SEAT Ibiza
Spanish hatch mixes practicality of Polo with Fiesta’s fun factor. We see if it’s a winner
MODELTESTED: SEAT Ibiza 1.0 TSI 95 FR PRICE: £16,015 ENGINE: 1.0-litre 3cyl, 94bhp
SEAT went from an also-ran in the supermini sector to a class contender when the brand’s fifth-generation Ibiza launched mid-way through 2017. In £16,015 1.0 TSI 95 FR trim as tested here (our pictures show an SE model), it’s the priciest car here by a small margin, but it could be the best value, too.
Design & engineering
IN FR trim the Ibiza gets a more generous level of equipment than its rivals here, including standard sat-nav, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, cruise control and autonomous braking.
Extras tend to be cheaper, too. Wireless charging is only £160 on the Ibiza, compared with £355 on the Polo; LED lights are £480, against £975 on the VW (they’re not available on the Fiesta Zetec), while climate control costs £320. It’s £415 on the Polo.
There’s more to the Ibiza than just a strong standard spec and some affordable options, though. The car uses the same MQB platform as the Polo, as well as sharing the VW’S 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and five-speed gearbox.
The suspension set-up is similar, too, with struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, although each brand has its own calibration for the system, which you can feel from behind the wheel.
While you get more kit in standard trim, the Ibiza definitely can’t match the Polo’s high-quality feel. Although the VW’S dash is covered in softer material with harder plastic on the doors, all of the SEAT’S cabin is made from this less forgiving material.
Yet the supermini class is now so competitive that the battle is fought on more than just a kit vs cost basis, as well as looks. The Ibiza has to drive well and offer strong practicality and low running costs, too.
Driving
UNSURPRISINGLY, with an identical 94bhp output and the same 175Nm of torque, the SEAT delivered similar performance to the VW, although the Spanish car was slightly faster at our test track.
It matched the Fiesta’s 9.9-second 0-60mph time, while it pegged the Polo’s 13.1 seconds between 50 and 70mph in fifth gear. However, it was slightly faster than its German rival between 30 and 50mph in third and fourth, getting closer to the six-speed Ford’s times (more ratios to cover a similar speed range in the Fiesta mean acceleration is better).
So performance is on par with its competitors’, but how does the Ibiza ride and handle? It combines many of the VW’S traits with a sportier feel that’s more like the Fiesta in ethos. The steering is similarly lifeless like the Polo and not as full of information as the Ford’s, plus it doesn’t have the more adjustable nature of the Fiesta, either.
But it is as sporty. This means the ride is firmer than the VW’S and closer to the Fiesta’s, but it doesn’t quite have the level of quality present in the latter’s damping. FR trim gets a sports suspension set-up which does sacrifice ride quality a little, whereas the rest of the line-up is tuned more for comfort.
Ridges and ripples in the road do send more vibrations through the structure, rattling the harder plastics in the cabin and impacting refinement as a result. But only really bad craters in the road surface will send a whack through the Ibiza’s dampers – a situation both its rivals struggle to control, too.
There’s slightly more precision from the steering as a result of these sportier chassis settings, but at higher speeds on smoother A-roads and motorways there’s little to separate the Fiesta and Ibiza’s ride. It’s only as the surface starts to degrade that the Ford’s plusher suspension starts to come into its own.
Around town the SEAT is supple, while on country roads it’s composed and easily a match for the Fiesta in terms of cornering potential. Refinement isn’t quite as good, but there’s flexibility from the engine to match both models it’s up against here.
Practicality
THAT extends to how usable it is, and with 355 litres of boot space to match the Polo, it’ll swallow as much luggage. There’s also at least as much space inside the rear of the SEAT. Like the VW, legroom is good and despite the sharp styling there’s a generous amount of headroom. Both just shade the Fiesta in this respect, while there are plenty of storage cubbies and bins.
All three cars have grown in size compared with their predecessors and definitely offer more space inside, as well as extra luggage room. Despite that, they’re all still easy to manoeuvre with decent visibility; except for those door mirrors.
Ownership
SEAT was the highest-ranked brand out of this trio in our Driver Power 2017 survey, with owners rating it sixth.
Safety is similarly strong. A five-star Euro NCAP rating stems from the Ibiza’s standard autonomous braking, six airbags and multi-collision brake. As on the Polo, the latter automatically applies the brakes after a crash to stop secondary impacts. However, lane and blindspot assist aren’t offered.
Running costs
THE Ibiza was the economy champ on test, returning 44.0mpg. Not surprisingly given they share an engine and there’s just 23kg difference in the kerbweight between them, the Polo wasn’t far behind with a result of 43.4mpg.
This means you’ll only put an extra £21 in the VW’S tank over an average 12,000 miles annual mileage, spending £1,536 in total. The Fiesta returned 42.0mpg, so its bills will be more expensive, at £1,587. Still, just 2.0mpg between the best and worst cars shows how close these three are for efficiency; the result may come down to driving style instead.