| Launch Report Seat Altea |
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First Of The New Kind
Previewed in several one-off concept cars, the Altea represents the well-trailed "new face" of Seat, which now occupies its own specific niche within the Audi brand group, alongside Audi itself and no less a Big Brother than Lamborghini. The Barcelona-based company hopes we won't lose sight of its more economy-minded models, but it wants to be considered a sporty make too - with some very brisk top-of-the-range cars and the British Touring Car Championship race programme to be taken into account - and it's promoting the Altea as the first of a new line of Multi Sports Vehicles. No, I couldn't write a one-sentence definition of the Altea as an MSV, either. But it's a very impressive piece of work, based on one of the new longer-wheelbase platforms which are transforming this general category of Volkswagen Group models. From the prominent Seat badge on the front grille, and the projector headlamp array, several sweeping style lines lead the eye to the rear of the car with its chopped-off hatchback tail. The styling is dumpier there, but that doesn't matter, because the great thing about the back half of the Altea is the amazing amount of passenger space in the rear cabin - head room, leg room, knee room, foot room - the lot. It's a brilliant packaging job.
Seat has provided plenty of stowage places all through the cabin, in everything from the lift-open two-level front centre armrest, the bottom area of the centre console and the pull-out drawers under the front seats, to cup holders, bottle and drinks can holders, and even straps to hold an umbrella in place instead of it being parked where it will more than likely fall over during fast cornering. According to model specification, there's at least one 12-volt socket too. |
There's a fair amount of carrying capacity too, in a luggage space where the first-level floor can be removed to reveal a kind of basement underneath. No spare wheel, though, just a puncture repair kit. Hmm.
