Seat Ibiza offers budget price motoring
08/04/09 18:34 Filed in: Road
tests
It was not the most auspicious start.
I had just hopped aboard the Seat Ibiza for the first time and was
busy adjusting seats, steering wheel and mirrors. Yes, mirrors...
that was the point at which the door mirror adjustment pod came off
the door in my hand.
Having recently driven the new Volkswagen Golf 1.4 SE, I suppose I might have been expecting too much. Maybe I was looking for similar sort of restrained, good taste and feeling of rock solid build quality from this offering also from the Volkswagen Group stable.
I suppose the rather lurid metallic green of the test car should have announced to me straight away that Seat is rather different in style from Volkswagen itself.
It is also a heck of a lot cheaper. My Volkswagen test car would cost you £16,515. The Seat Ibiza will cost you £6,000 less with its £10,375 price tag. Prices for the 1.2-litre Ibiza actually start at £8995.
You do get quite a bit of car for your money, too. My Ibiza was the five-door Ibiza. The three-door version is now badged as the Ibiza SC – the SC, stands for “sports coupe”.
But although there are five doors, there is not much room behind a long-legged driver. In my case there would definitely have to be some horse-trading between rear-seat passenger and driver to accommodate any reasonable legroom in the back.
Perhaps inevitably you can see and feel that the interior has been produced to meet the keen price tag.
The biggest surprise for me was the economy. On each journey the Ibiza seemed to produce unremarkable mpg figures for the first few miles, but then it would gradually creep up and by the time I reached my destination the trip computer would be displaying between 35 and 39 mpg.
I found that quite remarkable, especially when I admit that I pedalled this little car quite hard. The engine is not the most lively and I found I had to use a reasonably heavy right foot to keep up a good pace. Anyone with a more leisurely lifestyle and a lighter foot, should be able to get over 40 mpg with ease.
With that sort of economy – weighed against the extra initial cost and pump price of diesel – this is yet another car that makes you stop and wonder about the sense of buying the oil burning version. Unless you plan to do a huge mileage, cars like this show that it is no longer the obvious choice.
Having recently driven the new Volkswagen Golf 1.4 SE, I suppose I might have been expecting too much. Maybe I was looking for similar sort of restrained, good taste and feeling of rock solid build quality from this offering also from the Volkswagen Group stable.
I suppose the rather lurid metallic green of the test car should have announced to me straight away that Seat is rather different in style from Volkswagen itself.
It is also a heck of a lot cheaper. My Volkswagen test car would cost you £16,515. The Seat Ibiza will cost you £6,000 less with its £10,375 price tag. Prices for the 1.2-litre Ibiza actually start at £8995.
You do get quite a bit of car for your money, too. My Ibiza was the five-door Ibiza. The three-door version is now badged as the Ibiza SC – the SC, stands for “sports coupe”.
But although there are five doors, there is not much room behind a long-legged driver. In my case there would definitely have to be some horse-trading between rear-seat passenger and driver to accommodate any reasonable legroom in the back.
Perhaps inevitably you can see and feel that the interior has been produced to meet the keen price tag.
The biggest surprise for me was the economy. On each journey the Ibiza seemed to produce unremarkable mpg figures for the first few miles, but then it would gradually creep up and by the time I reached my destination the trip computer would be displaying between 35 and 39 mpg.
I found that quite remarkable, especially when I admit that I pedalled this little car quite hard. The engine is not the most lively and I found I had to use a reasonably heavy right foot to keep up a good pace. Anyone with a more leisurely lifestyle and a lighter foot, should be able to get over 40 mpg with ease.
With that sort of economy – weighed against the extra initial cost and pump price of diesel – this is yet another car that makes you stop and wonder about the sense of buying the oil burning version. Unless you plan to do a huge mileage, cars like this show that it is no longer the obvious choice.