Seat Ibiza drive by Steve Rogers
There has never been a bad time to buy a Seat Ibiza and it could be heading for a bumper year.
The supermini pool is draining. The demise of Ford Fiesta is a thorn out of everyone's side, and Citroen has gone all electric with the C3 so relatively cheap to run cars like Ibiza are in for an Indian summer as punters dither over the right time to go electric.
The Spanish maestro has been charming us for 40 years and in that time more than six million have rolled off the production line.
It is the company’s most successful model, always punching above its weight and winning a shedload of awards as Seat established the brand to what it is today.
Here we have the FR Sport, a nod to the good old days of the hot hatch. Now this is no steamer but it does have a remarkable engine.
You would not expect much from a 1-litre three cylinder petrol, so prepare to be surprised. The credit has to go to parent company Volkswagen-Audi, they built it, and it is a belter feeling quicker than the 9.9 seconds to hit 62mph. Some of that is down to the seven speed DSG automatic gearbox that produces snappy, seamless changes. There are steering wheel paddle shifters and a sport mode to add to the fun.
Something to note is the FR Sport’s ride which is on the firm side, for obvious reasons, so if comfort is important go for one of the other Ibiza models.
The abiding memory of Ibiza is how easy it is to live with. Nothing is complicated; a car you instantly feel at home in. The layout is simple but effective, even the touchscreen is easy to master, while the heating controls are neatly laid out with physical buttons. Result all round.
FR Sport gets a digital driver’s binnacle with a choice of layouts and useful information in a no nonsense user friendly set up.
Ibiza might be small but is big on technology with plenty to find in the 9.2 inch fast responding touchscreen. Smartphone connections are a must these days and connecting my Android phone was simplicity itself. Voice control worked well finding navigation destinations and music searches.
At all but £25k FR Sport is at the upper end of the model range and does get a fair amount of kit including LED headlights with range control - that’s the next level up from auto dipping lights - navigation with real time traffic updates, fuel prices etc and an SOS button if you need urgent help.
It is reasonably roomy for a supermini with proper adult size legroom in the back seats. The boot is spacious for the size of car but could do with a false floor. Using all the boot space is a rare event and a false floor would avoid the fairly big drop when loading smaller items like shopping bags.
An emergency spare wheel is another bonus and far more reassuring than the bottle of sealing gunge which, by all accounts, hardly ever works on any car so good on you Seat.
Economy is hardly class leading, there is no hybrid option, and my average over the week just crept over 41mpg but you might manage 50mpg on a motorway run.
Seat has probably gone as far as it can with Ibiza but if there is one last hurrah they should think about reducing road noise which is pretty loud on FR Sport, fitting a reversing camera much earlier in the seven strong range, and popping in an auto hold button.
Apart from those minor infringements Ibiza is a solid buy, roomy, well equipped, relatively cheap to run and above all, great to drive.
Fast facts
Ibiza FR Sport
£24,620 (starts £19,725)
1-litre TSI; 113bhp
0-62mph 9.9secs; 123mph
48.7-51.4mpg combined
126g/km. 1st road tax £220
Boot: 355 litres
Insurance group 15
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