Well, we’ve had our Ibiza just over a week and it’s just ticked over 500 miles which is enough time to have given it a good go on a number of roads, so I thought I’d jot down my thoughts in case it’s of any interest / help to people thinking of buying one!
Firstly, the spec. It’s an FR with the 115 PS TSi engine and seven speed DSG ‘box. Desire red and with the standard cloth interior. It should have had Alcantara, but that’s another story... I wanted to recreate as best I could the spec of our A3 e-tron. The FR was the default option as it’s the only one available with the DSG transmission, which we wanted, and you can only have the 115PS engine. I added a panoramic roof, 18” wheels, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control, dual zone climate control, vision pack and LED lights.
Performance wise it’s fine; it didn’t really get a proper running in as it’s first journey was 272 miles. Suffice to say that it was driven like any other car, and it never felt slow or underpowered. The gearbox isn’t the smoothest when setting off, but the gear changes are very quick and smooth, though it does like to get into high gears quickly. I’ve configured ‘individual’ to have the engine in ‘sport’ (sharper throttle response and, I think, quicker to kick down) with the steering in ‘comfort’. Seems like a good combination, though unlike the BMW ‘sport’ doesn’t lock out the stop/start. It’d be better if it did, because I think part of the problem when setting off is the car starting again. I have to remember to deactivate stop/start each time. It picks up speed briskly enough, and so far has averaged 43mpg per the OBC. Seems fair enough, and I imagine will improve a bit.
Ride and handling on the 18” wheels are, to me, pretty good. The ride is firm, but not to the point of being uncomfortable, and it handles bumps and potholes well. Placing the car in corners is very easy, and it turns in crisply even when the steerings in comfort. It’s hard to describe, but it has the feeling of being solid yet insubstantial if that makes sense? By which I mean it deals with lumps and bumps very well, even though it also feels light. Comfort wise I find the front seats easy enough to get comfortable in, and I got out after the first 5 and half hour journey feeling fine. I stopped just once to fill up with petrol about 30 minutes in to the journey, and after that just kept going. Plenty of space in the front, and headroom is fine even with the panoramic roof. Road noise could be better suppressed, but I don’t know if that’s excacerbated in ours by the 18” wheels and panoramic roof.
Thoughts on spec? The Alcantara would have lifted the interior - I’m still mildly annoyed about that, and a spare wheel was a silly omission. Having lived with the car I think the £160 on the wireless charging stuff would be money well spent, as it’s exactly where you’d leave your phone. Using USB is easy enough, but then it want to use Apple CarPlay and stops you using your phone as an audio source via USB. The standard stereo sounds pretty good; I don’t see the value in a £325 upgrade, but your mileage may vary! I’m not really a fan of the 18” wheels so would probably skip them next time, though they do make the car look good... The lack of electric rear windows didn’t bother me, until I climbed into the back to fit the front centre arm rest. Then I saw them and thought ‘why?!?”
Other irritations? The touch screen gets very smeary very quickly, as does the high gloss dash. That’ll scratch easily too I imagine. I have to remember that it is, relatively speaking, a cheap car because the hard plastics on the dash (not so noticeable as how often do you touch that) and doors (frequently touched) are not great. Well put together, and no rattles, but not exactly great to the touch. The lack of electric rear windows is kind of okay, but the lack of grab handles in the roof less so. That is annoying! The inability to spec a front centre armrest is also surprising, but it’s an easy enough DIY fit for under £100. The only other bit of kit that it would have been nice to be able to specify would, for me, have been heated seats. On the other hand, I’ve just specced the new Polo with the same engine, gearbox and, as best I could, toys and it came to over £26k at list price. The SEAT’s list price was, from memory, at least £5k less than that. And the Ibiza looks a lot better than the Polo
Summary? Very pleased with it. It looks great, the performance is good, it’s fun to drive, is well kitted out and seems well put together. It feels like a proper car
And finally, it has now been cleaned following its baptism of slush and salt the day I picked it up, and in the sunshine and clean it’s looking pretty good
https://ibb.co/b1zmdS
Just my thoughts; let me know if you have any questions
Peter.
