Reginald *IB4R* says:
it was a beautiful 35 seconds.
David says:
that's what she said
Wow, this thread got off topic pretty quick!
In response to the questions of "Why?": good value, safe, comfortable, pretty spacious, efficient, extremely cheap to run.
As far as the car goes, tis good. The performance is quite amusing in fact. The engine has clearly been mapped so that it achieves maximum efficiency at low revs so that it scores best possible scores in the standardised fuel emissions and economy tests. As such, when you're below 2000rpm it feels as though the throttle has been disconnected. There is no responsiveness and glacial acceleration. Then suddenly when you hit about 2500rpm it's as if someone as flicked the "power switch" and stuff actually starts happening in the engine bay. In second gear in particular it feels as though the car suddenly lurches forward. As long as you stir the gearbox well the performance is more than ample for everyday driving. It does sound a bit like a tractor at low revs, particularly under load, but once up to cruising speed is pretty quiet and relaxed.
The car rides very well. Big bumps and potholes in the road are barely noticeable, whilst at the same time the car never feels too "floaty" or wallowy. The handling isn't exactly what you'd call sporty, for obvious reasons. The steering is feather light, and there is virtually no feel. The car turns in well though, and whilst it is very obviously understeer biased, it's not as horrendous as some other family hatches I've tried. There is some body roll as you would expect, but again it's pretty well controlled. The car is definitely softly sprung, but they've done a decent job of the damping I reckon.
Dynamically speaking the brakes are the biggest weak spot. The pedal is too soft, there's no bite at the top of the pedal travel, there is no feel at all, and the ABS kicks in alarmingly early. They are definitely the biggest let down on the car thus far.
The interior of the car is decent. It looks fairly pleasing to the eye and is well laid out. Slight oddities like the position of the light switches and the 'backwards' wiper stalk will take a little getting used to, but they are pretty minor gripes. The seats are comfortable and supportive with plenty of adjustment, and the driving position is good. The rear seat legroom isn't great, but I'm happy to sacrifice a little rear legroom for a decent sized boot; from looking at rivals like the Mazda 2, Fiesta and Polo the boot size of the Ibiza is way better. The only minor gripe with the interior is that the plastics feel a little cheap and flimsy, particularly the glove compartment. But then again the car is designed to be light and cost effective so can't really complain too much about that.
In conclusion, I'm pretty satisfied with the car. It does everything I was expecting from it performance and economy wise, is comfortable and reasonably quiet, and the few minor complaints I have with the car are 'livewithable'. Overall rating: 4/5.
Last edited by Jack_Bauer; 07-01-2009 at 10:35 AM. Reason: whoops!
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