My new Seat Ibiza SC FR 1.0 EcoTSI DSG compared with previous Mk3 Leon

[KXL]

Dear SeatCupra.net people, newbie here….my main aim is not to make enemies…haha…I have been lurking around on the site awhile to find useful info for (up till now) info for mk3 Leon, but as of this week, now on the Ibiza bandwagon. Had the Leon for 2 years (sorely missed during the 3-4 weeks with no car), and will have my shiny new Alor Blue Seat Ibiza FR 1.0 DSG EcoTSI for the next 2 years. Please note, my ‘review’ comparison below, these are my personal experiences. I will not comment on the size, as it’s obvious the Leon is bigger, has more space and will carry passengers more comfortably, more cargo etc, I knew this when I ‘downgraded’ size wise to Ibiza as I rarely carry 5 passengers and a full boot ever. Cheaper by £1.8k too, over 24 months as they are doing this Free 1 year insurance. I guess I will be ‘smart’ and post this very long review/comparison in bits (look out for several parts) so I can make my 10 (or was it 15?) posts and put pics at the end of the two!

Here are the specs:
Previous (gone Nov 2016): Seat Leon Mk3 5dr SE 2.0TDI 150 DSG (end 2013 model)
Montsant Red, TechPack (so almost all LED lights everywhere) 5.8” Sat Nav, 16in alloys, standard 8 speaker sound system

Current: Seat Ibiza SC FR 1.0TSI 110 DSG (2016 model, 66 Plate)
Alor Blue, TechPack 6.5” Sat Nav, 17 inch Targus Black, Bi-Xenon, Seat Sound system (6.1 setup)

Exterior:
Lets start with looks wise, they are similar, from a distance if the cars are the same colour, perhaps I will walk to the wrong car. Both are definitely better looking than say their VW / Skoda / Audi stalemates. For me, there is nothing to choose between the Leon and Ibiza (assuming Leon with LED headlamps and Ibiza Bi-Xenon). For me personally the halogen setup is like an ‘au-naturale’ look, whereas the upgrade headlights cars are ready for a party look . Bi-xenon’s currently have quite a lot of condensation inside the headlights, maybe it’s adjusting from sunny Barcelona to rainly/cloudy England. Black Targus on Ibiza really looks the part. I do find it odd the way the Ibiza folds its mirrors, but I also noticed that BMW 3 series does the same! Speaking of mirrors, the Ibiza’s mirrors are huge, compared to the Leon, I see so many things now, like upgrading from a 37 inch TV to a 50 inch TV! Both the colours of the two cars (when clean) looks amazing in the sunlight. Probably because the Ibiza is a SC, the door on the Ibiza feels more solid & heavy esp when opening or closing, compared to the Leon. Boot lid on Leon feels more solid than on Ibiza. I guess size does matter in this case. Speaking of size or in this case width, at least I no longer cringe when I’m entering a width restricted bridge/tunnel, easy peasy in the Ibiza.

Interior:
Ok I must admit, the Leon looks more polished and upmarket, from door handles to the chrome detailing and piano black surrounds Sat Nav is in a better position too, and I have more places to put stuff (eg…big armrest, open/close cubby under AC controls), sunglass holder below light switches and a massive glove box. At least on the Ibiza I have 3 cup holders .

Don’t get me wrong, the Ibiza’s interior is really good since the facelift, almost up there with the Polo and Mini, but Leon was still a nicer place to sit in. If you are 6ft or slightly taller, you can sit anywhere in the Leon, in Ibiza SC, only the drivers or front passenger seats, rears only for sub 6ft ppl I’m afraid. Can still carry 5 passengers…but conditions apply*

Also I noticed in the Ibiza if I put the seat high, you can see the ‘metal’ bits underneath the seat, from the other front seat, in the Leon they were ‘hidden.’ Perhaps maybe the Seat SCs needs to have this to push the seat forward when entering the rears, I don’t know.

I do prefer the FR steering wheel, over the standard steering wheel, I find the buttons on the FR wheel easier to press compared to the Leon’s SE wheel, plus those paddle shifters are fun to use on the FR Ibiza.

