At this point in the year and if the coronavirus crisis had not broken out, we would have already told how the new Seat Leon is doing. But the pandemic took away all kinds of physical presentation. To compensate and while this new normality arrives, the brands have switched to virtual presentations. Like the one that Seat organized with Joan Roig, responsible for the Leon's chassis, to tell us how they have managed to make the compact have that 'spicy' that is a basic ingredient in most of its models.
Before entering the matter, we remember that the Leon (the best-selling car in the brand and in Spain) has just released the fourth generation, now only available with five doors or as a family (Sportstourer) and is slightly longer, narrow and low . It measures 4.37 meters long (27 cm plus the familiar that wins them in the overhang), 1.80 m wide and 1.46 high. One of its great advances is in digitization and connectivity while in the mechanical part, apart from the known gasoline, diesel and CNG versions, it debuts variants with light hybridization (ECO label) and a 'plug-in' with 204 CV and 60 km of electric autonomy (with ZERO label).
Here we tell you some of the strategies that the brand has followed at the chassis level to give the León its own touch. Because, not to be forgotten, it shares the MQB Evo modular platform with the new VW Golf, Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia. It is an improved base compared to the previous one and that, among other benefits, allow the arrival of electrified variants.
Measures that give it greater stability
With a battle (wheelbase) of 2.68 cm, the compact of the Spanish brand is five cm longer than a Golf in this regard. It is also 1 cm wider thanks to the throat of the rims (the axles are the same). "All this gives the car greater longitudinal and braking stability," says Roig. In addition, many elements have been adapted to give it its own personality. "The bearings are the same, it would not make sense to change them because no customer was going to value it," he continues, but if new silentbloks have been introduced and the rigidity of the springs and stabilizers has been adjusted.
More powerful and resistant brakes have also been mounted, with 288mm x 25mm front discs, without the brand pronouncing on how much stopping distances have been reduced although if they heat up less and improve their touch. In this regard, the big improvement is the iBooster electric brake booster developed by Bosch. It does the same as a conventional one (multiply the braking action performed by the driver), but with a large number of advantages: it takes up less space, it is faster, it can dispense with many pipes in the hydraulic circuit, it can be tared with great precision to give one or another answer and add extra functions. For example, the calipers can be further apart (less friction) and, when it rains and the discs are wet, it performs almost imperceptible small braking to dry them. Finally, it helps to recover the energy lost in braking and decelerating.
Up to 14 settings for suspension
The new Leon has a 15% stiffer body and with different suspension options. The front is always independent McPherson, the rear depends: for engines of up to 150 horsepower, it is satisfied with a torsion arm, for those that exceed that threshold, there is a more sophisticated and effective MultiLink with five arms. In addition, in the sportier (FR) finish, it is 15mm lower and also with harder adjustments, which translates into greater sportiness, more stability (low center of gravity) and also improves aerodynamics. The Sportstourer family version has specific settings behind, given the greater overhang and the greater load it will support in that area.
As it is increasingly common, we have a driving mode selector and Eco, Normal and Sport programs . Steering adjustment, throttle, shifting (if automatic) and suspension hardness vary if driven by the DCC chassis dynamic adjustment system. So, thanks to the electronics, the driver can choose between 14 different settings (for the three from before) from softer to harder. It is a 'gadget' that to take advantage of it you have to be almost a racing driver, but hey, there it is. Being adaptive, if we have selected a too soft mode and we are practicing a very sporty driving, the damping adapts itself to the new scenario.
The DCC also has different hardnesses associated with the preconfigured programs, but Roig acknowledged that the adjustment in Sport is smoothed out after a while since, if it remained fixed, it would be too uncomfortable for many customers.
As for rolling trains, the tires range from 16 to 18 inches and, for efficiency, they are originally mounted covered with label B instead of C. That is, more efficient (CO2 emissions are the Damocles sword), although less performance. "Its performance has improved a lot in the last five years but for those who want it, we optionally also offer C wheels."
Offset the weight in the 'plug in'
The first thing that Roig needs when addressing the electrification of the Leon is that the MQB Evo platform has nothing to do with the MEB developed specifically by the VW Group for its 100% electric cars. In the latter, "the weight and dimensions of the batteries are decisive, forcing the engine to be carried to the rear , otherwise the vehicle would be completely unbalanced."
That particularity, although to a lesser extent, also occurs with the Leon PHEV (plug-in hybrid), since the electric train and the battery (which add up to an extra 200 kilos) must be redistributed and given greater vertical rigidity (hardened springs and shock absorbers) so that the dynamics suffer as little as possible. Also, the rear axle is the MultiLink multi-link.
Capacitive flywheel
It would be, Roig explains, as if this element had a second skin blanket capable of detecting, on 100% of its surface, that the motorist has his hands or fingers on the rim. In other words, driving has not been neglected. And this for what? The issue has to do with the systems that keep the car in the lane. When they are activated, if after a few seconds they detect that we do not have our hands on the wheel, they are required by law to warn us to do so before deactivating. And the VW Group cars, no matter the brand, are too sensitive, or myopic, or cautious, warning many times when they shouldn't. These systems normally work by recognizing the force (or torque) we make on the steering, but they can be fooled, for example, on an uneven road. This capacity is maintained even in heated steering wheels and works smoothly even when wearing gloves.
Predictive automatic driving
In-lane maintenance is one of the advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), which can be very numerous. Thus, we must also mention the devices that read signals, detect driver fatigue, brake if the driver does not, avoid a collision or collision and warn us of vehicles in the blind spot. Almost all versions of the new model will come with adaptive cruise control that maintains speed and a preset distance with the car in front. Together with lane maintenance, they make the Leon a car with autonomy level 2 and, as an option (it will cost 250 euros), a predictive function can be added that - through cameras, radar and GPS mapping - adapts the speed to the state of the traffic and the layout of the road.
It also has the Emergency Assist function , which was released for a long time by the VW Passat and that, if it understands that the driver is not acting and is not reacting to its warnings, it turns on the emergency flashers, gradually reducing the speed of the car and stopping it from safest way possible. It then sends a notice to the services through the e-call system (required). When added to the lane-keeping ACC, functionality is added that allows the car to move forward and back into its lane by simply signaling it through the turn signals, the Leon will go to autonomy level 3. Something that is not planned in the short or medium term.
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