Time flies – and never so quickly as when you are having fun. It is, therefore, difficult to grasp that the supermini that provides the most fun has reached its 40th birthday. Seat’s best seller – the lovely Ibiza – now in its fifth generation – continues to spread motoring sunshine whilst entrancing owners with neat packaging, stimulating performance, and general all-round good value and durability. Such an occasion deserves recognition. And what better way to do so than with the impressive looking, graphene grey, limited edition. Sports alloy wheels, panoramic sunroof and discreet markings denote its ‘anniversary’ status.
The sleek design has a youthful image that gives the five door Ibiza a purposeful stance, marking it out as the car that lives up to the promise that Seat is the sporting arm of the VW Group. But in this eco-conscious era where it’s ‘all for one and one for all’, this Anniversary Ibiza SR with the remarkable 115PS 1.0 litre three cylinder petrol engine couldn’t have come to me at a better time. Quite simply it blew away clouds of gloom and brought cheer into a dark and dismal November.
The ‘Three Musketeers’ of little cylinders in the engine combine to produce cardinal performance in the carbon sensitive arena (just 126 gm/km), while reassuring the driver that he has more than sufficient power to gallop away with a dash of style and a splash of chic sophistication. It’s probably the best of the new breed of three cylinder units. You’re hard pushed to know that it is ‘just a triple’ – with a smoothness and perkiness to put offerings from other makers in the shade. Rivals like the Renault Clio, Mazda 2 and Peugeot 208 can not, in my opinion, hold a candle to this Catalonian cracker that has more ‘Goya’ in its DNA than you’d give it credit for. You may be forgiven for wondering at the outstanding appeal, but readers must remember that the car encourages enthusiastic use: and you won’t want to reign yourself in. I have to tell you that my enthusiasm knew no bounds. Thankfully such liveliness is not at the expense of economy. Claimed figures of between 48.7 mpg to 50.4 mpg. as an average, make it a model for the dictum that you don’t have to be dull to be thrifty.
In these days of austerity you might question the need for a new car, but a turn behind the wheel of this endearing and exciting package will reassure you that the answer is – Yes. Three times: one for each of the little pumping cylinders.
Built to the established high standards of Seat, it feels solid and robust, with not a squeak or rattle as you drive over the roughest surfaces. In the comfortable interior there’s plenty of room front and rear. You are well supported on the bolstered sports seats covered in black microsuede and the ambience is one of sporting intent. The interior conveys a simple message of excellent ergonomics and attractive design – with one irritating aspect. At night, illuminated bezels around the side air vents reflect distractingly in the wing mirrors and also in the top corners of the windscreen. I see no reason for the vents to be illuminated. That aside, it is noticeably refreshed and upgraded compared to earlier models, giving a worthy pinacle to forty years of development.
This Ibiza proves beyond doubt that a sporty heart and a sensible head do go together. Granny will adore its sense of security and its comforts (You put her in the front seat, of course.) and little Billy and Bettina (or the Spanish equivalent) will nod their heads with the enthusiasm of a thousand parcel shelf novelty dogs at the swiftness, nimbleness and altogether prowess of this car. And that’s without mentioning the style of the well integrated package that, in the jargon of youth is `as cool as a brace of Barcelona organic cucumbers`.
As for the driving – at low revs the engine pulls reassuringly. It’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to compare the liveliness with classic performance cars of the not so distant past. A 1980s 3.0 litre Ford Capri, for instance, would struggle to keep up – whilst guzzling swimming pools of petrol in the process. The Seat though will genuinely reach near 125 mph and its robust engine also imparts something similar to the high gear/low rev. torque of yesteryears big capacity engines.
Leaving the restricted confines of narrow streets and their customary proliferation of anti motoring ‘street furniture’, I welcomed, at long last, the open road. Putting the ‘pedal to the metal’ and enthusiastically using the slick gearbox, all the shackles of over concerned nambypambyism were removed in one burst of exaltation.
On a dappled, twisty country lane, the surefooted nimbleness and peppery endeavour of the Ibiza makes one reflect on the very real progress made by automotive engineers. Those long of tooth tend to take as a yardstick, the cars they enthused about in their youth. Had a car such as this existed at that time, there would have been such a run on superlatives as to empty every dictionary in every library and family home up and down the land.
To technically minded readers who want facts and figures and not purple prose, I say to you ‘go read a workshop manual’ – for when discussing the actual driving experience, it is ‘sensation’, not ‘slide rule’ that rules. OK. The clutch is light with a positive take up, the six speed gearbox is precise, solid feeling and altogether hassle free in operation, the throttle is light when you want it to be, but with an encouraging resistance to pressure that suggests more is to come. In the words of the song – ‘The Best is Yet to Come’. Steering is direct – just right: not over light and not over heavy.
Goldilocks herself would find little to complain about. More than anything though, it’s the combined package that delivers the goods. This is a car compact enough to be nimble, large enough to be comfortable, light on its feet, solid in its protection, sensible in its ergonomics, appealing both to driver and passenger and economical enough for the most parsimonious parson.
Seat, drive it, like it, buy it. At £24,390 it’s not overly expensive either.