Air vents: from the Leon’s (all 4 do not match) to Ibiza’s manual turn, open, twist air-vents, it’s a different concept, but at least all 4 are matching! For me it doesn’t bother me…as long as they work, and don’t rattle! I do like the FR (greyish) surround on the Ibiza air vents though.
No roof grab handles for passengers on the Ibiza, so if you have a passenger who likes to hold, find elsewhere to hold.

 

[KXL]

Rattles / squeaks:
My Leon did rattle a bit in a variety of places, A pillar, instrument display, driver’s door & front passenger door. Went to dealer 3-4 times, all fixed under warranty inc a heavily condensed rear light cluster. A pillar & instrument panel rattled only during acceleration and vibration from engine, passenger door rattled during bass music, and driver’s door rattled during bass music and sometimes acceleration. Annoyingly the rattles came not at the same time but one after another, right after I fixed the other. Rear suspension somewhere squeaks over certain speed bumps, I could live with that, so left it.

A pillar passenger side, they removed, and tightened the screw, just over manufactures tightness. Sorted

Instrument display: they removed and tightened. Sorted

Doors they removed both door trim, applied some sort of expanding foam sealant inside, and it was sorted. Music sounded better too, sadly about 5 months after everything was sorted, had to hand back the car.

I know it’s early days in the Ibiza, but at present nothing rattles or squeaks even with the volume turned to ¾ full, I usually listen to it 1/3 volume.

Equipment:
I do miss the higher resolution (and colour) DIS display on the Leon, however the Ibiza one is perfectly functional in black and white. Info is exactly the same…just a bit jagged in the letters/numbers Ibiza’s DIS.

The new 6.5” Sat Nav (Full Link) is miles better than the old 5.8” in the Leon. Previously, I would turn off the roundabout, and 1-2 secs later, the SatNav reacts, no such issue here. Angle of the Sat Nav (for my seating height) was better in the Leon, maybe the Ibiza’s is for taller people, who knows, but it makes up for the resolution. Icons are much nicer too! Seems like they did a software upgrade, some buttons esp on Sat Nav have change places, but there’s now an option on the Sat Nav screen to show GPS data inc elevation.

Haven’t tried Full Link yet, so can’t comment.

Perhaps just me, the auto-dimming rear view mirror annoys me, twice at night, car behind me…lights ‘hidden’ as already out of sight under my rear mirror, couldn’t see the car. Day time, no problem. Also this mirror is smaller than the standard mirror in the Leon.

 

[KXL]

Sound System:
I had the standard 8 (2 x 8”, 2 x 6.5”, 4x tweeters) speaker system in the Leon, which I’m guessing was 4x20 watts? It was really good for a standard sound system, lots of bass and good clarity. I only found out fronts were 8”? recently on the forum I believe. The rear 6.5 speakers were quite a bit…weaker than the fronts though, but I guess that’s to be expected. Overall happy with this 8 speaker system, if nobody told me, surely this could not be the standard (base) system, but the mid-range version I would have thought?

Over to the Ibiza with its Seat sound with 6 + 1 speakers (4x 6.5” 2x tweeters, 1 sub). Music clarity is definitely better here, maybe there is a smaller space to fill the sound, or it’s that added amp to push the music. Anyone know the power of this amp, make/model? In the boot underneath there’s the sub, which unfortunately means nowhere to put my additional car cleaning stuff (sponge, bottles, microfiber mitts etc). if you are stuck in traffic, or travelling slowly, you can tell this is the marginally better system, clarity, bass definition, volume. I’m not sure what happened here but I find the Ibiza’s 6.5” speakers better (clearer more powerful) than the Leon’s rear door 6.5” speakers. Magic of an amp perhaps? I could be wrong about the sizes, so please correct me if this is the case.

However, if you are on the highway or on a not so good road, you can actually hear the music in the Leon without upping the volume, Ibiza, well road / wind noise is not as well suppressed, volume up required. Is it worth the £155 extra, I would say yes!

Can this system compete with the likes of Audi A1 Bose, Mini’s HK sound system?

