‘150 hp naturally raises expectations’
We have published few hopeful messages about Seat recently. It seems that this soup is increasingly eaten as a gazpacho and in this article we look on the bright side. We discover what owners and users think of their Ibiza, which the world was introduced to in 2017.
It is no surprise that the Seat Ibiza is built according to a familiar recipe. To put it disrespectfully, it is mainly a Volkswagen Polo, topped with a generous spoonful of chili sauce. Not a tasteless sauce from the bottom shelves, because it gives the Ibiza a clear individual face that was sharpened with a facelift in 2021. A more rigorous update is planned for 2025, of which Seat has already released the first photos.
This is how the Ibiza drives according to users
The Seat sauce should provide a sportier experience, but does that also affect the handling? “Handling excellent!”, writes the driver of an Ibiza 1.0 TSI FR Business Intense. “Although personally I think it could have been a little tighter, not stiffer. But really great for a standard chassis, especially in combination with the standard 17-inch rims.” The owner of an FR with 95 hp and slightly larger wheels writes: “I personally find the comfort to be more than sufficient. The chassis is somewhat stiffer, but leaves sufficient room for suspension comfort. When you drive over short bumps you will notice that the car is occasionally a bit jerky, but I think that is more the cause of the flat tires on the 18-inch alloy wheels (215/40/18).” How do you like the handling? “Furthermore, a nice comfortable chassis that does not disappoint when you take a bend a little harder. It gives the confidence that everything is always under control and feels very mature for a B-segment car.”
The driver who previously drove a Ford Focus also believes this. “The car drives maturely. Road holding, suspension, wind noise may be slightly less than the Ford, but the difference is smaller than expected.” Another driver tempers expectations about his Ibiza 1.5 TSI EVO FR. “150 hp naturally raises expectations. If you think you’re getting some kind of Cupra, then you indeed have the wrong expectations. The gears are too long for that. It is nice and smooth, there is no misunderstanding about that, but it lacks the feeling of a GTI-like car. If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s better to look elsewhere.” That does not mean that this rider is dissatisfied. “The car drives very well and the kilometers continue well,” he notes.
Some drivers are less positive about the driving sounds. “Wind noise and noise from tires above 120 km/h are very audible,” says the driver of a 1.0 TSI 95 hp. “At speed I notice a lot of wind noise and rolling noise from the tires,” experiences the driver of a 110 hp 1.0 TSI.
Engine and transmission
We read quite enthusiastic reactions about the engines used. About the 1.0-liter three-cylinder with 95 hp, one driver writes: “To be honest, I would have preferred the 115-hp version, but as always, the budget runs out at some point. The TSI picks up nicely and has enough power on Dutch flat roads to keep up with traffic.”
A director who also puts his IBI to the test abroad comes to a different conclusion. “I thought the 95 hp TSI was fine and economical,” he writes. “Even on holiday, on the autobahn and in the mountains, the power with downshifting was excellent and you even get a bit of fun out of it!” The following driver is also largely satisfied: “The five-speed gearbox is well laid out. I don’t miss sixth gear, not even in terms of noise level. The power (95 hp/175 Nm) is sufficient for the weight of the car. When you drive normally it is smooth and smooth.” When not? “If you ‘really’ accelerate, you will see that there is not much left in it.”
Space and seating comfort
A B-segment car should not only be nice to drive, after all, they are used more than once as a first (family) car. This Seat succeeds with flying colors in that area, at least if we can believe the next driver. “The interior space is commendable for our use,” he reports. “The stroller fits and there is enough room for the driver and one or two passengers.” At least… “A combination of backseat passengers and a stroller is not very successful. You then have to fit and measure a little better so that the box and the base of the stroller fit in the trunk.” 
Stroller in the back of an Ibiza? Hat shelf out
This is also the experience of another Ibiza driver who occasionally transports a very young passenger. “The stroller fits in the back,” he writes, although you pay a price for that. “You have to remove the parcel shelf and that causes a lot of noise in the car, especially at speeds above 130 km/h.” There is just enough space in the backseat. “The Maxi-Cosi with base means that the passenger seat has to move quite far forward, so you do lose some space.” All in all it’s a matter of what you’re used to. “The space in the front is certainly excellent,” reports a third rider, but the experience is different in the back. “I sometimes hear adult rear passengers complain, especially when they have to sit behind me (1.93 meters).”
But few users comment on the chairs. A fairly tall driver will do that. “I can sit okay with my height of 190 cm,” he writes about his Ibiza 1.0 EcoTSI in Style trim, “in my opinion, you shouldn’t be taller!” The explanation: “I don’t have very long legs, but if you do and you would like your seat far back, that is possible. However, when looking to the left you are at the height of the B-pillar and the view is limited.” About the chair itself: “The sessions are short. Unfortunately, this has been the case in (almost) all my previous cars.”
Maintenance, malfunctions and annoyances
The infotainment system, which our reviewers pay little attention to, does have an oddity. “The media system is not very stable and regularly freezes when CarPlay is used,” writes the driver of a 2018 Ibiza. “Not immediately connecting the phone when starting the car seems to help.” The driver of a 2020 copy shares this experience. “I’ve had a lot of annoyances with Apple CarPlay. The most unusual thing about this is that the problems came back at the strangest times in terms of intervals, even after I went to the dealer twice and received the message that it was a known issue. Sometimes three months without crashing, then four times every half hour.” A third rider reports a similar problem. “Apple CarPlay seems to fail more and more often, so you have to reset the infotainment.”
Another more commonly reported annoyance concerns squeaking brakes, although this problem seems to disappear as time goes by. “The brakes are still squealing,” writes one owner who experienced this after about 6,000 km of driving, “but the frequency has decreased.” The solution did not require a workshop visit for another driver either. “The brakes started to squeak a lot, but this has now resolved itself after many kilometers.” It does not mean that the car is now completely silent. “Cracking with brakes, rubbers, wishbones and the like is still present,” he reports at 50,000 kilometers. There are also very positive voices. “Because we like the Ibiza so much, we buy it from the leasing company.”
Seat Ibiza as it is now on the inside.
Other problems do not appear to be structural in nature, but the next user’s problem is annoying. “Unfortunately, occasional power outages, fortunately not while driving,” he writes. “Day trip and average consumption are then zero. You then have to turn the radio back on, the time is incorrect and the contacts from my phone are re-imported. The time on the clock shows when the malfunction occurred and when it was over.” Has this problem now been resolved? “Seat has already looked into this twice, but was unable to find any fault.”
Despite these irritations, we can cautiously conclude that the fifth generation Seat Ibiza suits its drivers very well. Not by being overtly sporty, as its appearance might suggest, but by offering a little bit of everything. And that’s a good thing, because it looks like the basis of this car will last a while.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl