Sometimes there is a fanfare of bands playing, fire works, red carpets laid out all denoting the introduction of a new model.

There was no hula baloo with the introduction of the latest Seat. Instead the new Leon VT quietly turned up at its distributors on the Long Mile Road and a brief yet informative small release was issued to tell us the most powerful new car available for under £20,000 has arrived.

A weeks testing in the modest looking Leon tells me this car requires little or no 'night at the Oscars' setting to let the world know how good it is. Word of mouth among the enthusiast car driver will suffice to spread the news. This is the car that will be on the tip of my tongue the next time someone asks me if I have been driving anything exciting lately.

Itís not that the Leon is overly exciting to look at. Its sporting abilities are housed in a more mature sophisticated body than the norm. Indeed only the bright yellow paint work, small rear VT badging and twin exhaust pipes at the rear set the VT apart from my friends 1.4 Leon which had similar VT alloy wheels fitted.

The VT does not have the bonnet bulge, huge spoilers and blacked out windows as found on the machinery of many of to-dayís young boy racers. Indeed, the five door Seat with its colour co-ordinated bumpers, mirrors and small rear spoiler could easily be taken for a normal family car, such is its subtle appearance.

Touch this car; press the metal, open close the doors and the feeling of strength and quality is instantly relayed.

While its inside has received the sport treatment its only upon driving this motor that you soon realise we are talking here about a serious piece of machinery. So serious in fact that word must have spread in some quarters if the number of persons putting their noses to its windows outside Croke Park recently is anything to go by.

VW/Audi gave it the 1.8 litre 180 bhp 20 valve turbo engine as found in the Audi TT. The five valve per cylinder turbo engine produces not so much instant hot rod power from the 180 horses instead itís the vehicles torque output, which is the more impressive.

Its brilliant low-end torque (peak torque of 173 lb/ft is produced from 1950rpm right up to 5000rpm) leads to excellent in gear acceleration and thatís from a car which has a six-speed gearbox mated to its power house. The shift to third, fourth, fifth and six gears proved more precise than the selection of first and the move to second.

Overall the perfectly spaced gear ratios showed to be very suited for swift country driving. While the sixth gear is very useful for motorway use its not overly long that one finds themselves constantly wanting to drop a cog for passing another vehicle. The whole operation is, as relaxing as possibly could be found to-day.

With a car that has the ability to cover 0-62 mph in 7.7 seconds and go on to a claimed top speed of 142 mph, the Leon VT surprised this driver in its economy stakes. The average mpg worked out slightly short of 35 mpg, 34.1 to be exact.

This high performer was anything but hard on the wallet and itís a credit to the way not alone its engine and gearbox is designed but also the way they blend so beautifully.

While the word ëmagicalí could be used to describe the Seat chassis and suspension set-up, it does not go far enough to do justice to those who worked to get the balance so perfect on this car.

Hot hatches have the tendency to sacrifice ride comfort in order that the car has a more positive handling attitude. With the Leon VT it's plain to be seen Seat engineers were not willing to play one element against the other. Let it be fully laden, transporting five adults to a football match or just the driver and his favourite CD and this car goes about its work in an enjoyable predictable fashion.

The tuned front MacPherson and rear longitudinal suspension set-up are a match for the vehicle's torquey performance and real friend for Irish conditions. Speaking of which, traction control is standard on the car and in wet damp conditions proves how vital and rewarding such technology can be. The steering is accurate but I felt the leather steering rim a little too big. Having all round ventilated disc brakes and electronic brake force distribution, stopping the Seat quickly proved no problem.

The Leon comes with comfortable sport like seating electric windows/mirrors remote locking and has front and side airbags as standard. Everything looked well put together, except the catch on the glove compartment, which failed on my car.

The Leon VT has great potential and ability to match any Golf GTi, which in fairness is the car all manufacturers look up to.