The Ibiza supermini is certainly a model that has ‘explored the space’ in the automotive marketplace, with variants ranging from first time driver run-arounds to large, practical family cars.

Although popularly available in three-door and five-door body styles, the Ibiza ST estate variant is definitely worth a look if you are after extra boot space at an affordable price. Competition in this segment is a little varied though. On one hand the Ibiza ST competes with the Skoda Fabia Estate, but it also goes up against any other small, practical family car – such as the Honda Jazz.

We take the Ibiza ST 1.0-litre EcoTSI three-cylinder turbo petrol out for a spin to see how it fares with a small engine under the bonnet.

Performance

Some may wince at the idea of a small three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine in an estate. And we wouldn’t blame them. However, don’t write this one off just yet.

The 94bhp 1.0-litre turbo petrol in the Ibiza ST is a great little motor. Although it doesn’t offer the same low down pull as you get in the Ibiza’s diesel, the 1.0-litre turbo still offers evenly spread power across the rev range and responds to every blip of the accelerator.

It’s not rapid – 0-62mph in 10.8 seconds - but it’s definitely on the right side of the power scale for a three-cylinder turbo. Off the mark you will have to get used to the way it rumbles its way up the revs, but once in the 2000-3000rpm range the turbo picks up and masks the car’s extra length and weight brilliantly.

The only slight downside to this petrol is that it’s only available with a five-speed manual gearbox – with the sixth gear omission being particularly prevalent at motorway speeds.

Ride and Handling

The comfortable suspension, which eats up potholes no problem, doesn’t wallow in the corners when unladen either, unlike some other estates.

The Ibiza ST is by no means sporty or particularly exciting to drive, but it’s not supposed to be. On the road, everything about the Ibiza ST oozes ease of use. The steering is very light, the gearbox has an easily-manoeuvrable, no-nonsense feel to it and the suspension is nice and comfortable. Although the steering is light, recent changes as part of the Ibiza’s 2015 facelift actually make it very sharp and accurate. The comfortable suspension, which eats up potholes no problem, doesn’t wallow in the corners when unladen either, unlike some other estates. The general composure of the ST feels much like the supermini too, so if you are conscious of it losing some of its nippy small car character, you needn’t worry.

Interior and Equipment

All variants of the Ibiza are also available in an FR derivative, which offers sportier styling tweaks.

At 4,236mm long, the Ibiza ST is 175mm longer than the five-door and 193mm longer than the three-door. This makes for a boot space of 430 litres with the seats up and 1,164 litres with the seats down - plenty of space for shopping, camping gear or suitcases. Although the ST has a very usable boot size, it is still smaller than most rivals, with other small estates closer to the 500/1,500 litres mark. Space for rear passengers is a little behind rivals too, with head and leg room being particularly scarce. SEAT massively revamped the Ibiza’s cabin last year – and the effort shows, with a layout that is now more similar to that of its bigger Leon sibling. But there are still some features that need a bit of tweaking. There are cheap plastics dotted around, although the dash has a nice soft-touch feel, and the infotainment screen is surrounded by a rather bland black border, which takes away from the screen’s great functionality. Equipment is thankfully very generous, with all models getting MP3 connectivity, steering-wheel mounted controls and a five-inch, black and white infotainment system. The SE model, which is what we tested, usually comes with a five-inch colour touchscreen, Bluetooth, DAB radio and air-con. However, we had the SE model with some additional kit, including the Full Link and Navigation System packages. All together, these options cost around £700. These features actually come as standard on the CONNECT trim and include a 6.5-inch colour touchscreen system with integrated sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – the latter two allowing for full smartphone integration to the infotainment system.

Cost

We averaged between 45-50mpg in-and-around busy city traffic and comfortably achieved 60mpg on the motorway.

Running costs are usually the downfall of three-cylinder turbo petrols – but not in this case. We averaged between 45-50mpg in-and-around busy city traffic and comfortably achieved 60mpg on the motorway. The claimed combined figure, which should always be taken with a pinch of salt, is 67.3mpg, but all things considered, the figures for this three-pot turbo are incredibly strong. And did we mention, it emits just 98g/km of CO2 as well – which means no road tax. When it comes to price, the Ibiza ST starts from £12,500, which is in the same ballpark as the Skoda Fabia Estate and Honda Jazz. However, with our spruced-up, tech-savvy SE model, which also has a £530 Chilli Red metallic paint job, our model came out at just over £16,000. If you are after rock bottom prices, something like the Dacia Logan MCV starts from £7,000.

Our Verdict

If someone is in the market for a stylish, affordable family car that’s not too chunky, then the Ibiza ST will totally make sense. It may not be the first car that springs to mind, but it is very competent nonetheless. Even in a three-cylinder turbo guise the Ibiza ST offers strong performance and running costs that stick pretty close to what it claims on paper.