SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive Review

Typical price:

£11,000

We like:

Low emissions and fuel economy mean low running costs; it's cheap to buy; the fun handling; the parent company

We don't like:

The noise; the basic interior

SmartPlanet judgement:

The best part about this car is definitely the cost -- that is, how much it costs to buy it and how much it costs to drive it. The fuel economy is exemplary for a standard-engined car, which we like because that means fewer emissions and less pollution. If only that didn't mean the Ibiza had to sacrifice on some other elements, like soundproofing and good tyres.

Score:

Contact:

Nice Car Company at http://www.seat.co.uk/
Telephone: +44 (0)500 222 2222

There are currently only two conventionally engined cars on sale that emit less than 100g/km of CO2, and the SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive is one of them. The other is the Ibiza's close family member, the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion, which shares the same engine.

One of the benefits of a sub-100g/km car (amazingly, the engineers have managed to get the emissions to work out at 99g/km) is that you pay no road tax. And of course, low emissions translate to high fuel economy. The Ibiza Ecomotive delivers 74.3mpg on the combined cycle.

Does this mean that the Ecomotive is a slow, dull car? Actually, no. The 1.4-litre turbodiesel engine, complete with a Diesel Particulate Filter, has great torque, so when the turbo comes on boost at around 2,000 revs the little car really picks its feet up.

Even better, SEAT has done its own thing to the chassis and suspension to make it handle like a SEAT rather than a VW. It's not quite up to the handling of a Mini Cooper, but it's so much better around corners than the Polo BlueMotion. And it's over £1,000 cheaper than the Polo, and around £3,500 cheaper than a Cooper D.

The interior of the Ibiza shows where some of the money has been saved -- it's quite basic. For instance you have to physically reach over to adjust the near side door mirror unless you have a helpful passenger. The following may seem a trivial gripe, especially compared to the big picture of the number of barrels of oil this car saves, but there are virtually no oddment storage places in the cockpit, which is just no good for the essentials of modern in-car living such as mobile phones and cups of coffee.

But the Ibiza does come with a socket for an iPod, steering wheel controls for the stereo and even air conditioning -- something the 99g/km CO2 Polo doesn't have.

The Ibiza is a small car, with not-so-great headroom and rear seats that don't fold flat. But the doors seem huge, so much so that in a car park they can all too easily make inadvertent contact with the neighbouring car.

Parent company VW scores well on ethics, as it has no dodgy investments -- that we're aware of -- in polluting or unethical business. It also publishes a very good sustainability site which sets concrete future targets for improving green operations.

The only eco bummer is the way Volkswagen is lagging against other car makers for cutting its CO2 emissions across its range. A 2007 report by the European Federation for Transport and the Environment put the car maker at 12 out of 14 brands for emissions. SEAT itself also runs its operations to meet the environmental management standard ISO 14001 which is pretty standard for a company of its stature, but welcome nonetheless.

It all sounds generally agreeable so far, so what are the downsides? Well, the economy comes at a price -- and that price is noise. As with the Polo, the soundproofing has been taken out in order to make the SEAT lighter and more economical. This makes the Ibiza sound like an old tractor when accelerating, albeit a slightly racy one.

Another thing that SEAT has done to squeeze out maximum miles per gallon is fiddle with the gear ratios. Third, fourth and fifth have all been lengthened. This means that in fifth gear at anything but motorway speeds, you run the risk of stalling the car, as you'll probably only be doing around 1,000 revs.

One more sacrifice in the interest of economy is the tyres, which are a low-rolling-resistance variety. So although the Ibiza handles really well, the tyres don't have much traction. It's a strange one to sacrifice in the name of economy, actually, since grippy tyres means better performance and fuel economy.

What would our suggestions be to improve the Ibiza Ecomotive? Besides fitting some grippy tyres, keep the soundproofing and to offset the resulting emissions increase, use stop/start technology. Oh, and also fit a miles per gallon readout on the dash -- it should be essential for all cars. While we're at it, throw in a nicer steering wheel, too.

But despite these potential improvements, this car's fun to drive, cheap to buy and cheap to run. The Ibiza definitely gets our thumbs up.

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