Seat Ibiza 1.2TSI FR DSG vs Other Cars
I bought my 2013 Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI FR almost 3 years ago now, and ran it as my daily car for the first 6 months, before it was used elsewhere and now again with 20,000 miles and 2 and a half years use.
During that time I have ran various other cars and just for the potential interest to others, I’ll give my opinion on how I feel they compare to the Ibiza. My daily commute is 7 miles each way, with little traffic early in the morning and lots of traffic in the evening. I also get to drive at the weekend.
Note these comparisons are just that, the cars are not necessarily competitors, in the same class or price ranges, but just giving my observations.
Mk3 Hyundai Santa Fe: I liked this car in theory, and it handled bad roads very well, more comfortable than the Seat, and very practical. However despite the similar 0-60 figures, this car felt sluggish compared to the Seat once you passed about 30mph. I think it must be all the extra weight. And cornering, well you thought you’d fall out of the car or roll it going around most corners at anything other than a snails pace. The Seat definitely beat it in every way driving wise.
E93 BMW 325i SE Convertible Auto: I drove this for about 3 months. The BMW leather interior is nicer than the Seat, the 6 cylinder engine sounds better however, being an older car, it suffered from rattles (especially with the roof down) and a few electrical issues with random warnings. In terms of drive, it definitely felt less agile than the Seat, and didn’t really feel any faster around town unless you pushed it hard.
Mk2 Audi TTS S-Tronic: Again, around town this car driving didn’t feel much faster than the Seat. However in sport mode or if you get above 2500rpm, this thing became a rocket. This car did suffer badly from turbo lag below 2000rpm, to the extent that the Seat actually felt more responsive below around 1500rpm.
The suspension was firm though, and the car had a lot of tyre noise at motorway speeds. To the point the I felt the Seat was actually the quieter and more comfortable motorway driver out of the two!
The interior was definitely a class above the Seat, though I think Audi to the best interiors. Despite being a small car, it had long doors so a pain to get out of sometimes in parking spaces
Audi S5 Sportback V6T: Acceleration wise, was definitely more responsive than the Seat pretty much all the time, the interior quality was the best so far. Had a nice growl in dynamic mode. Was a comfortable motorway cruiser especially with adaptive cruise control etc. The Seat was a lot more nimble though and more fun around corners. It is also a very long car so a pain to park and I had to get out of parking spaces carefully
Range Rover Evoque SD4 Auto: Compare with the Seat, this car suffers huge turbo lag until about 1700rpm. Around town, unless you boot it, it doesn’t feel any quicker than the Seat. It’s a very wide car and a pain in parking spaces. It has picked up numerous scratches and dings on the doors as a result of this. Interior is much better than the Seat, as you’d expect. It is also much better ride comfort, but then it’s an SUV. Definitely not as much fun to drive as the Seat.
Porsche Boxster 987 PDK: This has the Seat beaten for driving dynamics and acceleration. However it’s a pain to drive in the rain, and the Seat does have much better visibility, and is more practical.
Porsche 911 997 PDK: Again this has the Seat beaten for performance and driving fun. Interestingly, when you are driving the Seat at 40mph and this at 40mph, you feel you’re doing about 20mph in the Seat in comparison. The loud exhaust and engine noise really add to the sensation of speed. To be fair though, you can still have at least 50% of the fun in the Seat on the same roads…
Jaguar F-Type V6S: This thing sounds so loud compared to the Seat (or just about anything else). You can have a lot of fun in this car, but mainly making noises etc. It’s a very heavy car, definitely feels less agile than the Seat. In terms of performance, this thing is set up not to be driven gently so as a result, it just feels quick all the time. Down sides, almost zero practicality, long and wide with wide doors, so a real pain to park compared to the Seat. Also, if you want to drive off quietly, best leave it at home and take the Seat – otherwise you’ll wake up the neighbours. Definitely less reliable than the Seat, with various electrical and mechanical issues. Very firm ride, to the point where it really isn’t very comfortable around town, car park up ramps will get the bottom scraped unless you’re very slow. On the roads with speed bumps etc, the Seat is definitely the faster better choice!
So far during the time I’ve owned the Seat Ibiza, it’s never so far let anyone down. I’ve just replaced all 4 tyres (rears were half worn but one side had a nail in it) and everything is going perfectly. Ok it’s picked up 4 scuffed alloys and a few dings etc, but all that is just cosmetic.
Although I would not say the Seat is better overall than most of the cars I’ve compared it against (given the sector it’s in you wouldn’t reasonable expect it to), I think it does stand up well against a fair few of them. It was by far the best car to park out of all of them, since it is narrow, short and has short doors!
Given the price point of the Seat, I think it shows what a great little car they’ve come up with in my opinion.
So in summary:-
- More agile than a bmw 3 series
- better cornering than a hyundai santa or a range rover evoque
- less low end turbo lag than an audi tts or range rover evoque
- more practical and better over speed bumps than a porsche boxster, 911or f-type
- easier to park than any of the other cars.
