SEAT Ibiza review
by David Finlay (18 July 2008)
The introduction of the new Ibiza is a spectacularly important event in SEAT's history. The old car was the company's best-selling model in Europe (and about level with the León in the UK), and even as late as this year it has been a reasonable competitor in the supermini sector; but it was recognisably a 1990s design, and in order to remain competitive SEAT had to come up with a replacement.
And here it is. The latest Ibiza is based on a new Volkswagen Group platform, it looks and feels nothing like a 20th-century car, and it has the combined benefits of being both larger and lighter than the outgoing model.
For the moment, it's available only in five-door form and with a choice of three petrol engines. The three-door SportCoupé will be along later, and although there will be diesel models they won't arrive until 2009 (the delay isn't a big problem since petrol is still the fuel of choice among supermini buyers, who tend not to rack up enormous mileages). One of the diesels will power a new Ibiza Ecomotive, which like the current one will have CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km.
This Ibiza is the first SEAT to be designed by Luc Donckerwolke, who previously worked at Lamborghini. Doncerkwolke has not entirely abandoned the design language of his predecessor, Walter de'Silva, but he has added his own touches, and to my mind there are slightly too many of them. From every angle there seems to be one line more than there needs to be (imagine a chef who keeps adding an unnecessary extra ingredient to all his dishes), but perhaps I haven't fully let go of the previous Ibiza's much simpler styling. Maybe this more complex design will grow on me.
The handover from de'Silva should have been an opportunity to create a modern SEAT with a decent amount of glass area at the back, but in fact Donckerwolke has gone in the opposite direction. Behind each rear door there is a tiny triangular window which has clearly been added for styling purposes and not for any practical benefit whatever. The result is that the rear pillars create colossal blind spots which, though sadly not untypical of superminis these days, makes the Ibiza much harder to manoeuvre than it should be. It might be okay for a Lamborghini, but it's not okay here.
That's a real shame, because the Ibiza is in every other respect an excellent town car. The power steering has been beautifully set up, and its lightness and that of the other major controls means that the Ibiza is superbly easy to drive, just as it should be.
On the open road the Ibiza is pretty good too. All previous models (at least since SEAT became part of the Volkswagen Group) have had a tendency for the front end to bounce over bumps, but the body control in this car is much better, certainly on the backroads of Lancashire where I drove it, and in general the ride quality is very good.
The three engines available from launch are the delightful little 69bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit, an 84bhp 1.4 and a 104bhp 1.6. The 1.2 has always been one of my favourite VW Group engines and it suits the Ibiza very well indeed. It's quiet during normal running, it sounds impressive in a rumbly sort of way when you push it harder, and it has as much power as you've ever going to need.
Combined fuel economy is 47.8mpg and the CO2 rating is 139g/km, both of which are the best in the range though they will undoubtedly be improved on by the forthcoming diesels, which in turn will be more expensive to buy. The 1.6 is good too, and of course a lot perkier than the 1.2, and although I haven't driven the 1.4 yet I can't imagine that there would be anything wrong with it.
Engine size corresponds closely to equipment levels in the Ibiza range. The 1.2 is available only in S form and costs £8995, or £9495 if you want air-conditioning, so it's quite a bit costlier than the previous entry-level car but still not especially expensive.
The 1.4 is the only engine which comes with two trim levels. SE costs £10,395 and includes air-conditioning as standard, along with a trip computer, cruise control, alloy wheels, electric rear windows, front foglights with corner illumination, a height-adjustable front passenger seat and a split-folding rear seat.
At the top of the range is the Sport, available with the 1.4 and 1.6 engines at £10,695 and £11,295 respectively; Sport models get more supportive seats, sports suspension (still quite comfortable but adding a little sharpness to the driving process), low-profile tyres on 16" wheels and leather for the steering wheel and gearknob. Notice that SEAT is now giving simple names to its trim levels these days, having abandoned the Reference and Stylance tags used on the previous Ibiza - good move, I think.
The larger overall dimensions of this Ibiza, and in particular the extended tail, mean that luggage volume has increased by 25 litres compared with the old model to 292 litres. That's the best in class by a small margin (the Clio manages 288 litres) though the sill is quite high and the tailgate opening a little on the narrow side, which is fine if you're loading shopping but might cause a few problems with heavier items like large, full suitcases.
There's also plenty of room up front, though space is more limited for rear passengers. You could get four adults in the car without much trouble, but it will be a squeeze if any of them are more than six feet tall.
The interior design, like that of the exterior, is a shade fussier than I think it needs to be, and when the steering wheel is set in the best position for me I can't see the LED display on the instrument panel, and have to bend my head to read the information (fuel level, mileage and so on).
One very good thing about the interior, though, is the little docking holder for portable satellite navigation systems. SEAT doesn't offer satnav as standard because it would have too much of an impact on the price, but that holder means that you can fit your own unit without having wires trailing all over the place. Brilliant.
There's good news on safety, since Euro NCAP gave the Ibiza a full five stars for adult occupant protection and four out of five for child occupant protection (no car has ever been given the maximum number of stars here, and the reason for denying this to the Ibiza is the usual one of lack of safety information rather than any concerns about what might happen in a crash). Three stars out of four were awarded for pedestrian protection, a result which is not bettered by any of the Ibiza's obvious rivals.
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