No, those other two, which I have heard before, after 5 secs you know it is in a different league (more fidelity, more presence, soundstage etc.)(price wise too!)

Headlights (LED vs Bi-Xenon)
Well the Ibiza Bi-Xenons are a bit brighter (but could be colour temp?) and shine further at stock level (I was cheeky and did turn up the height on the Leon’s LED, much better range). Very little between the two (Bi-Xenon 4.3k & 3.2k lumens vs LED 5.3k & ~ 2.5k? lumens) , although I must say the LED on Leon did pick up more detail (especially those reflective cones / bicycles / people’s shoes at night) better than the Bi-Xenons. In my opinion, I would say LEDs are better for city driving where you have many ‘obstacles’ but in country road or highway and unlit roads Bi-Xenons. I do wonder if my Bi-xenons are still on European mode, as there isn’t the beam pattern rise to the left, just a hump in the middle. Anyone have any ideas? Please note my Bi-xenons have been used less than 10 hrs thus far, this may change. I love it when the lights dance down and up (and sideways on the Xenons) when you first turn them on.

High beam: I would say Leon’s LEDs are better (if on constant), plus even the dipped beam raises up when you engage them, but for flashing, Bi-Xenons (if they are already on) goes higher, and drivers are under no illusion, you are flashing them. I’m not sure how effective bi-xenons are for flashing when they are off (and bulb lifespan too!).

However why is it, when I’m next to a Prius or Merc with LED headlights, theirs is much brighter than my Leon’s LEDs? Perhaps all LEDS are not equal.

LED DRLS on both are unmistakable, from a distance you know it’s a Leon or Ibiza, on the highway if you’re on the fast lane, people do get out of your way after seeing those distinctive DRLS. Rear LED lights likewise are really cool as well, Leon had single stretched rectangle, and Ibiza, 4 zigzags.

On the Leon, when turning switch from 0 to parking lights, the DRLs dim, it doesn’t seem to do that in the Ibiza, or I haven’t found how to!

I like the headlight washers too…ppl cross in front of my car too near during the night…splash them

 

[KXL]

Engine etc:
So I was thinking, this is going to be great (sarcasm), from 150PS down to 110PS, 320nm down to 200nm, 2l engine down to 1l engine. Initially I forgot to realise the Ibiza is also ~200kg lighter!

Actually the 1l EcoTSI engine is something special…it’s very responsive, off the traffic lights it reacts faster. Start / Stop function is very unperceivable in the Ibiza. In the Leon, you know when you’re start stopping and you know when the engine is on and revving. The DSG box behaves differently too, in the Leon, you bring the brake to ‘biting point’ so it engages the clutch, and gently release and it will creep forward, and you can go (although there is maybe 1 sec hesitation before it responds and goes), once it does, it does so smoothly. In the Ibiza, in D, I don’t seem to see/feel if/when the clutches do engage or not, with the same touch of the gas pedal, Ibiza leaps forward, it’s difficult to set off gently (so far), plus in D1 it feels like it’s dropping the clutch (in a manual gearbox way) midway in D1. Launching from a roundabout, I will have the Ibiza over Leon any day. The throttle is more sensitive / responsive in the Ibiza. In the city, I would say Ibiza is the better car, If doing 0-20, 0-30mph, the Leon would not be able to pull away (it might actually be slower), however from a rolling start, eg…20mph – 70mph or similar, or overtaking long vehicles in a single lane carriageway/highway, well as the saying goes ‘there is no replacement for displacement.’ I’m confident Ibiza cannot beat the Leon in this. Likewise I’m also confident if someone else drove the 1.0 EcoTSI, without telling this info to them, they would never have guessed it was only a 1 liter.

It might be something to do with the DSG as well, 7 vs 6 speeds. Ibiza likes to change quickly from D1 to D2 but keeps the revs up. Don’t get me wrong, both are smooth when changing up, I feel that the Leon’s 6 speed is more methodical and precise (very German) in upshifting whereas the 7 Speed Ibiza feels a bit frantic like (arrgghh…I need to change gear now, where is my next ratio, there are so many!) It might improve with time as currently Ibiza has less than 500 miles.

