After six years I am back in a SEAT, having previously owned MK1 Leon Cupra, MKII Leon FR TDi and TSI 211, MK3 Leon SE Dynamic TSI and an Arona SE Technology Lux TDi. This time, I have an IBIZA Xcellence Lux 115 DSG. It was the lease deal which was the main driver, although having a soft spot for SEAT and smaller cars was another. I have always viewed the Ibiza as a stylish car with handsome lines with everything in the right proportions. I have 18” alloy wheels which fill the arches nicely and add to the overall look. Downside is they kick up more road noise and firm up the ride. I still think it was a shame there was never a Cupra as it could have used the engine and gearbox from the Polo GTi to make a quick and handsome hot hatch.
My car has the latest 2024 Evo2 TSi engine which increased BHP from 108 to 114, with five to ten hole injectors, lower internal friction and a new three-way catalytic converter with particulate filter. Temperature resistance of the turbocharger has been increased to 980 °C. With the optimum air-fuel ignition ratio now available over a wider range of engine speeds. Max power is available 500 rpm sooner, and across a wider rev range as well. The maximum torque of 200 Nm is also available for an additional 500 rpm at the upper end of the rev range. Having driven an Arona 108 DSG on holiday, the newer engine feels less laggy with more urgency and does feel slightly quicker. The DSG box also feels less hesitant from what I remember; maybe down to a more responsive engine?
I must admit my first drive was a big disappointment as the steering felt overly light and car was fidgety on the road. This turned out to be the tyre pressures being set for economy not at the lower PSI for comfort. With air let out to the 33 front and 31 PSI rear; instantly added weight to the steering and made the car more pliant for a slight increase in road noise and I assume fuel consumption. Compared to my 2023 Peugeot 2008 GT EAT8, the Ibiza feels slightly better built in places and seats are defiantly of a higher quality in others less so door cards being the one major difference quality wise. The Ibiza being DSG is also much smoother gearchange wise than the torque convertor box in the Peugeot. Ibiza feels slightly quicker too especially off the mark where the Peugeot had a bit of lag due to the gearbox and turbo lag. The Ibiza being lighter (100Kg) is more agile. We also have the latest version of the Mini Cooper C 5 door with a 1.5 (156) DSG and the suspension and ride is slightly more sophisticated in that than the Ibiza. The mini being on 16 not 18 inch rims of the Ibiza does help too, obviously a quicker car but not as much as you would expect. Living in a village with some rough roads the option for 17” wheels on the Mini was not ticked as that was my only concern with the Ibiza on 18” with potholed roads that in places look like the surface of the moon…
Once run in the Ibiza will be a very nippy cross-country companion, equally at home on the motorway. After a couple of recent longer journeys where the comfortable seats, adaptive cruise control and using Android Auto for music and maps made the journey a pleasure. The Ibiza on the motorway feels like a bigger car than it is, being very stable and planted. I do like that I get Google maps with satellite view on the main display whilst the digital dash PRO displays the built in Sat Nav including traffic. The built in SAT Nav is good and traffic excellent; if a bit slow to start up. I just find the Google Maps graphics and satellite view are better IMO. I found Google Maps excellent on a Polestar 2, I had as a hire car in Scotland, although charging was a nightmare as sockets and chargers apparently do not like the cold and can refuse to fast charge as we found out.
DSG wise, kick down when you need a quick overtake or quickly get up to speed makes most of the peppy engine which feels livelier than the Peugeot 1.2 Puretech 130 (we won’t mention wet belts!). Push the DSG back to go into Sport mode and revs go an extra 500 rpm, with a quicker shift action. I like how you can tap it back again to drop into drive mode. Much better than the drive modes which are annoying in that you cannot select individual and leave it in that mode. Which for me would be sport steering with standard throttle response and DSG. As annoyingly it always reverts back to normal same goes for high beam assist which on the Peugeot and Mini stay permanently on once selected via their respective menu’s. At least it is just a quick push back with the stalk to enable high beam assist with headlights on.
Mpg has been good even with the colder weather seeing around 40 mpg on local runs and a recent longer run on motorway and A roads seeing 47 mpg. In warmer weather and more than a few hundred miles on the clock, I think 50 mpg on a longer journey should be achievable. One final annoying element and not down to SEAT but the EU as all new cars built from June 2024 have to have the speed warning bong permanently on. So if you go over the speed limit, say 2-3mph mph, it keeps warning you every few mins until you go back to the speed limit exactly. Worst still if it picks up the wrong speed or those countdown signs to a speed limit you get a ping even though you are driving at the correct speed - quite annoying and too much nannying. At least SEAT is more of a ping the Mini Is an angry bong. Anyhow two years motoring on this lease and see what is about I do like the new Alpine A290, if I switch electric but I am happy to still be driving a petrol and enjoy the engagement and soul that each time I drive an electric car I find seems to be missing.
