Photo-Scoop: 2008 Seat Toledo

The Spanish edition of Car & Driver Magazine gives it's interpretation to as how the next generation of Seat's totally unsuccessful Toledo model should look like. The photoshop unveils a sporty sedan based on the Leon platform which looks rather nice with it's Cordoba / Alfa 156 rear end.

In my opinion this is the road that Seat should have followed from the beginning. Seat was supposed to be the sportiest brand among the marks in the VW group. Leaving aside the fact that it doesn't know if it's a hatchback, a sedan or a MPV, today's Toledo (picture on the left) is no where close to being characterized as a sporty model. The only characterization I can give it, is of being a Spanish interpretation of Renault's humpback styled Vel-Satis model (picture on the right).

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Xtra-ugLy: The 2007 Seat Altea XL

Oh my God!- And I thought things couldn't get any worse! After the atrocious Toledo - an Altea MPV with a boot, Seat presented this monstrocity: The Altea XL, something like a Spanish version of a Pontiac Aztec MPV...

Anyway, just for the record, the SEAT Altea XL measures 18.7 centimetres longer than the Altea. Consequently, the 409 litre capacity of the Altea's boot has increased to 532 litres in the Altea XL, while sliding the rear seats forwards by 14 centimetres expands the boot's volume further to 635 litres.

Compared to the Altea, the rear seats in the Altea XL can be moved back by an extra two centimetres, meaning additional legroom for passengers travelling in the rear. The fore-aft adjustment range of the rear seats has therefore been extended to 16 cm in the new XL.

The Altea XL will be launched with a choice of two petrol models -the 102 hp 1.6 and the 2.0 FSI developing 150 hp (only available with the six-speed Tiptronic gearshift) --and three diesel engines: the 1.9 TDI with 105 hp, the 140 hp 2.0 TDI (with the 6speed DSG gearshift as an option) as well as the 170 hp 2.0 TDI. These engines can be combined with three different trim lines: Reference, Stylance and Sport-Up.

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