MPG:
Well, officially, both under test conditions should return 64 mpg, realistically, it’s not impossible, but very improbable. It’s like I can run further with less energy on a treadmill, but in real world, I can’t! From experience, in the Leon, from East London to West London via Kings Cross area, on a Sun AM with light traffic, I usually get 47-52mpg (or so the car tells me). The return leg just after mid-day with medium traffic via the city again, 40-45mpg. Heavy traffic, well around the 35mpg mark. A round trip of 60 miles to Stansted airport with little traffic, going 70+ mph (115+kmh) gave me average of 58mpg. The highest I’ve ever done with the Leon was 64.2mpg average over 20 miles, but it was oh so boring stuck behind a slow vehicle.

Incidentally, when my Ibiza was delivered from Derby area to my place (130 mile trip), the average mpg from start on the Ibiza was 57.2mpg. It looks like both will do very similar mpg.

In the Leon, V-Power Nitro Plus Diesel gave me best mpg, and Tesco gave worst (according to car). Most of the time I fill with either Esso or Shell Regular.
I might fill the Ibiza with Tesco Momentum 99 next fill up to see if any differences.
I will be doing a journey of about 100 miles highway this weekend, lets see what mpg I get with 3 ppl in the car.

 

[KXL]

Ride & Handling:
Ibiza handles better, and feels more ‘surefooted’ however I guess it would be better to compared like for like, Leon FR vs Ibiza FR and SE vs SE. Plus tyres also play a part, both Bridgestones though, Potenza vs Turranza.
Another factor could be to do with the FR sports suspension and 40 profile tyres compared with ‘comfort’ suspension and 55 profile tyres on the Leon.
In the Ibiza I do not look forward to going over unavoidable humps/bumps/potholes. I ‘brace for impact’ when I see a pending obstacle. Hopefully at the end of two years, nothing rattles inside the car and inside my body.

Conclusion (yes finally I've run out of things to say ):
The Ibiza really did surprise me, in a good way, especially the engine, updated interior and updated equipment levels. Would I have chosen the Ibiza if the option of upgraded headlights / upgraded Sound System, and Sat Nav was not an option, probably not. Might have gone instead for a Polo or Mini Cooper (that HK soundsystem…ooohh). I really did think it that coming from big brother Seat Leon was going to be a drop from ‘Business class to Economy class’ but it was more like Premium Business Class (if this exists) to regular Business class. There are differences, but not much. If I were doing day to day highway runs, I probably might have got another Leon or the Ibiza with 1.4 EcoTsi engine, however considering 80% of the time I’m in and around the city, and use it on the weekends mainly, my new Ibiza FR 1.0 EcoTSI DSG is more than enough for me .

 

[KXL]

Yippee, I can post pics now

Probably the last of the Alor Blue (had to wait couple of weeks more, as they no longer do Ibiza's in this colour).

Gone and missed

 

[Fr2013]

That Ibiza looks stunning!

 

[bcr5784]

Yippee, I can post pics now

Probably the last of the Alor Blue (had to wait couple of weeks more, as they no longer do Ibiza's in this colour).

Mine's Alor blue too - really can't understand why it should be discontinued. I think it suits the car well. That said, the guy who delivered the car and the salesman where I did a test drive, both really didn't like it. So maybe it's a bit marmite.

 

[KXL]

Mine's Alor blue too - really can't understand why it should be discontinued. I think it suits the car well. That said, the guy who delivered the car and the salesman where I did a test drive, both really didn't like it. So maybe it's a bit marmite.

Maybe the sales guys were colour blind? I like how depending on lighting condition, this colour can range anywhere from sky blue, all the way to green (night time away from any lights it looks green!).
So far all my friends who've seen the pics and the car 'in the flesh' all liked and complimented the colour.

 

[lil3520]

Love the colour.

Andy

 

[frenchy]

Very good choice of colour. I was in two minds when I chose Alor blue. I'm so glad I did now.

 

[steveemacz FR]

I have the Alor blue, coming from a Lima green one. I manage to get the last ones before they stopped making it. It is a nice colour.