12/03/10
- Price17,245
- We like...Comfy, grippy seats
- We don't...Not enough hot-hatch spirit
In Spanish, it means 'black mouth'. Click below to discover why it's so named - and whether you should want oneA quick Seat? Yes, please. Call us at motors.co.uk, ask what we think of sporty cars from this Spanish car maker and that’s the answer you'd hear. So, as you’d guess, this Bocanegra was one we were eager to try.
First let’s deal with the name. Means ‘black mouth’ in Spanish, apparently. Check out the car’s front panel and you'll clock why it is so named. The name recalls an hot-hatch Ibiza from the 1970s, sold exclusively in Spain. What it adds up to is an Ibiza Cupra with a special nose, headlamps, rear bumper and alloy wheels.
On our car the gloss-black front panel didn’t help its looks; narrowing the front and making it appear somehow too ‘upright’. But, whether you buy Cupra or Bocanegra, the one surprise is that it’s a two-pedal car. Yup, something called a direct sequential gearbox is fitted as standard. This swaps between seven forward gears automatically or when you tell it to, using a pair of control paddles fitted just behind the rim of the steering. Manual gearbox? Not available on any seriously quick Ibiza.
Now if you know and love hot hatches, you’ll be wondering why the heck Seat’s offered this car without a manual shifter. Well, the auto gearbox allows the car to be quick, taking you from rest to 62mph in 7.2sec. That’s faster than the previous Cupra, which had a bigger engine. And, for the car it is, the Bocanegra’s carbon dioxide output is low: 148g/km, which is 19% less than the previousmodel. It’s also economical, promising up to 44mpg across a mix of trips.
And it looks every inch a performance car, from its huge exhaust tailpipe to its extravagant body swoops and skirts and its spindly alloys wearing skinny-sided tyres. Inside, you'll find deeply bolstered and quilted front seats and a wheel that’s fat rimmed and feels good to hold. They confirm what the car’s about. But, compared to the way, say, Volkswagen ds hot hatches, the interior's a bit cheap ‘n’ cheerful.
But with a car like this it’s really all about the drive. And that’s where for us it disappointed. First, you’ll notice its bone-hard ride. We don’t mind that in an all-out performance machine: Renaultsport’s Clio Cup is as hard and it’s a favourite of ours. And then there’s the steering, which is lighter than we’d want and, more to the point, short on feel. For us, there wasn’t that sense that you could place the car just exactly where you wished it.
And last, there’s that gearbox. It’s actually very good, swapping gears without the merest stutter and keeping the power going throughout. And whether you leave it to do the work or pick the gears yourself, the deal is similar: what the Bocanegra can’t serve up is excitement that sets the hairs on your nape a-tingle. And that’s what we demand from such a car.
So, should you buy one? Not if you are expecting a performance car that’ll thrill. It’s quick, as practical as every other three-door Ibiza and, for its power, good with fuel and emissions. And though its stiff ride is its only real fault, there’s not enough there to lift your spirits. To make you want to drive it – just because you can. It’s competent and well priced for what you get. But it’s just not that much fun.
We also think it might be a missed opportunity. Lose the fancy gearbox, stick in a five-speed manual change and drop the price by a grand. Then there’d be a Cupra we’d itch to buy.
To read our road test verdict on the Seat Ibiza SC, click here
To view and buy new and second-hand Ibizas on motors.co.uk, click here
- Engines1.4 turbo petrol
- Power178bhp
- 0-60 mph
- Economy44.1
- CO2g/km148
- Insurance groups14E
- EuroNCAP
- Airbags6
- Seats5
Motors.co.uk value verdict:
