Seat has been around for a long time, providing inexpensive and attractive cars. The company was formed in Spain in 1950 and initially made cars for Fiat. In 1982 they broke away from the Italian giant and built their own Ronda. They are now a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen.
Seat has a proud tradition of naming their cars after areas in Spain. Ibiza was the first car to be honoured in 1984 followed by the Malaga in 1985. Ibiza is an ideal name for a supermini as we tend to associate the Spanish island as a fun place for young people who wear bright colours, like the Ibiza range of cars. It’s also Seat’s most popular model.
But it’s not just young people who buy the Ibiza; it’s an ideal car for any small family as it’s very comfortable car to drive and travel in.
This latest version is a refresh of the fifth generation of the Ibiza, which was launched in 2017. Naturally there are improvements, but you would probably need to be wearing your Seat Anorak to spot all the changes/improvements.
The new car gets a sharper look with a revised hexagonal grille and new improved headlights featuring distinctive triangular daytime running lights. All topped off at the front with the traditional Seat logo. The exterior refresh does not dramatically alter the look of the car, but it modernises it.
The boot is opened by pressing the Seat logo and inside that boot you get 355 litres of space.
Liminal Red seems to be the most popular colour for promoting the new car, but my test car came in a green-blue colour called Oniric, which I thought was a very cute and discreet colour.
Inside, the seats are bright and comfortable and overall it’s now a sleek and cosy interior. The neat 9.2-inch infotainment screen on the dash is user-friendly.
The car is a modern, practical supermini, but you get a few retro touches also. There is an old-style handbrake and two old-fashioned buttons on the dash for the radio controls. However, it’s not all retro with plenty of slave controls on the steering wheel. And you get a key which you place in the ignition to start the car; most modern cars are started without a key. My version also had a wireless phone charger.
My test car was a 1.0-litre automatic petrol with 115 brake horsepower. The 1.0-litre version is the only one available in Ireland. Plenty of power and you won’t have to make many pitstops for petrol.
Apart from Liminal Red and Oniric blue-green, the car is also available in seven other colours: Nevada White, Midnight Black, Magnetic Tech, Candy White, Fiord Blue, Graphene Grey and Phyton Yellow. Prices start at €24,340 and road tax is €200.
I liked the Ibiza and had nothing but compliments from family and friends who got to see the car up close. If you haven’t sampled a Seat in the past, take a test drive in the Ibiza, I reckon you will be impressed with the overall feel of the car and its frugal 1.0-litre petrol engine.
Seat also has a refreshed Arona available right now. They don’t seem to have any immediate plans for a fully electric version of the Ibiza and are probably leaving that avenue open to their sub-brand Cupra. But a mild-hybrid version of the Ibiza is due next year.
