DECIDING what extras to have on your car takes a lot of thought - unless you are buying a new SEAT Leon that is

Opt for a Leon and all you have to do is decide on the colour, the engine and the trim level. Everything else comes as standard.

So when my SEAT Leon SE Dynamic Estate arrived I knew it was a case of "what you see is what you get" and I didn't have to query whether there were any little goodies pushing up the price.

It's all part of the Spanish car maker's "easy move strategy" to make life less complicated for the customer and less time consuming.

The new Leon is longer, has more dynamic lines than its predecessor and is technologically far more advanced.

It's also a vitally important model for the company, which you begin to appreciate when you learn that last year it was its best selling car with more than 150,000 models bought.

As always with SEAT there is a distinctly sporting bias to the new model even with the estate car.

This low slung, sleek load lugger has nice flowing lines with deep eye catching curves and cuts in the metal along each side.

At the front there's a bold honeycomb grille, narrow tapering headlights and low front cowl..

At the rear wraparound lights span the whole width of the car - making it easy to pick out the marque at night - while a rear window spoiler adds to its sporting nature.

A nice touch is the Leon name badge which, unusually, is written in flowing script across the tailgate as though someone has penned their signature. It seems to add that little bit of one-upmanship to the car.

On the inside the Barcelona-built model gets the minimalist look, which means functional rather than flash.

So in line with the general trend in new cars there's a distinct lack of switches and knobs, the functions of which are now on a smart new 10-inch touch screen.

It works well although it's not as intuitive as it might be and takes a little getting used to.

But the Leon is the brand's first fully connected vehicle, offering not only Android Auto and Apple CarPlay but Car2X connectivity which allows you to get warnings of traffic ahead of you and even whether the traffic lights are about to turn from green to red.

The car driven here was powered by a 130ps, 1.5-litre petrol engine which delivers a top speed of 130 miles per hour and a very respectable 0-62 miles per hour acceleration time of 9.4 seconds.

When it comes to economy the Leon estate is up there with the best thanks in part to its ability to run on just two of its four cylinders when you are cruising along at a steady speed using a gentle right foot.

SEAT claims an average of just over 50 mpg but over a week's motoring I managed to achieve closer to 55mpg which is good news for buyers.

The ride in the Leon is comfortable although a little on the soft side - surprisingly for a SEAT - making it relaxing for long family journeys.

Space for a car of this size is more than adequate with rear seat passengers enjoying pretty generous leg room.