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| You can't hide the facts: the Ibiza Ecomotive is as green as they come |
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There hasn't been a press release in the last thousand years, from any manufacturer, about any car whatsoever, that hasn't used the word "sportiness" or "sporty". Usually both; and often accompanied by "eco-friendly" or something equally non-specific but green. Hence, when SEAT claimed that its 5-door Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive adds "eco-friendliness to sportiness", I took absolutely no notice. But guess what? They're right. For a start, this amazingly economical 5-door hatchback has some striking figures to back up the eco bit. How about 76.3mpg? And 98g/km of CO2? Keep those figures in mind, as they are the overriding factors in favour of SEAT's ultra-clean Ibiza.
But then we get to the "sporty" bit and whoopee - we were amazed to find how much we enjoyed this little hatchback on the road... once we'd got used to the long gearing and slight turbo-lag, that is, which is there at very low speeds. As soon as the Ibiza is moving at about 25mph or more, all that is forgotten. Acceleration of 12.9 seconds for the 0-62mph sprint might not sound overly exciting, but for a car that is obviously built for optimum fuel economy, it still feels surprisingly quick. And here comes the next surprise: it's actually QUICKER than the standard 1.4 diesel (0-62mph in 13.1 seconds). AND it has a higher (by 5mph) top speed, too. How weird is that?
What we liked equally well was the excellent, nicely weighted steering, which is satisfyingly crisp when turning into a corner. The roadholding in dry weather felt above average and there was little body roll, making it feel as much fun as a sports model, at least in its chassis, when hustling along country roads. It also felt very stable at all times, with good brakes. Only the worst potholes (and yes, there are plenty of them these days) made it thump at all badly.
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