Seat Ibiza SportCoupe – review

New Seat Ibiza hatchback hasn’t even gone on sale in the UK, and already the Spanish car maker is showing off the three-door version- the Seat Ibiza SportCoupe. The Seat Ibiza SportCoupe has a unique profile – designed under the watchful eye of ex-Lamborghini design chief Luc Donckerwolke – and the first application of the VW Group's seven-speed DSG semi-automatic gearbox.

The Seat Bocanegra was one of the stars of the 2008 Geneva motor show - but even so, few expected the Spanish manufacturer to put the car in production, relatively unchanged

Despite the lower profile, the SportCoupe still offers adequate headroom up front – although taller drivers might struggle – and a reasonable boot. At 284 litres it's far from the biggest, but swallowed two small suitcases and a laptop bag easily on our test drive.

Seat also revealed a pair of hot hatches will go on sale next year: FR and Cupra, which will both feature the VW Group's 1.4-litre TSI engine. This boasts a turbocharger and supercharger, and Seat told Auto Trader the cars' power will be in excess of 150 and 180bhp for the FR and Cupra respectively.

A low-emission Ecomotive version will also join the line up; and although exact specifications are yet to be confirmed, it will produce less than 100g/km of CO2.

The Seat Ibiza SportCoupe scored a full five star rating in the EuroNCAP crash test programme for adult occupant protection, four for child safety and three for protecting pedestrians. It counts ESP, head thorax side airbags (a first in the supermini class) and side curtain airbags among the safety kit.

Seat offer the Ibiza SportCoupe in three trim levels: Reference, Stylance and Sport. All models feature anti-trap electric front windows, remote central locking and a six speaker MP3-compatible CD player as standard.

© Source: autotrader
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