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SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive

There’s two types of hatchery you can partake in these days, hot and cheap. Although on the face of it they are poles apart, in reality they can share a lot of what makes you smile.

The SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive certainly falls into the cheap hatch category at a smidgen under £15k. For that you get the 1.4L 3 cylinder turbo diesel engine, 75hp and 210nm of torque. It’ll take a leisurely 13.0 secs to reach 60mph and top out at 107mph some time next week. You’re not going to be bragging about it down the local. What you might well do is run the Ibiza as a second car and be anything but dissapointed if you get landed with the keys in the morning. And that’s not solely down to the 76mpg combined!

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Some people will brand me a heretic, and frankly I’m used to that, but take the little SEAT, wring it’s neck and you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised with the thrum that emits from under the bonnet. It’s a spritely thing that makes the best use of the turbocharged torque band. 2nd gear is massively long and I must have spent 70% of my time stretching it down the local b roads. The Ibiza feels light on it’s toes and allows you to hop it around tight bends on the tyre tread without washing too wide. Tipping the scales at around 1, 100kgs wet you can see why it feels the way itmdoes. The gearchange is snicketty enough to give you confidence if you’re flicking from 3rd to 2nd into a bend.

I try and compare new cars to old which gives people half an idea of what these cars are like beyond my own ramblings. The new Ibiza has the feel of a phase 1 Peugeot 106 rallye. It’s slightly tinny, it’s nimble and it’s communicative without being bogged down by a bigger engine, brakes and spec that normally adorn the warm to hot hatches.

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Looks wise there is quite a lot of the last gen Impreza in there and it really suits the 5 doors. The interior is sparse but neat. The dash is well laid out and easy to read and the infotainment/sat nav works as well as you expect from any car these days. The only the items that caused me grief were the steering wheel buttons. Every time I tried to park the car I scrolled through 4 different stations. Absolute Classic Rock to Radio 4 in one fell swoop. The rest of the car is relatively spacious for a super mini. You’ll get the obligatory 2 pissed up mates in the back and 2 weeks shopping in the boot. Even the burnt orange paint started to grow on me by the end of the week.

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Overall, it’s been a fun time in the Ibiza. We’ll be sure to test out the FR for comparison if it becomes available and see if less does indeed actually equal more. Suitably impressed we are though. A mix of old school feel and pricing, well played SEAT.

 

TT Rating :TT Rating 3½

 

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