Seat Exeo 2.0 TDI 143 CV, road test (part III)

Despite being a modern saloon, adapted to today’s market (and to its competition), the level of protection it offers its occupants is not entirely adequate for a saloon at this price. It is true that its rivals in terms of equipment and segment are high-end models, but not so much in price, since we can buy a Seat Exeo for less than 30,000 euros.

Everything is still speculation, since the Exeo has not been through EuroNCAP’s crash-test programme, but everything suggests that it will not achieve the highly prized 5 stars, considering that its predecessor, the Audi A4, obtained 4 stars. Of its direct rivals we have only tested the Mondeo (5 stars) and apparently it does not match that rating. We will have to wait for official results.

Safety equipment

As standard it comes with seven airbags: two front, two side, two curtain and one knee airbag for the driver, plus ISOFIX mounting points (see detail) and active front headrests. This is now standard equipment on most models, so it does not particularly stand out, although you have to pay an extra (198 euros) for the rear airbags.

What deserves praise is that, despite a 500-euro price reduction across all versions, ABS, traction control and ESP with emergency braking assistance are all fitted as standard. The hill-start assistant, along with other less important but common features on rival brands, is not offered even as an extra on any version, which I do not understand if it wants to compete with high-end saloons. A significant shortcoming is the absence of blind-spot warning in the exterior mirrors (see detail), which, although large, will never cover as much as those with a slightly curved outer section.

As options it offers the Servotronic Plus steering (standard on the more powerful diesel and petrol models and not available on the 102 hp petrol) for 198 euros, and the bi-xenon directional headlight and daytime running light package for 939 euros.

Base equipment

As with practically all its competitors, many options can be fitted, although some essential ones are missing, such as a CD changer, which is not possible. It has a DVD-ROM drive for the maps and two SD memory card slots (optional at 2,423 euros on the Style and 2,225 euros on the Sport diesel together with the navigation system), and an optional connection for iPod and USB (197 euros each), but the traditional CD, if you want to listen to it, is incompatible with use of the navigation system. You have to remove the map disc to insert the CD.

There are three equipment levels: Reference, Style and Sport, the first being the most basic and available only with the 102 and 150 hp petrol engines and the 143 hp TDI. The middle level, the one fitted to our test car, is available with all five engines (three petrol at 102, 150 and 200 hp and two diesel at 143 and 170 hp), and the most advanced level is available with all except the 102 hp petrol.

Something that is appreciated, especially in summer, is the refrigerated glovebox, standard on the Style trim, optional (74 euros) on Sport and not available on Reference. The storage pack (198 euros) is also very useful, given the scarce storage compartments it includes: drawers under the front seats and hooks, nets and ski-carrier fittings in the boot.

Consumption and price

I have always found that the VAG group’s diesel engine consumes rather little compared with other models, whether from Audi, VW or Seat. They are very economical engines and powerful at low revs, but not very willing to rev, yet they are very well engineered when it comes to consumption. The ecomotive from Seat and the Bluemotion from VW are exceptionally economical.

We subjected our test unit to the same conditions as on other occasions. Since it has cruise control, we tested with and without it, plus an extra test at a slightly high speed but without exceeding the safety margins of the speed limits. In this test, at an average of 143 km/h according to the on-board computer with cruise control, the engine drank 6.3 l/100 km. In the 125 km/h test, also with cruise control, it used 5.4 l/100 on average, and in manual mode, at the same average, consumption dropped by a tenth every 100 kilometres. Using sixth gear well helps considerably to lower the figure. The official extra-urban consumption is 4.3 l/100, which we could not reach, not even in sixth gear at 90 km/h. At this pace the computer showed 4.7 l/100, but after filling the tank and doing the relevant calculations it came out at 4.4 l/100 (too large a difference to dismiss as an error).

Considering the optional equipment of more than 7,000 euros above the base price and how well equipped it was, I do not think it is expensive to pay close to 35,000 euros for a saloon. It may surprise to say “a Seat for 35,000 euros“, but in reality it is barely less than an A4 for 35,000 euros. Obviously the item that adds the most cost in these cases is the navigation system, which is quite dispensable given the much cheaper and more manageable portable devices available today, although of course they will not be as well integrated into the dashboard.

Photos | Javi Vicente
More information | Engine and performance, interior and exterior space. Official price list