THEGAYUK

Tag: Seat Cars

All the latest breaking news on the automaker Seat. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Seat.

  • MOTORING | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Seat Marbella 1986 – 1998

    MOTORING | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Seat Marbella 1986 – 1998

    The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

    SEAT UK

    An irrelevant look at a certain car.

    Seat Marbella 1986 – 1998

    A holiday in Spain. The guaranteed hot summer breezes off the Alboran seas. Where am I? Marbella. And I’ve painted a rather lovely picture of that seaside resort. The car company, Seat, have a history of naming cars after places in Spain. Their new Tarraco was named after Tarragona. It adds sex and style to the car. That memo might have been lost on the Marbella.

    Seat rhymes with Fiat and Fiat owned a large percentage in the Spanish motoring subsidiary. Well, it did until sometime in the ’90s when it decided to let it go. Seat needed to soldier on and make good what they could.

    So a quick flick with the pencils and over a lunch of paella and a glug of sangria, the Seat Panda evolved into the Seat Marbella. And that was the little car’s problem. It was a Panda. Ok, that isn’t a problem. The Panda of 1980’s design was right on the target. A sophistication package of space utilisation and genius packaging. One of Giorgetto Giugiaro’s finest to this day.

    Problem was, Fiat had the good grace to continue the development of the Panda. It gave it new engines, fancy quality interiors and an Omega rear axle from the Lancia Y10. This, in turn, made the Panda a bit more happier over the bumpy bits.

    Seat’s answer was to give their Panda Marbella some plastic cladding along the sides and a sloping front in the hope that you wouldn’t notice the old-style cart springs at the rear. They hung so low that you had to be quite stupid not to see them.

    And for Marbella, it didn’t really get any better. It still soldered on with the OHV 903cc petrol engine from Fiat’s back catalogue of 1955. Blistering it was not. With a 0-60 time of 19.3 seconds, the Citroen 2CV6 could give it a run for its money. And the 2CV6 was cheaper too. The “nothing available” list of options you could get on your Marbella made the 2CV6 vulgar in its luxurious appointments.

    Surely Seat gave you value for money? Not really. For your 4858, you got a top of the range GLX complete with wheel embellishers and a heated rear screen. For 200 more, you could get the much improved Panda. And Panda also had better resale values too.

    While it had a cute cuddliness about it, it was a bad car. It rode bad, drove bad and sounded bad. You see, while Fiat’s marketing board went into over-drive with a new limited edition every month, Seat and their overpriced and out of date box gave you unpretentious motoring that wasn’t as badly built as it could have been.

    As long as you have access to another car to use, there is something endearingly beautiful about the Marbella. It was closer to the original concept than Fiat’s MK2 Panda and that’s why the no-frills Marbella was the good choice.

  • CAR REVIEW | Seat Tarraco

    CAR REVIEW | Seat Tarraco

    ★★★★  | Seat Tarraco – Seat’s Mover For The People

    What Have We Got?

    We have seen Seat grow in recent years and to here we have Seat’s new 7 seater SUV, the Tarraco, to finish the 3 SUV line up. THEGAYUK were invited to the UK launch to find out more about this newcomer from Seat.

    Built on the multi-talented MQB platform, the Tarraco shares a lot of architecture from the wheels down with the likes of the Audi TT and VW Arteon. So it has sporty and luxury on its side but does this translate in the Spaniard? Above that, and it is all (almost) Seat. THEGAYUK opted for the Xcellence trim 2.0 TSI petrol 4WD to review.

    Driving

    The sheer size of the Tarraco means you need a good strong engine to propel it forward. Thankfully that is what you get with the 2.0 TSI petrol. 320 Ib/ft of torque from lowly 1500rpm makes good progress through the 7 speed DSG gearbox.

    And the figures get better. Considering this is some 29kg lighter than the comparable diesel model and it gives you a 0-60 time of almost 2 seconds quicker and a highly illegal top speed of 131mph.

    You won’t use that performance all the time. The Tarraco rides reasonable hard, giving it a sporty feel but this is somewhat lost because it does do a reasonable job of smoothing out the ruts and bumps in the road. It belies its big 19”

    Inside

    It’s a step up in quality from the Spanish side of the Volkswagen family. And about time, even if it is perhaps just a little ‘too Volkswagen group’ inside. The layout for all the controls follows the VAG ethos of simplicity and that’s no bad thing. Unlike the Spanish Eurovision entries of the past 58 years, so much is played out with Seat’s Mediterranean roots that you feel a slight lack of spice is missing.

    Thankfully what we do get in the Tarraco are rather nicely finished door cards. The architecture gives you fabric inserts, hard and soft plastics and illuminations. And this also stretches to the rear doors, pushing this new SUV from Seat further up quality.

    Living With It

    The Tarraco is being sold as a 7 seater in the UK. They aren’t the worst 3rd row rear seats I’ve climbed into but they certainly aren’t really for adults unless on the pub run. The main problem is the under thigh support that is firmly lacking for those with long adult legs. Thankfully they rear seats are comfortable and supportive in places. 

    Overall the Tarraco offers space and versatility that is part and parcel of larger SUV. And with the all-wheel-drive system, offers the ability to venture further off the beaten track. 

    The Verdict

    Despite what I have said, Seat has taken the MQB-A LWB platform and made it their own. In doing so they have made a quality product that should satisfy most buyers in the large SUV market. And they have all bases covered with 2 and 4 wheel drives, diesels and petrols of varying sizes and their simple and effective line-up. OTR prices start from £28,335 for SE 1.5 petrol to £38,055 for Xcellence Lux 2.0 diesel. There should be a Tarraco for everyone here. 

