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New Ibiza FR
- Thread starter Mr Pig
- Start date
Picked up the car today. I like it! Have to say that I disagree with the criticism of the handling, I think the car drives well. Compliant around town but stiffens up at speed and gives reasonable feedback on what's happening under you. True, there is not as much info from the tyres as I would like but there is some and it's better than I was expecting.
Still trying to get a handle on the bizarre power curve! Sometimes it feels like letting it rev works, other times it feels like nothing is happening and the highest torque seems to show up fairly low down. Wish the engine didn't sound quite so small too ;0)
But it's a great balance. Comfy around town, docile on the motorway but perks up and is happy to play if you let it loose on the back roads. Really happy with it.
Already bought two spare alloy wheels and ordered up a jack-kit etc. The wang-chung tyres seem usable in the dry, not driven in the wet yet. They're a bit more drifty in the bends than I would like but it's predictable to be fair, I don't know how much is due to the tyres and how much is the car.
Still trying to get a handle on the bizarre power curve! Sometimes it feels like letting it rev works, other times it feels like nothing is happening and the highest torque seems to show up fairly low down. Wish the engine didn't sound quite so small too ;0)
But it's a great balance. Comfy around town, docile on the motorway but perks up and is happy to play if you let it loose on the back roads. Really happy with it.
Already bought two spare alloy wheels and ordered up a jack-kit etc. The wang-chung tyres seem usable in the dry, not driven in the wet yet. They're a bit more drifty in the bends than I would like but it's predictable to be fair, I don't know how much is due to the tyres and how much is the car.
The older 8V 1.2 has good torque from low revs but the power curve falls off a cliff at 6000. Even remapped cars wont rev higher. That engine also seems boost limited in 1st gear (clutch protection?) so it doesn't seem to get going until in 2nd. When I took the 16V 1.2 for a 100 mile test drive, it seemed very similar, apart from a drone at low revs that I didn't like much.
I agree the engine doesn't always feel like it responds in the same way - it's very different when driven gently or thrashed a bit. Speeding up the gear changes and not letting the boost drop off is more satisfying.
I agree the engine doesn't always feel like it responds in the same way - it's very different when driven gently or thrashed a bit. Speeding up the gear changes and not letting the boost drop off is more satisfying.
Not poorly but not as sharp as a Fiesta for instance.
The other thing I'm struggling with is the seating position. Typical small car bug-bear, pedals too close and wheel too far away. My right leg is floating in the air with no support at all and moving the seat back puts the wheel too far away. It's anointing that they put such limited adjustments on the seat, especially on small cars which often have compromised pedal positions to begin with. You don't even have proper height adjustment, it's only the back that drops, and there is no height adjustment for the front of the seat at all.
Just for the record, I measured the height of my son's 2017 Ecomotive and my 2016 FR both front and rear and they are exactly the same. The FR is not lowered. Also, the 17'' FR wheels are slightly larger overall in diameter than the 15'' Ecomotive ones so if anything, the FR will sit fractionally higher! ;0)
No no, my car (the Alor Blue one) was not lowered, this is how it is...but it did have a full tank of fuel though
. I was under the impression that both the FRs and Ecomotive (at least on the Leon, Ibizas I dont know) had lowered suspension anyway. https://www.whatcar.com/news/2014-seat-leon-st-ecomotive-first-drive/
At least this is the case for the Leon Ecomotive.
Previous eco VW s have had lowered suspension for aero reasons to enhance mpg, as opposed to enhanced handling like the FR. Maybe both models are low (compared to the standard or SE spec).
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