The SEAT Ibiza first saw the light of day in Barcelona in 1984 and was named after the Spanish Island in the Balearics. The second generation ran from 1993 to 2002 and it was during this model's life that SEAT became part of the Volkswagen Group. The third generation was launched in 2002 and finished in 2008. The 4th Generation ran from 2008 until present with a facelift in 2012 and another more recently last year.
The car we had on test was the Ibiza with the second facelift although it is very difficult to spot from the exterior as very little has been changed, SEAT decided to spend the money on things that are not that easy to spot. You need a keen eye to see the difference, with the biggest change being the addition of full LED lights on most models. But the euros have been allocated to improving the quality or the interior.
If you park a first facelifted Ibiza from 2012 and the recent second facelift alongside each other and switch from one interior to the other and have a good look and touch then the improvements are fairly obvious, but just looking at one and then the other when they aren’t side by side it is fairly difficult to see the difference. The dash is much softer to touch and a fair bit nicer. The steering wheel, gearstick, air-vents, radio-controls and door handles have all been improved. It is as though SEAT have had an amount of money to spend, looked at what really needed improving and focused on these items.
Other changes are mainly new systems including ‘Full-Link’-Technology, which connects the driver’s phone in a safe and easy way. Some models have Mirror-Link technology, through the second generation MIB infotainment system which also replicates the smartphone screen when a compatible device is plugged in. Other safety features that are being offered include parking assist with audio warnings and a rear view camera.
A range of Volkswagen Groups new 1.0-litre engines (MPI and TSI) 3 cylinder engines are perhaps the biggest and best news for this facelifted Ibiza. We recently had on test a 1.4-litre TDi EcoMotive Ibiza and what a nice small sweet engine that easily achieved 65mpg.
This particular test car was powered by a 1.4-litre EcoTSi petrol engine that produces 150ps and accelerates from 0-62mph in just 7.6 seconds and has a top speed of 137mph, so quite a quick car and certainly not lacking in power despite the fact that it’s quite a small capacity engine.
The official combined fuel consumption figure is just under 60 mpg, but during the time we had the car we achieved around 53 mpg, driving it fairly steady with no boy-racer stuff. Give it a bit of heavy right-foot and I’m sure the fuel gauge would drop quite quickly.
The FR Technology has a comprehensive list of standard equipment too including: Navigation system, 6.5-inch touchscreen, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, sports suspension, auto-headlights, twin-exhaust pipes, a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel, DAB radio, front fog lights with cornering function, front sports seats and much much more.
Out on the road the Ibiza drives really well, it’s sporty and makes the right noise, though it’s not too loud and brash. If you want to push it, then it is a very capable ‘Hot-Hatch’ as the handling and cornering is really good. But if you just want to tootle around in it, then it is as good at low speeds as it is at higher speeds. The 150ps produced by a 4 cylinder petrol engine is smooth and puts the right amount of power onto the road through the wheels and it feels just right, perfectly balanced for a small high performance hatch.
The colour of the car we had on test was Chilli Red metallic, but it had more of an orange tint to it. This colour was certainly different and made it stand out and look very sporty, a good colour choice for a press test car.
I enjoyed using the Ibiza FR for a week, good fun and it drove so well and much better than expected. But SEAT could have done more externally on the exterior styling but no doubt changes will be made on the next generation Ibiza. They have concentrated on quality for this facelifted car and this will no doubt be carried over or even improved on the 5th generation.
I have been to the Plant at Martorell near Barcelona a few times, it is a huge factory that produces some very good high quality cars, including the Ibiza and the Audi Q3, which is a little known fact. This plant prides itself on consistent high quality. Within the perimeter walls there is everything including: design, engineering, quality, R&D, HQ, finance and of course assembly, so everything is on-hand so any issues or problems can be dealt with quickly and easily.
The cost of the test car was £17,195 OTR but with a few options, that really are not necessary or needed the total cost of this FR was £18,240 OTR.
Summary stats:
- On the road price £12,210.00 to £17,835.00
- Petrol: 1.0 75 PS, 1.0 EcoTSI 95 & 110 PS, 1.4 EcoTSI 150 Diesel: 1.4 TDi 75 & 105 PS
- CO2 93 to 119 g/km
- Combined MPG 54.3 to 78.5 MPG
- Gearboxes 5 & 6 Speed Manual, 7 Speed DSG
New options and features:
- DAB Radio – Standard on all
- Bluetooth system – Standard on all
- Multi-Collision Braking – Standard on all
- Alloy wheels – Standard on all but S
- LED daytime running lights - Standard on all but S