My car has the latest 2024 Evo2 TSi engine which increased BHP from 108 to 114, with five to ten hole injectors, lower internal friction and a new three-way catalytic converter with particulate filter. Temperature resistance of the turbocharger has been increased to 980 °C. With the optimum air-fuel ignition ratio now available over a wider range of engine speeds. Max power is available 500 rpm sooner, and across a wider rev range as well. The maximum torque of 200 Nm is also available for an additional 500 rpm at the upper end of the rev range. Having driven an Arona 108 DSG on holiday, the newer engine feels less laggy with more urgency and does feel slightly quicker. The DSG box also feels less hesitant from what I remember; maybe down to a more responsive engine?
I must admit my first drive was a big disappointment as the steering felt overly light and car was fidgety on the road. This turned out to be the tyre pressures being set for economy not at the lower PSI for comfort. With air let out to the 33 front and 31 PSI rear; instantly added weight to the steering and made the car more pliant for a slight increase in road noise and I assume fuel consumption. Compared to my 2023 Peugeot 2008 GT EAT8, the Ibiza feels slightly better built in places and seats are defiantly of a higher quality in others less so door cards being the one major difference quality wise. The Ibiza being DSG is also much smoother gearchange wise than the torque convertor box in the Peugeot. Ibiza feels slightly quicker too especially off the mark where the Peugeot had a bit of lag due to the gearbox and turbo lag. The Ibiza being lighter (100Kg) is more agile. We also have the latest version of the Mini Cooper C 5 door with a 1.5 (156) DSG and the suspension and ride is slightly more sophisticated in that than the Ibiza. The mini being on 16 not 18 inch rims of the Ibiza does help too, obviously a quicker car but not as much as you would expect. Living in a village with some rough roads the option for 17” wheels on the Mini was not ticked as that was my only concern with the Ibiza on 18” with potholed roads that in places look like the surface of the moon…
Once run in the Ibiza will be a very nippy cross-country companion, equally at home on the motorway. After a couple of recent longer journeys where the comfortable seats, adaptive cruise control and using Android Auto for music and maps made the journey a pleasure. The Ibiza on the motorway feels like a bigger car than it is, being very stable and planted. I do like that I get Google maps with satellite view on the main display whilst the digital dash PRO displays the built in Sat Nav including traffic. The built in SAT Nav is good and traffic excellent; if a bit slow to start up. I just find the Google Maps graphics and satellite view are better IMO. I found Google Maps excellent on a Polestar 2, I had as a hire car in Scotland, although charging was a nightmare as sockets and chargers apparently do not like the cold and can refuse to fast charge as we found out.
DSG wise, kick down when you need a quick overtake or quickly get up to speed makes most of the peppy engine which feels livelier than the Peugeot 1.2 Puretech 130 (we won’t mention wet belts!). Push the DSG back to go into Sport mode and revs go an extra 500 rpm, with a quicker shift action. I like how you can tap it back again to drop into drive mode. Much better than the drive modes which are annoying in that you cannot select individual and leave it in that mode. Which for me would be sport steering with standard throttle response and DSG. As annoyingly it always reverts back to normal same goes for high beam assist which on the Peugeot and Mini stay permanently on once selected via their respective menu’s. At least it is just a quick push back with the stalk to enable high beam assist with headlights on.
Mpg has been good even with the colder weather seeing around 40 mpg on local runs and a recent longer run on motorway and A roads seeing 47 mpg. In warmer weather and more than a few hundred miles on the clock, I think 50 mpg on a longer journey should be achievable. One final annoying element and not down to SEAT but the EU as all new cars built from June 2024 have to have the speed warning bong permanently on. So if you go over the speed limit, say 2-3mph mph, it keeps warning you every few mins until you go back to the speed limit exactly. Worst still if it picks up the wrong speed or those countdown signs to a speed limit you get a ping even though you are driving at the correct speed - quite annoying and too much nannying. At least SEAT is more of a ping the Mini Is an angry bong. Anyhow two years motoring on this lease and see what is about I do like the new Alpine A290, if I switch electric but I am happy to still be driving a petrol and enjoy the engagement and soul that each time I drive an electric car I find seems to be missing.
