Published:
21 July 2017Mild styling differences aside, the Ibiza’s new cabin is an instantly recognisable carrier of the current VW Group gene.
Its new proportions – as they were obviously intended to do – firmly locate the car in the middle ground between the Mii and the Seat Leon, with the layout and ergonomics simply scaled to match.
As both are eminently well-judged, they are to the car’s considerable benefit. Nothing that you come into contact with on a daily basis is poorly positioned or badly made, just as nothing you need to make immediate sense of is crude or illegible.
The incidentals are astutely handled, too: there is a large cubby for your phone, with easily accessible charging ports; there are reasonably spacious door bins; and there are two accessible if inevitably closely packed cupholders.
Almost as important, the aesthetic specific to Seat is also generally pleasing. Where the previous Ibiza felt a wee bit unbaked, both in look and feel, its replacement has ripened into a much more mature appearance.
Inevitably, this doesn’t preclude the use of cheap plastic – a commodity that the previous model had in abundance – but its deployment is cunningly concealed with either the appearance of soft-touch cladding or the clever use of matt (but not dull) finishes.
