New Seat Ibiza Revealed

Kicks off product offensive
by Frank de Leeuw van Weenen
April 2, 2008 3:52 PM
Filed Under: European, Seat

All new from the wheels up, the fourth generation Seat Ibiza is the work of ex-Lamborghini stylist Luc Donckerwolke. Seat sees the new Ibiza as the most important new model in its recent history. The new Seat Ibiza will kick off Seat's product offensive, among which further Ibiza variants and the long awaited new upper-medium segment saloon and estate based on the previous generation Audi A4.

The new Seat Ibiza hopes to reinforce its position as a leader in the supermini segment with a bigger and better new generation model. The five-door hatchback comes with 'big-car' options like seven-speed DSG automatic/sequential manual gearbox, Hill Hold Assist and front fog lights with side illumination function.

The new Ibiza has grown in size and now measures 4.05 meters in length (versus 3.97 meters previously) with a 292 liter boot space with the rear seats in place. Width has grown too, thanks to its Agile Chassis the front and rear tracks are 30 mm and 33 mm wider respectively.

The front wheel drive car comes with a choice of 1.2 liter three cylinder 70hp petrol engine, 1.4 liter four cylinder 85 hp petrol engine or 1.6 liter four cylinder petrol engine producing 102 hp. All three engines are paired with a 5 speed manual gearbox. Seat has established itself in the diesel market and will in due course offer its sporty diesel engines on its supermini too.

Seat UK Peter Wyhinny commented: “The debut of the spectacular new Ibiza is the clearest sign yet that SEAT is serious about putting enviable quality and state-of-the-art technology alongside sporting ‘auto emoción’ as the cornerstones of the Brand. With the debut of this distinctive and clearly design-led five-door we are embarking on a major development of the SEAT range, with plenty more to come in the months ahead!”

Source: SEAT
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Comments

the front is not bad. but i really like to see the rear end from behind. but its not as stunnig as the bocanegra concept was. the interior doesn't look very modern...

by amade.ch | April 2, 2008 4:14 PM
Interior is fine at least it looks better than the old one. The body is full of confusing lines. Lets hope it looks better in the metal...

by catch22 | April 2, 2008 4:34 PM
It's interesting to see that there are lots of buttons around the steering wheel but not a single on it.

by mickey_f1 | April 2, 2008 4:43 PM
Also: the whole interior is made of cheap plastic and has nylon seats. But at least it has big mirrors. I just cannot understand why most cars are getting more and more expensive as they are made of very cheap materials!

by mickey_f1 | April 2, 2008 4:51 PM
wow, looks good :)

by paaaaaatrick | April 2, 2008 5:37 PM
looks kinda nice. Really elegant lines, but: the proportions are not so good.. The old series were better in this discipline

by xlumino | April 2, 2008 6:17 PM
What happened with the Bocanegra Look?????

by Paulds | April 2, 2008 5:26 PM
So you can judge the feel of the iterior materials from here? Wow, you guys are some kind of special!

Not the sharpest pencils in the box, are we? This is a vast improvement over the current generation & I'm quite excited over SEAT's future, thank you very much...

by enigma243 | April 2, 2008 6:40 PM
About the materials - it's just a matter of experience. I've tested big enough number of cars to judge about these things by watching. And we also have very good quality of the pictures. I'd give you an advice: do not underestimate the people here. I must say that I post here only when I have a motivated opinion. Nevertheless the car looks much better than the predecessor.

by mickey_f1 | April 2, 2008 7:46 PM
First, they have to change the design of the brand.

by Penner | April 2, 2008 7:14 PM
impressively close to the Bocanegra- I expect the Cupra will look even more like the concept.Surprised you guys are slating the interior- I think it looks a lot classier and sportier than most supermini interiors.

by joelynn | April 2, 2008 9:14 PM
just realised exactly what it needs to be truly great- concealed handles at the back like the Leon has.

by joelynn | April 3, 2008 1:50 AM
Uh, that is actually ugly!!

by lelu | April 2, 2008 10:40 PM
Looks disappointing to me, frankly... Headlights have the Skoda look, C pillar is ubelievably close to Kia's Cee'd, dashboard exhibits hard plastics, and that unachieved, improvised center console with chinese car-looking display looks everything but suggestive. Sure, it looks better than the outgoing ageing car, but is that a merit? The 3-door hatch can only do better.

by ck314 | April 2, 2008 11:17 PM
Why are you trying to comparison each part of this car to other brands parts!! Take it easy buddy it?s just a seat Ibiza. If you don?t like this car just say it. Please Judge Fairly.

by mhamini | April 3, 2008 12:21 AM
What are you babbling about? I don't usually go around searching for the slightest similarities with other cars in the market like some other people do, because I realize how difficult it is to come up with something entirely new these days, especially regarding popular categories such as the Ibiza, but Luc Donckerwolke is a great designer and VW has plenty of cash and resources, so they could do definitely better than this. And as I said, the 3-door is likely to be more personal and attractive. This looks like a rebadged Kia Cee'd, period.

by ck314 | April 3, 2008 2:31 PM
hatchback lexus IS anyone?

by keithxp | April 2, 2008 11:04 PM
it just looks bolder than the previous one, the interior looks better ,quality better ...but still doesn't look like their previous concept...which most people expected to look alike ..a little bit disappointed

by zfh | April 3, 2008 10:41 AM
it's hideous, even compared to the current Ibiza and Leon which aren't bad looking at all! It's so awkward, interior looks dated and Mazda-esque, this is grotesque, I hope the forthcoming 09 Volkswagen Polo is seriously different...

by wills2007 | April 3, 2008 11:04 AM
Why does the front look like a Lexus somehow?

by The_woo_factor | April 3, 2008 1:09 PM
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080402.003/lexus-is-250-x-returns-au you can honestly tell me they dont look remotely similar?

by keithxp | April 4, 2008 9:54 PM
looks like a bigger car, still, its design looks overdone, like they did not know what to do, so they did it all, too many lines everywhere, would look better without that ridiculous third window. inside, boring and dated, and materials look cheap. hope it gets better in real. a bit disappointed at seat. greetings from spain.

by racsozelev | April 3, 2008 2:40 PM
I like the look but the small engines I mean how dare you put a 1.2 or 1.4 in this car thats just dangerous and really cheap it's European car with 3rd world crisis engines.

by blabla | April 3, 2008 3:22 PM
that is just crazy man.

by blabla | April 3, 2008 3:25 PM
Although I was aware that prototypes hardly never are realized with all their details I must say that this is kind of too boring. But after all I believe that a "modest looking" car (except for all the sharp lines) will be accepted better than a polarizing design would do. I for my part like the interior - in some way it's retro.

by sfero | April 3, 2008 3:37 PM
blabla, you clearly don't have any idea about the European car market, 1.2 and 1.4 sized engines are ample for a supermini, especially considering they are manual transmission, I'm guessing your American?

by wills2007 | April 3, 2008 4:14 PM
No I'm not American I'm from car this size (4meter) needs a good engine as well and a 1.2 with 70hp and 1.4 with 85hp is not a good engine in fact it's dangerously slow, with four passengers you cannot drive up a mountain with a tiny weak engine.

by blabla | April 3, 2008 6:16 PM
I'm from the Netherlands.

by blabla | April 3, 2008 6:17 PM
whatever. people don't buy Seat Ibizas to climb mountains or haul people around, it's most likely to be a second or third car in a household.

by wills2007 | April 3, 2008 9:15 PM
@ blabla: What kind of mountains do you mean? Those I know in the Netherlands can easily be climbed with a fully loaded 45hp-Smart. Anyway, my 75hp-Ibiza is running well and I assure you there's absolutely nothing dangerous about it, neither on your overloaded and speed-limited highways nor on our german overloaded and meanwhile mostly speed-limited roads. Greets from Hannover, Germany

by hanskar | April 3, 2008 9:18 PM
It depends on the use given. He probably means, and I agree, that a modest family using a 1.2 or 1.4 version as their first car could face some perils in case of overtaking on single opposing lanes with a fully loaded vehicle. However, as a city commuter or college student car they should suffice.

by ck314 | April 3, 2008 11:49 PM
In holland there are no mountains, but I would not be happy with only 75hp or 85hp because of slow overtaking and acceleration. for city use it's fine but some people also drive outside of the city like myself.

by blabla | April 4, 2008 12:30 AM
and I always drive like a maniac.

by blabla | April 4, 2008 12:31 AM
so I will buy the 1.6.

by blabla | April 4, 2008 12:33 AM
3-door version.

by blabla | April 4, 2008 12:34 AM
or a 207 or the Mito.

by blabla | April 4, 2008 12:36 AM
blabla get a mito

i think they will make the 3 door look like the boca, to distinguish it from the five, or may be they will use thelook for fr and cupra models just like.....................ummm the polo and golf gti grill, suprise suprise part of the same company

by peterjames7 | April 4, 2008 3:51 AM
Love body lines, I agree it it´s not as stunning as her sister Leon was, and actually most of the job seems to have been taken from kia C´eed /Hiunday i30, Bmw 1 series. But anyway now car looks a serius rival.

Interiors are simply ugly, it´s the VW toll; think in the Toledo a car thought to compete in the croma-signum-vell satis- niche that has to share the whole radical interior desing with the leon. Concepts simply mismatch. On the other hand, more of last generation superminis have awful pseudo retro interiors (clio, corsa) or cheap unhidden plastic ones (C3, Fiesta) so...

by rearseat | April 8, 2008 12:14 PM
looks like a family hatch rather than a super mini. ther should have made the headlight reach up to the a pillers like the clio/corsa/fiesta.... then it would look more squat and agressive i think.... just looks to flabby for a supermini

by worldcarfan87 | April 8, 2008 4:56 PM
I think I was wrong; today´s spanish edition of Autobild , as the first media to have a (static) contact wiht the car says: "Now behind the new steering wheel, I verify the words of a brand´s manager months ago when he noticed the target nº1 for the new Ibiza -improvement of general quality- . The car becomes better in quality of materials, finishing and appearance. Since I close the driver´s door and I hear a sturdy, solid sound tipical from well done cars. I look at the dashboard, made of a sole piece,"quilted" and with a smooth touch. I applause the presentation, eye-catching and far away from the former model...." I still think that dashboard is not photogenic at all. But at least we now that is not made of hard plastic.

by rearseat | April 8, 2008 11:25 PM

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