2004 Seat Ibiza Sport from UK and Ireland - Comments

Air Conditioning is working intermittently.

Stereo adjusts volume and 'loud' randomly.

Power Steering went on one occasion - never happened since?

I bought the Ibiza last year after selling a BMW 330ci, in an effort to save money. Having been used to a quick car, but with a reduced budget, I wanted something that would be brisk and economical. The Ibiza 1.9 TDi 130 seemed a good choice in my situation. It met my budget, had reasonable boot and cabin space, offered reasonably low insurance and good mpg and promised, due to the hefty torque, to cope well on the motorway.

In a line the car has achieved the above.

However, I can't help thinking the Ibiza TDi 130 is a rather disjointed package...

It's marketed as a warm hatch, but really it is not! The engine doesn't suit the car. The big 1.9 was surely never designed for the small Ibiza? It always feels to me that VW bolted it on to the car just to increase the range, and as an after thought, firmed up the suspension and stuck on big tyre's to help it cope. The added weight at the front obviously puts the little Ibiza off balance and the immense amount of torque in such a small unbalanced car means big torque steer. The firmed up suspension is unforgiving and jittery whilst definitely not offering GTI handling. And, despite the abundance of torque, 0-60 is well over 9 seconds, again no GTI. So best off going for the Cupra 1.8T (Petrol)

On the other hand if you forget the marketing and just take it as a small hatch it still fails, as for small hatch duties the 1.4 petrol or TDi are cheaper to buy, maintain and probably have a much friendlier ride.

Having said this, I don't think this is a bad car at all (I love it!), just one with limited appeal. So if you, like me, want a 50MPG, thump in the back 'warm?' hatch with a crawling 0-60, hard ride, mediocre handling and torque steertastic 2nd gear, but low insurance then this is certainly the car for you!

Just wanted to make a couple of points about your review, I own a tdi 130 ibiza and I agree with the torque steering and unbalanced litle sod it can be. But for the turbo punch I think it's awesome, considering mine gets a little bit of a hard time and the mileage is at 100k it just gets quicker and quicker, and the mpg is 45 +

I ran a petrol v5 golf before this and the perfomance isn't far off, the golf has got longer legs and an awesome howl, but 25 mpg and insurance twice the price doesn't quite justify itself which you have also sampled.

I know mine is unchipped as I had a bit of a play with another standard fr and along a bypass was neck and neck, and I have done a couple of sprints in it and all 3 runs recorded under 8 seconds 0-60, best was 7.59 which is cooper s teritory. And a cooper s seemed shocked yesterday so it definately is no slouch! Not the fastest car out there, but quite remarkable in terms of economy with big performance and small bills.

I agree with your comments. I've got a Cordoba with the same engine, it looks fairly low key, but it is incredibly quick. After a while you get used to the performance it's only when you drive another so-called fast car that you realise how quick these cars are, which is an awful lot quicker than the figures suggest.

I have the TDI130 Sport and had it chipped within weeks of getting it. I loved the performance before but now it has 190bhp and 310lb/ft of torque!! It is so quick.

Totally different drive. I have a unit from AMDtechnik which allows me to switch between the two maps for servicing etc.

When I change it back to standard it bores me now.

When re-mapped it's as quick as an impreza sti, really.

Had plenty of standing start races with them and have beat quite a few to 60 (only when got good tyres on though).

Raced my freind back from a camping holiday last year (he was in an sti) and kept up all the way, he was amazed that coming out of roundabouts I was still sat behind him.

Awesome package as far as power and fuel costs go.

Down side - Have broken the front seat handle to allow passengers in the back and also broken cup holder, A little bit to much cheap plastic inside lets it down.

I thought Impreza STI's did 0-60 in sub 5 seconds. Are you really telling me that a remap alone has made your car twice as fast to 60, and that it now pulls as well as something with 4WD and 280bhp?

This is a little more than far fetched as with 190bhp (I thought the 130bhp VAG engines could only achieve 170bhp reliably from a remap alone) you're car is going to struggle to beat cars with similar bhp like a Clio 182, let alone something like a scooby. On the go you might keep up with him, as the torque and driver skill make a big difference, along with the fact that you really can't go flat out in an Impreza on most roads, but even then you should be falling further and further back.

I can't be the only one who doesn't believe this?

Why wouldn't a 190bhp front wheel drive car beat a 260-300bhp 4 wheel drive car to 60?

= maths, physics, gravity.

As the previous comment said, you'd be lucky to even get 190 from a remap alone, and then even if you had, the Ibiza Cupra TDI will hit 60 in about 7.6, and the petrol 180 Cupra about 7.4, so with only 10 horse power more, how will it do 60 in about 3 seconds less?