New Seat Ibiza SportsCoupe review

The Ibiza is SEAT’s best selling model range. The five-door version joined the UK market in July this year. The three-door models, called SC or SportsCoupe, went on sale in October with prices ranging from £8,595 to £10,895, £400 less per derivative than five-door models.

The line up for both three and five-door models is the same, S, S A/C, SE and Sport with 1.2-litre 70PS, 1.4-litre 85PS and 1.6-litre 105PS petrol engine options.

Diesel engines will be added next year as will be Cupra and FR variants and the VW family 1.4-litre TSI turbocharged petrol unit is rumoured to be on its way as well.

That sporty little turbocharged petrol engine is just what the new Ibiza range needs. The Ibiza is smartly styled; the specification is good as is the value for money but the current range of engines is pretty poor in today’s motoring world.

To make matters worse the new three-door versions are called SportCoupe or SC as they are now advertising them and there are two problems with that claim; they are not sporty except in looks, and not really a Coupe.

Traditionally the Ibiza has seen 60% of its UK sales go to three door models, 70% of Ibiza customers are retail buyers and the 1.4-litre engine is the most popular as is SE specification. Until the recent downturn in the market the SEAT brand was gaining in popularity but their registrations so far this year are down 13%, a bit more than the industry average.

The appeal of SEAT has traditionally come from younger buyers who associated themselves with the manufacturer’s motorsport activities and they are the World Touring Car Champions for 2008. Up until the market slowdown there had been increasing interest from active, mature customers who were attracted by SEAT’s youthful ‘auto-emocion’ advertising strapline.

As today’s buyers, particularly older downsizers, now look for smartly styled, high specification and value for money, the Ibiza could be on their shopping list. Competitors include the excellent new Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Renault Clio and Mazda 2.

I’m no great fan of three-door superminis for two reasons. Here’s why. The ‘supermini’ in this traffic congested, highly taxed world, is a compact, easy to use, easy to drive, easy to park car for everyday use. So if you have rear seats why not have rear side doors? It makes access for rear passengers easier and if you just want to put a coat or bag on the rear seats that is easier as well.

Three-door hatchbacks

Three-door hatchbacks have wide front doors these days so they are difficult to fully open in car parks without banging the doors of adjacent cars. The Ibiza SportsCoupe, because of its three-door design, restrictive headroom because of the rear low roofline, is not a user friendly car. The three-door might look sporty, but isn’t in performance terms, so the five-door models are best.

I have one more issue. Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) should these days be a standard fit item for safety reasons on all cars just as airbags and anti-lock brakes are. The function will soon need to be fitted in new cars as standard by European law. Manufacturers spend fortunes achieving high Euro NCAP safety ratings for their models and then leave out a £280 bit of safety kit.

My test model was the SEAT Ibiza SC 1.4 Sport, or SportsCoupe 1.4 Sport, to give it its original title. SC seems to be the latest way of referring to this model in SEAT’s advertising and PR material. Perhaps the over-use of the word Sports, given the performance, was deemed a bit too much.

Styling

Firstly the car with its pronounced styling lines, wedge shape, wide wheelarches and sculptured side panels looks really smart as does the likeable SEAT front end. The new Ibiza was the first model to use the new VW ‘supermini’ platform.

The wheelbase is extended by 7mm and the front and rear tracks are wider so the with the lower roofline the SC has a squat stance on the road. The three-door layout is not for me for practical use reasons and the sloping tailgate limits the height in the rear load space. The rear legroom is also tight.

Specification

All SC models have electric front windows, ABS braking, tinted glass, multi-speaker sound system, remote central locking and speed sensitive electro-hydraulic power steering. Air conditioning becomes standard on SE variants as does a trip computer, electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors, front fog lights, split folding rear seat backs and alloy wheels.

The SE is the most sensible choice of specification. The Sport specification adds sports suspension, sports seats, larger 16-inch alloy wheels with low profile tyres, leather trim for the gear knob and steering wheel.

The SC 1.4 Sport costs £10,295, good value for money if you don’t count the performance element. My test car had even larger alloy wheels, 17-inch, which looked good but destroyed the ride comfort when used in conjunction with the sports suspension and low profile tyres of the SC Sport. A definite case of fashion over function.

Ride and driving

Having driven the SE five-door models at the Ibiza press launch I found them to be underpowered but excellent in the handling and comfort department. The suspension was well able to cope with poor road surfaces without the car becoming unsettled. Now a few months later and we get a three-door model with Sports specification, sports suspension, low profile tyres and big wheels.

Ride comfort is nonexistent; the suspension is too firm to absorb shocks from potholes and therefore unsettles the car all the time. The steering is still sharp and the grip levels good but the low profile tyres transmit a huge amount of road noise into the car.

As for the 1.4-litre, 85PS petrol engine? Please do not associate this unit with the Sport branding for this model. The four-cylinder unit is noisy but revs freely enough as it needs to do to get the performance need from it. You get to know the gearbox pretty well.

With 97lb-ft of torque developed from 3,800rpm there just isn’t enough power to get the car moving and once you get to driving up hills, change down the gears early to keep the engine on song.

The trouble is to obtain the relatively low CO2 emissions and official fuel economy figures, the gearing is so tall it really gives this engine no chance to perform. It will be fine for commuting into towns and on the open motorways if not fully loaded, but in real life it is hard work to drive and hard on the backside.

SEAT Ibiza SC MILESTONES

SEAT Ibiza SC 1.4 Sport

Price: £10,295. Body type: Three-door hatchback – SportsCoupe SEAT says

Engine: 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, petrol, 85PS, 97lb ft from 3,800rpm

Performance: 108mph, 0-62mph 11.8 seconds, 45.5mpg (actual 36.4 country road travel to 42.1 motorway cruising), CO2 149g/km, VED Band C £120, BIK tax 17%

Insurance group: 3

Boot capacity: 284-litres

For: Good value, sporty looks, good cornering grip, economical to run

Against: ESP not standard, noisy engine, tall gearing dulls performance, rigid sport suspension/tyres spoil ride comfort and unsettle the car

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