Firstly, the spec. It’s an FR with the 115 PS TSi engine and seven speed DSG ‘box. Desire red and with the standard cloth interior. It should have had Alcantara, but that’s another story... I wanted to recreate as best I could the spec of our A3 e-tron. The FR was the default option as it’s the only one available with the DSG transmission, which we wanted, and you can only have the 115PS engine. I added a panoramic roof, 18” wheels, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control, dual zone climate control, vision pack and LED lights.
Performance wise it’s fine; it didn’t really get a proper running in as it’s first journey was 272 miles. Suffice to say that it was driven like any other car, and it never felt slow or underpowered. The gearbox isn’t the smoothest when setting off, but the gear changes are very quick and smooth, though it does like to get into high gears quickly. I’ve configured ‘individual’ to have the engine in ‘sport’ (sharper throttle response and, I think, quicker to kick down) with the steering in ‘comfort’. Seems like a good combination, though unlike the BMW ‘sport’ doesn’t lock out the stop/start. It’d be better if it did, because I think part of the problem when setting off is the car starting again. I have to remember to deactivate stop/start each time. It picks up speed briskly enough, and so far has averaged 43mpg per the OBC. Seems fair enough, and I imagine will improve a bit.
Ride and handling on the 18” wheels are, to me, pretty good. The ride is firm, but not to the point of being uncomfortable, and it handles bumps and potholes well. Placing the car in corners is very easy, and it turns in crisply even when the steerings in comfort. It’s hard to describe, but it has the feeling of being solid yet insubstantial if that makes sense? By which I mean it deals with lumps and bumps very well, even though it also feels light. Comfort wise I find the front seats easy enough to get comfortable in, and I got out after the first 5 and half hour journey feeling fine. I stopped just once to fill up with petrol about 30 minutes in to the journey, and after that just kept going. Plenty of space in the front, and headroom is fine even with the panoramic roof. Road noise could be better suppressed, but I don’t know if that’s excacerbated in ours by the 18” wheels and panoramic roof.
Thoughts on spec? The Alcantara would have lifted the interior - I’m still mildly annoyed about that, and a spare wheel was a silly omission. Having lived with the car I think the £160 on the wireless charging stuff would be money well spent, as it’s exactly where you’d leave your phone. Using USB is easy enough, but then it want to use Apple CarPlay and stops you using your phone as an audio source via USB. The standard stereo sounds pretty good; I don’t see the value in a £325 upgrade, but your mileage may vary! I’m not really a fan of the 18” wheels so would probably skip them next time, though they do make the car look good... The lack of electric rear windows didn’t bother me, until I climbed into the back to fit the front centre arm rest. Then I saw them and thought ‘why?!?”
Other irritations? The touch screen gets very smeary very quickly, as does the high gloss dash. That’ll scratch easily too I imagine. I have to remember that it is, relatively speaking, a cheap car because the hard plastics on the dash (not so noticeable as how often do you touch that) and doors (frequently touched) are not great. Well put together, and no rattles, but not exactly great to the touch. The lack of electric rear windows is kind of okay, but the lack of grab handles in the roof less so. That is annoying! The inability to spec a front centre armrest is also surprising, but it’s an easy enough DIY fit for under £100. The only other bit of kit that it would have been nice to be able to specify would, for me, have been heated seats. On the other hand, I’ve just specced the new Polo with the same engine, gearbox and, as best I could, toys and it came to over £26k at list price. The SEAT’s list price was, from memory, at least £5k less than that. And the Ibiza looks a lot better than the Polo
Summary? Very pleased with it. It looks great, the performance is good, it’s fun to drive, is well kitted out and seems well put together. It feels like a proper car
And finally, it has now been cleaned following its baptism of slush and salt the day I picked it up, and in the sunshine and clean it’s looking pretty good
https://ibb.co/b1zmdS
Just my thoughts; let me know if you have any questions
Peter.
Last edited:
