It isn’t an obvious choice but SEAT’s Altea FR 20 FSI is a mini-MPV that barely puts a foot wrong, says ANDY ENRIGHT in his new car review

SEAT is a tough company to second guess. Just when you think you understand what the Spanish firm is all about, it seems to divert off on a perplexing tangent.

Just as they were building a reputation for marketing quick, dynamic hatches and saloons, SEAT’s management decided to pursue a design direction that left many people scratching their heads. Some of their wares haven’t really worked. Here’s one that does - the Altea FR 2.0TFSI.

That clumsy blur of letters and numbers at the end of the car’s name speaks volumes if you take the time to tease out the meaning in the code.

The Ibiza and the first generation Leon established the FR (Formula Racing) brand, although the Altea was the first of what SEAT dub the ‘new generation’ models to wear the badge.

The changes to the exterior are subtle but effective. A restyled front bumper houses a full-width air intake and a honeycomb grille. The titanium-coloured door mirrors are becoming an FR trademark, as is the red badging.

At the back, there’s another redesigned bumper assembly, this time with black diffuser styling. A pair of chromed tailpipes and five-spoke 17in alloy wheels round off the visual enhancements.

The interior has been given a ‘sporting’ makeover too, with a three-spoke FR-branded steering wheel and more deeply bolstered seats being the main changes.

Look a little closer and you’ll also spot a grey and black dashboard colour combination, an FR logo on the gear knob and white instrument dials with a centrally-located rev counter.

The 2.0TFSI designator indicates that this car is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that uses Volkswagen’s proprietary, and fiendishly clever, FSI fuel stratified injection system.

This powerplant can also be found in the Volkswagen Golf GTi and various Audi models so it comes with a good pedigree and manages a healthy 197bhp.

Mate a turbocharger to a petrol engine and you’ll traditionally experience peaky performance and a narrow power band but the 2.0TFSI is different.

It’s quite hard to establish that there’s a turbocharger in operation at all from your seat behind the wheel as the Leon pulls smoothly and purposefully through the rev-range.

The engineers behind it have managed to give the powerplant a hefty torque output of 280Nm but, more significantly, this pulling power is available through a broad span of the rev-range from 1,750 to 5,000rpm.

The result is the kind of in-gear flexibility that is more often associated with diesel powerplants.

The standard gauge of automotive pace - 0-62mph acceleration - is suitably lively with this 197bhp Altea. The car will accomplish the feat in 7.3s before running on to a 142mph maximum speed.

Average fuel economy of 35.8mpg is about what you’d expect from a hatchback with this kind of performance, as is the 190g/km emissions figure.

FACTFILE

SEAT Altea FR 2.0TFSI

PRICE: £16,995 [est] - on the road

INSURANCE GROUP: 17

CO2 EMISSIONS: 190g/km

PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 142mph/0-60mph 7.3s

FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 35.8mpg