Spanish car maker SEAT is celebrating an historic achievement in the shape of the weekend’s ground-breaking first diesel victory by the dynamic Leon TDI in the hotly-contested HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

SEAT Sport UK star driver Jason Plato piloted the diesel-engined racer to its momentous BTCC triumph, the first for an ‘oil burner’ in the 50-year history of the touring car championship, and catapulted himself from sixth to second in the BTCC Drivers’ Championship in the process.

Plato’s victory in Race One on Sunday was followed, in Race Three, by a battling win for fellow SEAT Sport UK driver Darren Turner, providing the perfect end to a near-perfect day’s racing for the buoyant SEAT Sport UK team.

The high performance potential of the SEAT 2.0-litre TDI powerplant is obviously without question – its track exploits underline that – but it’s also worth noting that a version of the very same engine is busy winning sales, rather than races, in SEAT showrooms. 

Lurking under the bonnet of the hot hatch SEAT Leon FR, the road-going 2.0-litre turbodiesel is tuned to offer a muscular 170 PS.  It carries the sweetly-styled family five-door from rest to 62 mph in a spirited 8.2 seconds, thunders on to a top speed (where permissible) of 135 mph, and yet is capable of offering 47.1 mpg on the official EU combined fuel consumption cycle.  All this, and CO₂ emissions of just 161 g/km, plus the  reassurance of a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) to further limit the car’s environmental impact.

No wonder, then, that sales of the diesel-engined hot hatch have been so impressive.  In the last full year for which numbers are available (2007), of the 4,000-plus Leon FRs registered an amazing 71% (2,916 cars) were specified with the potent 2.0-litre TDI engine.

The well-documented ‘drive for diesel’, underlined once again by new statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which puts the diesel market share at a record 45.4% in April, is also good news for the frugal offerings in SEAT’s growing portfolio of products.

Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said: ‘With fuel prices sky-high, consumers are looking for efficient motoring they can afford.  The latest registration figures show diesel-powered vehicles have hit their highest monthly market share on record, alongside a stronger focus on super-efficient small cars.’

Cars, indeed, like SEAT’s ultra-green Ibiza Ecomotive.  In showrooms now and selling well to both private and business buyers keen to maximise their mileage while minimising their CO₂ emissions, the Road Tax-exempt three- or five-door supermini offers up to 88.3 mpg and a class-leading 99 g/km of carbon dioxide.

Powered by a version of the already efficient three cylinder 1.4-litre TDI, in Ecomotive trim new software is added to the engine ECU while particulate emissions are further reduced thanks to the addition of a state-of-the-art DPF.

Revised gear ratios, small but important aerodynamic improvements to make the car more slippery through the air and the use of low rolling resistance 14” Dunlop tyres that reduce road friction are the remaining keys to the characterful five-seater’s impressive economy.

Head of SEAT UK, Peter Wyhinny, said of the firm’s numerous diesel successes: ‘Performance, economy and driveability are all key features of today’s leading diesels and these are all features that apply, to a greater or lesser extent, to our cars.

‘From the ultra high performance of our race-winning BTCC car, to the ultra economy of our Ibiza supermini, SEAT is very clearly championing the diesel cause.’