SCOSaltire

would the ibiza be better than a focus?

see the other thread too

http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadid=204189

ChrisB

I took both the Focus and Ibiza out.

I bought an Ibiza 130 Sport.

SCOSaltire

cheers chris
found some of ur posts saying that u were gonna try it

why did u go for the ibiza?
care to let me know of ur delivery time and bottom line?
u can email me it if u like
cheers
Phil

RS Grant

Ok....

My last post, on the other thread recommended the Focus over the Astra and this post will recommend the Ibiza over the Focus. Mainly because of the tuning potential of the engine and the build quality of the Seat over the Ford, also residuals will be better for the Seat, IMO...

Its got the 130 TDi PD engine from the other VW Group cars and I know of someone who has had a REVO remap with gives him 184bhp and over 315lb/ft, which is nice!!

Cheers,
Grant

SCOSaltire

went to see the ibiza tonight

its smaller than i thought

Chris L

I've been looking at one for doing the commute to work. The Seat does look good. Very good tuning potential if you want - it can be easily chipped to 180bhp / 300 lbs/ft - which is very funny Or you could wait for the new Cupra R diesel which will use the VW 150 bhp diesel engine.

Chris

ChrisB

Oops, forget to check for a reply...

Approx 5100 miles done now and very pleased with it. 6th is lovely and tall for motorway cruising. Far too easy to end up pulling a ton as you waft along. I drove up to Peebles and back the Easter weekend - 460 miles of motorway and A/B road thrasing easily despatched.

The brakes don't bite that well, but a set of Pagid front pads is only £30. Certainly an entertaining punt cross country - doesn't reach Scooby speeds but then your license is a bit safer. Peak torque at 1900rpm means overtaking is doodle too.

Nice touchs such as:

Full size steel spare wheel - no poxy 50mph limited space saver
One touch indicators give you three flashes for lane hoping
Anti hijack (doors auto lock when you reach 15mph)
One click on the central locking unlocks just the drivers door so nobody can jump the pax seat in a carpark

Tis fairly compact but 95% of the time it's only me in it.

I spent £90 on diesel in April (including Scotland and back). In the Scoob I was blowing up to £300 a month. Add in the free insurance I got and I'm quids in

Glad I picked it over the Focus - 6 speed box, more power, better tuning options, better spec than anything bar the Ghia and far far fewer of them on the road.

Delivery took nearly three months, although the dealer did warn me of that pre-order. Shop around dealers though - some have them in stock.

I paid £13.2k on the road inc metallic paint (only other UK factory option is Sat Nav).

Gotta run now, I might think of more later!

Chris.

SCOSaltire

bought a focus
drove the astra... non event really
good road holding.. but the engine was really poor.
didnt seem to do anything.. tho it was the 2.2

then drove the seat ibiza - nice n quick ...
good turn-in...
amazing fun

then drove the focus.... much more grown up... better ride...
and still enough pull...

RB5#295

I had the Ibiza, with a Revo remap to 184 bhp and 307 lb/ft for all but the first 9 days. I sold it 3 weeks ago (why weren't you looking then? - it went to a dealer for cash ) because I got a bit bored with it (as I would any hatchback, I replaced it with a 944 S2 Cabrio).

I drove 22,500 miles in it in 5 months. It never let me down, never dropped below 40 mpg for a tank (including a track day) and was quick enough to embarrass lots of 'sporty' machinery, which is a laugh.

Downsides are that I would doubt it's any better built that a Focus. The plastic used for the dash is deeply crappy and in the sunlight the dash was a different colour to the door cappings. It also scratched very easily. Mine was not alone in having a squeaky driver's seat which the dealer tried to fix twice, but it just came back over time. Other warranty work was a seatbelt pretensioner that kept sending the airbag system a fault code (replaced then no problem) and a driver's headrest that used to fall into the lowest position over a few minutes (replaced the supports in the seat and then no problem). The seats were not at all comfortable and I had to put a lumbar support under the cover to make the driver's one bearable.

In my opinion the wheels are awful so I bought 17's (Mille Miglia HT3's, for sale if you do buy one and want them). The mirror backs and door handles are black on the sport but body coloured on the SE, making the sport look basic so I had them painted, along with the back valance.

Handling is actually pretty good, but the car feels very high so it doesn't inspire confidence until you have got used to it. I didn't have aproblem with the brakes initial bite, but the ABS trips far too early which can cause some heart-in-mouth moments when you actually didn't think you were pushing it at all.

That's it unless I can think of anything else or you have any questions.

Fen