LOOKING FOR SOME DIRECTION

Sometimes keeping things simple is the way to go, especially when it comes to navigation, as Stuart Mchugh discovers

They say familiarity breeds contempt, but in the case of average, family-sized cars, complacency might be closer to the mark.

With all the attempts to produce something different and standout, manufacturers can find themselves going too far in terms of adding fancy bells and whistles to their product lines, or restyling the interiors, or unnecessarily complicating the heating (sorry, climate control) or the end-user environment (seats and mirrors to the rest of us).

You’d imagine then that SEAT might like what I have to say about the newest incarnation of the Ibiza. Or maybe not. You see, as the not-particularly proud owner of a 10-yearold Astra, I’m reminded very much of my own daily driver by this latest model from the Spanish manufacturer. See what I mean? But this isn’t intended as a criticism. Far from it. The Vauxhall is like a rather worn but comfortable old shoe, and could do with an upgrade, as well as a bit of a wash.

Likewise, the Ibiza – here in mid-range SE trim – is comfy and familiar. It avoids overcomplicated baubles in favour of a sensible, easy-touse arrangement. It’d be easy to quibble about the cup holder being almost behind the seat but functionally, everything’s as it should be on a fivestar Ncap-rated car, with little things like tyre pressure monitoring and electronic stability control as standard across the range.

Our car added the Convenience Pack so got auto headlights, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming rear view mirror and electrically folding door mirrors.

It also, pleasingly, featured aircon manually controlled by dials rather than being buried in the central console.

Ah yes, the console. There’s two parts to this – the important bit being the ‘infotainment’ system, with its frankly freaky ‘proximity sensor’ – wave your hand within a couple of inches and it engages, ready to receive instructions. This houses your DAB radio, with its is perfectly acceptable six-speaker setup.

In the test car it also housed the upgraded Navigation System pack in an enlarged 6.5-inch touchscreen.

To be honest, I’d rather it hadn’t. The biggest beef is the voice recognition. This promised so much – unlike some systems it in theory could change your route via a couple of spoken commands. Unfortunately, it requires the driver to annunciate with the same local radio DJ accent as it speaks itself. So unless Glasgow is pronounced “Gless-co-ow”, you’ll find yourself heading for Carlisle.

Plus, if you ignore these cross-border urgings, the Ibiza would happily see you cross the central reservation to get back onto the “correct” route. Add to that the odd whispered sweet nothing in traffic jams and there’s a case for hooking up the old Tomtom again.

The 3D Map (another feature of the “improved” navigation system) is odd too, seeing you either in reverse or upsidedown, depending on your viewpoint.

Happily, there’s a backup system. The driver display – a more modest, “heads-down” affair beside the speedo – contains temperature and radio station, current gear, mpg and a navigation summary which means the driver’s eyes spend a little more time on the road concentrating on the driving.

Ah yes, the drive. Assuming you make it out of the driveway unscathed, it is in fact remarkably nippy for a 1.0 engine, due to a healthy 94bhp. It boasts a 68.9mpg average thanks to the new economical threecylinder TSI engine but if you want even better economy, the Ecomotive diesel will return more than 80mpg.

I’d say that it’s not all that happy going over speed bumps but, that aside, it’s a comfy ride which will do you nicely as an all-rounder whether around town, out in the country, or pounding up and down the motorway.

There’s nothing groundbreaking but that’s not necessarily a criticism – infotainment system aside, it’s a car that’s hard to say anything bad about.