The premature release of the first set of photos of the new Leon ST has been followed up now by an official announcement from the VW Group’s Spanish subsidiary in which the brand shows and tells its compact station wagon model.
You can take a look at the gallery below and judge for yourself whether Seat has done a nice job in converting the Leon into an estate (for the record, we find it elegant in an Audi kind of way), so we’ll concentrate on the information provided by the Spanish carmaker beginning with its overall length of 4.54 meters (178.74 inches), which equals to a 277mm (10.9 inches) increase in length over the five-door hatch.
Since the two models share the same wheelbase of 2,636mm (103.8 inches), the extra metal has been added to the rear overhang to improve the load space that stands 587 liters with the rear seats in position and up to 1,470 liters when folded down. That’s slightly less than what the more serious looking and a little bit longer at 4,562mm (179.6 inches) VW Golf Variant Mk7 (2015 Jetta SportWagen) offers (605 and 1,620 liters respectively). The two models utilize the same VW Group MQB platform.
According to Seat, in the base version, the Leon ST weighs in at 1,233 kilograms (2,718 lbs), making it 45 kilograms (99 pounds) heavier than the five-door Leon. The ST comes equipped with easy fold down rear seats as well as a front passenger seat that can be folded over to accommodate longer items, and a double floor in the boot.
Naturally, the engine lineup is largely similar to that of the Leon five-door and and Leon SC three-door hatchbacks. Available petrol units include the 1.2-liter TSI in two flavors with 85hp (86PS) and 104hp (105PS), a 1.4-liter TSI again in two states of tune delivering 120hp (122PS) and 138hp (140PS) respectively, and a 1.8-liter TFSI with 178hp (180PS) for the sporty FR model.
Diesel options include an 89hp (90PS) 1.6-liter TDI, and a 2.0-liter TDI in two versions producing 148hp (150PS) and 181hp (184PS).
The new Leon ST will make its public premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall.
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