Currently reading: Seat Ibiza Cupra long-term test review: interior highlights

It's the little things that lift our sporty supermini's cabin

Let’s face it, the Seat Ibiza’s interior is typical of many VW Group cars.

So why bother talking about the nice knobs and dials on the dash when they’re the same as the ones you get in a Volkswagen Golf? And what’s the point of mentioning the clean design of the centre console when Skodas use the same basic layout?

Then there’s the steering wheel, which, to the dismay of one Autocar road tester, is another VW Group flat-bottomed job. But while I agree with Mr Taylor-Jones that flat-bottomed wheels should be the preserve of tightly packaged supercar cockpits, I do love the feeling of the Ibiza’s perforated leather in my hands.

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And what of the dials? Again, their basic shape and layout are familiar, but the Cupra gets white backlighting and its own sporty font that serve as a gentle reminder of the 189bhp that lives under the bonnet.

Our car’s ambient lighting is a £60 option that seemed overpriced at first, but after five months I’ve grown to like the warm glow on my feet and the way the pedals are illuminated at night. I had expected the metal pedals to lead to slipping issues when the soles of my shoes were wet, but even on the swiftest of drives I’ve not experienced such a problem.

The pedals work with the dials and a similarly sporty gear knob to add a real sense of purpose to the cabin. The seats, while not particularly sporty in shape, have white side stripes to finish the look off.

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The Seat Ibiza Cupra is fast and green, but is it fun - and in a crowded field of hot superminis, does it do enough to stand out from its rivals?

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Mix all this with ample rear leg room, a 284-litre seats-up boot and an excellent sound system that’s all the better for Apple CarPlay, and you have a very strong overall package.

Having lived with the car for five months, and despite early worries that the cabin lacked originality, I think I’d struggle to find a more user-friendly interior in the class. 

SEAT IBIZA SC 1.8 TSI CUPRA BLACK

Price £18,900 Price as tested £19,430 Economy 34.5mpg Faults None Expenses None Last seen 21.9.16 

Read our previous reports:

First report

Load lugging to Leeds

A surprisingly able hatchback

Facing the Ford Fiesta ST200

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Citytiger 13 October 2016

And they

have the audacity to slate the interior of the Fiesta, even the base model looks better.
xxxx 13 October 2016

Or for a mere...

..£225 more you could have the Polo GTI, far better looking inside and out and will hold it's value more than the awfully out dated Ibitza. I was surprized myself how little difference there was in cost, a no-brainer if ever there was one.
Chinny Raccoon 13 October 2016

The Polo is on the same

The Polo is on the same platform as the "out dated Ibitza", and was introduced only a year later.
xxxx 13 October 2016

£225 and the last face lift was 2 years before the Polo

Chinny Raccoon wrote:

The Polo is on the same platform as the "out dated Ibitza", and was introduced only a year later.

Yep I know it's the same platform. The Ibitza was last facelifted in 2012, Polo 2 years later, either way it's older looking because of it (and the Polo's interior is miles better.). Like I said the main problem is it's just £225 less for a car that looks much older than it actually is and will depreciate far faster than the Polo.

xxxx 14 October 2016

This explains it better

Sales for the SEAT IBIZA SC 1.8 TSI CUPRA BLACK for Apr to Jun this year 212, Polo GTI 2000. 'nough said