What_Car_UK_-_August_2020

whatcar.com August 2020 59

Ford Focus vs Seat Leon vs Volkswagen Golf

Golf–whichistraditionallyacut

aboveitsmainstreampeersin

thisrespect.Youfeelasurprising

amountofbuzzthroughits

pedalsandtheenginesounds

coarsewhenit’srevvedhard.

Plus,whenyouliftoffthe

acceleratorandtwo-cylinder

modeautomaticallykicksin–to

savefuel–itsoundsasthougha

Chinookhelicopterishovering

somewhereinthedistance.

ThishappensintheLeontoo,

butit’slessobvious,andthe

engineissmootherandquieter

therestofthetime.Whetherthis

isduetothepowerdifferenceor

becauseSeat’sengineershavedone

abetterjobofisolatingtheengine

fromtheinterior,wewon’tbeable

tosayuntilwe’vesampledmore

variantsofbothcars.

Inotherrespects,theLeonisn’t

particularlyhushed.There’sa

constantdronefromthetyreson

themotorwayandyoucanhear

thewindwhooshingoverthe

windscreen.Itisn’texactlyrowdy,

butifyoulikeaquietlifeoryou’ve

gotalongmotorwayjourney

aheadofyou,you’llappreciatethe

Golf’sbettercruisingmanners.

Overall,though,theFocusisthe

mosthushedat70mph,mainly

duetothefactthatverylittleroad

noisereachesyourears.Italso

hasthequietestengine,despite

theoffbeatthree-cylinderthrum

itpipesout.However,theFocus

hasaslightlyrubberygearshift

(theLeon’sismostsatisfying)

andanoverlysharpbrakepedal.

Bycontrast,theLeon’sbrakesare

ratherspongy,withthefirstinch

orsoofpedaltraveldoingnothing

toslowthecar.TheGolf’s?Well,

that’sjustaboutperfectlyjudged.

Brakesaside,theLeonisa

joyfulthingtodrive.Itchanges

directioneagerly,gripshardand

staysneatlybalancedthroughfast

corners,neverfeelingunrulyor

unpredictable.Infact,itbetters

eventheFocus,thehithertoclass

benchmarkfordrivingfun.Yes,

theFocusisalittlemoreplayful

whenpushedtoitslimits,but

itssteeringfeelsunnaturally

weighted,beingtookeentoreturn

tocentreinyourhands.

SwitchtotheGolffromthe

Leonandit’sobviousthatthey’re

closelyrelated,inpartbecause

theirsteeringrespondsatthe

samespeed.Beyondthat,though,

therearesomebigdifferences.

Withoutthesportssuspension

that’sfittedtoFRversionsofthe

Leon,theGolfleansmorethrough

corners–themostofallthreecars,

infact–andistheleastcomposed

whenaskedtochangedirection

quickly.Unlessdrivingthrillsare

highonyourlistofpriorities,

though,youreallywon’tcomplain.

Andinanycase,surelyit’sthe

‘Very little road noise reaches your

ears at motorway speeds in the Focus’

‘The Leon has a quieter engine than the

Golf, but in other respects it isn’t as hushed’

‘This Golf isn’t quite as brilliant at

smothering bumps as its predecessor’

BEST

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