3
1Daily Record, June 13, 2008R
OAD RECORDDriven byNNEEWWSSmotoringSun shines on IbizaThefourth-generationof this highly
popular Seat superminiwon8217tjust
grabyourattentionwith
its sharplooks8211it8217salso
a much better drive,as
SUZIE BOSTEL finds outSEA
Thavereinvented
the
Ibiza,the
popular
supermini
that
accountsfor
nearlyhalfoftheirsales.The
four
th-gener
ation
model
will
arr
iveinshowroomsnext
month.AndtheSpanishcar
maker
hope
that
sharper
styling
andanewplatformwillhelpthe
I
biza
to
continue
its
sales
success.
The2008IbizaisSeat8217sfirst
pr
oduction
model
to
benefit
fr
om
the
ar
tistichandofdesign
directorLucDonckerwolke,who
was
pr
eviously
head
of
design
at
Lamborghini.
H
is
8220
arr
o
w
design
8221
concept
means
that
the
Ibizanowlooksmoreangular
and
r
obust
than
befor
e
.
The
headlightsandradiator
gr
ille
hav
e
beenpositioned
lo
werdown,whilethesides
featur
e
a
ser
ies
of
dynamic
lines
thatsweepacrossthecar8217sbody.
Therearlightshavealsobeen
r
epackaged
into
a
neatdesign.
Ov
erall,it8217saclean-looking
car
that
should
appeal
to
a
broadrangeofbuyers8211andnot
justyoungones.
U
nder
the
r
eshapedbodylies
the
next-generationVolkswagen
P
olo
platform,developedbythe
VWGroup.
As
such,
the
car
8217
s
wheelbase
hasbeenlengthened,thetrack
widened
andtherearenew
suspension
settings
witha
stiffened,yetlighter,body.
The
changes
deliv
er
on
S
eat
8217s
promiseofbetteragility,
stability
and
handling.
Ther
e
arepracticalbenefits,
suppleridethatcopesagreeably
evenonpoorroadsurfaces.
Thelevelofbodycontroland
gripofferedbythesuperminiis
equally
impressive.
Althoughitistheleastpowerful
engine
of
the
r
ange,the69bhp
1.2-litr
epetrolislively,providing
youworkthegears.Italso
deliv
ersanentertainingdrive
andenginenote.
Ther
e
8217
s
alackofsteeringfeel
at
highspeed,althoughoverall
the
I
biza
behav
es
w
ell
whether
cr
uisingalongthemotorwayor
tacklingtwistingroutes.
W
ith
the
diesel
versionsonly
arr
ivingnextyear,the1.2-litre
petr
ol
is
also
the
most
efficientof
the
po
w
erplants
av
ailable
at
launch.
P
ricesforthenewIbiza
ar
e
expected
to
star
tatabout
1639000,
and
the
equipment
lev
els
ar
egoodforthemoney.
The
entr
y
-lev
el
R
eferencegets
r
emotelocking,asix-speaker
MP3
compatible
CD
ster
eowith
steer
ingwheelmountedcon-
tr
ols
and
an
ESPsystemwithhill
hold
assist.
It8217sashamethatSeatdon8217t
deliv
er
8220
auto
emocion8221inside
the
cabin.Butineveryotherway
the
new
I
biza
isamarked
impr
ovement.
too,withgreaterroominsidethe
cabinandabiggerboot.
There8217snodoubttheexterior
changeswork,butthealterations
inside
thecabinarelessdrastic.
Theinteriorfailstoliveupto
the
expectations
cr
eated
by
the
Ibiza8217sstrikinglooks.The
functional,butratherdull,cabin
is
heavyontheplastics,although
theseareatleastscratch-resistant
and
easy
to
clean.
That
said,thedriver-oriented
lay
out
of
the
cabin,
with
instr
umentsturnedtowardsthe
driver,isanicetouch.
And
the
feel
and
lookofthe
cabin
doesgetbetterasyou
wor
k
y
our
way
up
thr
ough
the
trimlevels.
The
mechanical
changes
hav
e
led
tosignificantimprovements
in
dr
iv
e
andhandling.
Ther
earetwosuspension
set-ups
av
ailable:
one
for
comfor
tandonethatis25per
centstifferforasportierdrive.
Although
stiffly
spr
ung,
the
comfor
tsuspension,whichis
standar
d
on
the
Reference
model,
performswell.
Itprovidesa
comfor
table
and82168216T
h
e

1
.
2
-
l
i
t
r
e

p
e
t
r
o
l

e
n
g
i
n
e

i
s

l
i
v
e
l
ya
n
d

d
e
l
i
v
e
r
s

a
n

e
n
t
e
r
t
a
i
n
i
n
g

d
r
i
v
eFactfile:Model:
Seat
Ibiza1.2Reference
Engine:
1.2-litre
petrol
P
ower:
69bhp
T
opspeed:
101mph
0-62mph:
15
seconds
Economy:
47.9mpg
CO2emissions:
139g/km
Warranty:
Threeyears/60,000miles
Price:
1639000(estimated)
Onsale:
July16I
T was a case of old
f
riends reunited at the
H
onda Accord8217s launch
i
n Edinburgh last week.T
he event at the Graeme P
C
hatham Ltd showroom in
Abbeyhill brought together a
long-standing customer, Milne
B
rodie, with the 1980 Honda
Accord 1.6 hatchback he had
bought 28 years previously.
Managing director
Campbell Chatham also
r
e-united Mr Brodie, who
h
as remained a Chatham
customer ever since, with the
salesman who sold him the
car
, Archie O8217Hagan.
A
lthough retired from sales
since 2004, Mr O8217Hagan now
works in the fleet department
as a driver and handover
s
pecialist, and has 35 years of
s
ervice with the company.
Mr Chatham said: 8220Our
customers keep coming back
to us because we8217ve got great
p
roducts, backed up by a
h
ighly motivated, well-trained
team, who offer great deals
and outstanding after-sales
service.8221
H
onda8217s Accord for 2008
comes with some clever
technology, including a
collision mitigation braking
s
ystem, voice-recognition
D
VD satellite navigation,
adaptive cruise control and
lane-keeping assist system.I
NTERNATIONALARRIVALS57378BRAND NEWSEAT IBIZA 3 DR1
.
2

7
0

P
S
E
N
GINE, CRUISECONTROL, HEATED FOLDING DOOR MIRRORS
CLIMATRONICAIR CONDITIONING, 158221 ALLOYS, ELECTRICFRONT WINDOWS
DAB DIGITALSTEREO & CDLIST PRICEPRICEFROMSAVEOVER163899516374881631500PromisesDeliveredBTCALLS5p PER MINUTE, OTHER PROVIDERSMAYVARYAND MAYBERECORDED FOR QUALITYOR TRAINING PURPOSES. OFFERSSUBJECT TOSTATUS,
TERMSAND CONDITIONS. MODELSSHOWN FOR ILLUSTRATIVEPURPOSESONLY.LINWOOD PHOENIXRETAILPARK573770844 815 2061GLASGOWA
LEXANDRAPARADE573770844 844 4362EDINBURGH S
EAFIELD ROAD 573770844 815 2087S
E
AT IBIZA FREERIDER - URBAN 36.2 (7.8), EXTRA URBAN 55.4 (5.1), COMBINED 47.9 (5.9).
CO2- 139 g/km, fuelconsumption in - mpg (ltr/100 km)ARNOLD8217SSUMMER ARRIVALS
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