 170 hp 2.0 TDi León FR was named the "Diesel Car of the Year 2006." The car won many other awards as well.

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Related Links
For more about the Seat Leon, check out the following links:

https://www.netcarshow.com/seat/2006-leon_wtcc/

https://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/cartestreports/2005074.html

Article source: The Car Buzz feature Crazy Diesel-Powered Cars