And I'd say it's the best all round car for the purpose of which I'm using it for.
I bought my 2013 Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI FR almost 3 years ago now, and ran it as my daily car for the first 6 months, before it was used elsewhere and now again with 20,000 miles and 2 and a half years use.
During that time I have ran various other cars and just for the potential interest to others, I’ll give my opinion on how I feel they compare to the Ibiza. My daily commute is 7 miles each way, with little traffic early in the morning and lots of traffic in the evening. I also get to drive at the weekend.
Note these comparisons are just that, the cars are not necessarily competitors, in the same class or price ranges, but just giving my observations.
Mk3 Hyundai Santa Fe: I liked this car in theory, and it handled bad roads very well, more comfortable than the Seat, and very practical. However despite the similar 0-60 figures, this car felt sluggish compared to the Seat once you passed about 30mph. I think it must be all the extra weight. And cornering, well you thought you’d fall out of the car or roll it going around most corners at anything other than a snails pace. The Seat definitely beat it in every way driving wise.
E93 BMW 325i SE Convertible Auto: I drove this for about 3 months. The BMW leather interior is nicer than the Seat, the 6 cylinder engine sounds better however, being an older car, it suffered from rattles (especially with the roof down) and a few electrical issues with random warnings. In terms of drive, it definitely felt less agile than the Seat, and didn’t really feel any faster around town unless you pushed it hard.
Mk2 Audi TTS S-Tronic: Again, around town this car driving didn’t feel much faster than the Seat. However in sport mode or if you get above 2500rpm, this thing became a rocket. This car did suffer badly from turbo lag below 2000rpm, to the extent that the Seat actually felt more responsive below around 1500rpm.
The suspension was firm though, and the car had a lot of tyre noise at motorway speeds. To the point the I felt the Seat was actually the quieter and more comfortable motorway driver out of the two!
The interior was definitely a class above the Seat, though I think Audi to the best interiors. Despite being a small car, it had long doors so a pain to get out of sometimes in parking spaces
Audi S5 Sportback V6T: Acceleration wise, was definitely more responsive than the Seat pretty much all the time, the interior quality was the best so far. Had a nice growl in dynamic mode. Was a comfortable motorway cruiser especially with adaptive cruise control etc. The Seat was a lot more nimble though and more fun around corners. It is also a very long car so a pain to park and I had to get out of parking spaces carefully
Range Rover Evoque SD4 Auto: Compare with the Seat, this car suffers huge turbo lag until about 1700rpm. Around town, unless you boot it, it doesn’t feel any quicker than the Seat. It’s a very wide car and a pain in parking spaces. It has picked up numerous scratches and dings on the doors as a result of this. Interior is much better than the Seat, as you’d expect. It is also much better ride comfort, but then it’s an SUV. Definitely not as much fun to drive as the Seat.
Porsche Boxster 987 PDK: This has the Seat beaten for driving dynamics and acceleration. However it’s a pain to drive in the rain, and the Seat does have much better visibility, and is more practical.
Porsche 911 997 PDK: Again this has the Seat beaten for performance and driving fun. Interestingly, when you are driving the Seat at 40mph and this at 40mph, you feel you’re doing about 20mph in the Seat in comparison. The loud exhaust and engine noise really add to the sensation of speed. To be fair though, you can still have at least 50% of the fun in the Seat on the same roads…
Jaguar F-Type V6S: This thing sounds so loud compared to the Seat (or just about anything else). You can have a lot of fun in this car, but mainly making noises etc. It’s a very heavy car, definitely feels less agile than the Seat. In terms of performance, this thing is set up not to be driven gently so as a result, it just feels quick all the time. Down sides, almost zero practicality, long and wide with wide doors, so a real pain to park compared to the Seat. Also, if you want to drive off quietly, best leave it at home and take the Seat – otherwise you’ll wake up the neighbours. Definitely less reliable than the Seat, with various electrical and mechanical issues. Very firm ride, to the point where it really isn’t very comfortable around town, car park up ramps will get the bottom scraped unless you’re very slow. On the roads with speed bumps etc, the Seat is definitely the faster better choice!
So far during the time I’ve owned the Seat Ibiza, it’s never so far let anyone down. I’ve just replaced all 4 tyres (rears were half worn but one side had a nail in it) and everything is going perfectly. Ok it’s picked up 4 scuffed alloys and a few dings etc, but all that is just cosmetic.
Although I would not say the Seat is better overall than most of the cars I’ve compared it against (given the sector it’s in you wouldn’t reasonable expect it to), I think it does stand up well against a fair few of them. It was by far the best car to park out of all of them, since it is narrow, short and has short doors!
Given the price point of the Seat, I think it shows what a great little car they’ve come up with in my opinion.
So in summary:-
- More agile than a bmw 3 series
- better cornering than a hyundai santa or a range rover evoque
- less low end turbo lag than an audi tts or range rover evoque
- more practical and better over speed bumps than a porsche boxster, 911or f-type
- easier to park than any of the other cars.
And I'd say it's the best all round car for the purpose of which I'm using it for.
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