    Love

    Door architecture

    Range options

    Versatility

    Loathe

    Cramped third row seats

    Harsh ride

    Top models pricey

    The Lowdown

    Car –  Seat Tarraco Xcellence 2.0 TSI 4Drive 190PS DSG

    Price – £ 34,845 (OTR)

    MPG –  38.7 mpg (combined)

    Power – 190ps

    0-62mph –  8 seconds

    Top Speed –  131 mph

    Co2 – 166 (g/km)

  • The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Seat Ibiza 2002 – 2008

    The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Seat Ibiza 2002 – 2008

    The Good, The Bad and the Ugly : The Seat Ibiza Mk3. Type 6L. 2002-2008

    An irrelevant look at a certain car.

    This Ibiza was a bit of a revelation from Seat. Finally, they had a car on the British shores that you actually wanted.

    This was VW’s second attempt with the Ibiza. Compared to the rest of the family from VAG, It had a design flair all of its own. Ibiza 1 was sharp. That was designed by Ital. Ibiza 2 looked like a ripe butternut squash. And due to its shape, meant you couldn’t, sadly, lose it up your rectum!

    Ibiza 3 looked as aggressive as a Spanish taxi driver drove. I would have said a Matador but have you seen the embroidery work in their costumes? Quite exquisite and so delicate. Anyway, gone were those fat dumpy looks, the Polo dashboard and the general dead feel of the car. Look at it from underneath and you’d think this was a VW Polo. Or a Skoda Fabia. From the top, it was all Spanish, all Seat and all very Mediterranean.

    And that Mediterranean feel could also be felt through the ventilation system. Any car without a sunroof was incredibly hopeless in its ability to draw in fresh air. Aircon helped but what you really wanted was something that allowed the rush of air to pass through the cabin.

    Opening a window wasn’t always an option. Closed windows give better miles per gallon and the thing could fly. You see, if you were wise and a bit ‘tight’ with the pennies, you’d have opted for the 1.4 3 cylinder diesel engine.

    That’s right, a 3 cylinder diesel. Now VAG doesn’t have a good record with ageing 3 cylinders. The 3 pot petrol engines are crap. Remember the Polo? RUN! In diesel, it was great. 79 bhp felt like 179 and but that 195Ib ft of torque was most useful. These were diesels that didn’t sound too diesely and sipped the fuel like an introvert drinking a Babycham at a swingers party.

    It was that magic 195Ib ft of torque that made the Ibiza 3 fun. They came with big alloys and low profile tyres so handling was always fun. It was all slick and it all worked in the way VW, sorry, Seat made them work. The 5-speed gearbox snicked in and out of the ratios with reassurance. And come night time, the dashboard was ALL red and ALL sporty and ALL racy and, well not blue like a VW.

    Parked the right way, Ibiza 3 is a good car to look at with its big S as a nose. Park it so you can see those rear lights and your eyes are insulted by these ugly 4 pots in a baguette style slither of plastic like those from the dodgems of a 70’s Torremolinos funfair ride.

    Thankfully, in 1.4 diesel form, it’s pretty quick so those behind you don’t have to endure that visual fright and for that one thing alone, I am saying the Ibiza 3 is a good car.

    BUT ONLY IN DIESEL! with a sunroof. And aircon.

  • CAR REVIEW | Seat Arona

    ★★★★☆ | Seat Arona

    From little acorns, grow mighty oaks. Seat is on a roll at the moment, and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping them at the moment. Indeed 2017 saw sales grow by a massive 18%.

     

    Hot on the wheels of last years new SUV the Ateca is their smaller Arona. So confident with their new model, Seat launched it in the showrooms a few months before a UK motoring launch. Their tagline for the Arona is “Do Your Thing” Safe to say Seat have.

    Based on the new MQB A0 platform that is home to the 6th generation of VW Polo, Seat has jacked it up a bit and with their homegrown design, covered it in a body that is in keeping it with the Seat family. A lot has been made of the Arona’s design with it being aimed at the younger spectrum on VAG’s line up.

    In some ways, it works. Looks alone are simple and classy but not packed with as much Spanish flair as you’d first have thought. This also goes for the inside. In some ways, it still has a safe approach that VW is known for. I said some time ago when I tested the Ibiza that Seat is now a stand-alone company and deserve their chance to design their cars. It’s a start but not as ‘wow’ as I’d have hoped. Take that with a pinch of salt and what Seat have given you is a small crossover SUV that is both easy on the pocket and good on the eye.

    Prices start at £16,555 for the base SE model and rise to £24,235 for the Xcellence Lux. Seat has been a bit clever in their model range line up. 24 choices are available in 6 models. To make it easier there are just three engine choices of 1 litre to 1.5-litre petrol and a 1.6 diesel. All turbo’d with a few differences in performance output. All available with manual and automatic gearboxes but no four wheel drive option. This is purely a front wheel drive car.

    Purchasing the car is then made easier. The options list is kept to a minimum and instead of loading up the car, you choose what you want by the trim level. This apparently makes delivery quicker. The only choice you have to make then is the body colour and roof option. Personally, I am not sure if I like this. The purchase of a new car is all about personalising it to suit you.

    THEGAYUK.com tried two different models. First up was the £22,095 115ps TSi Xcellence Lux. This had pretty much all you could want with the only option being the DSG auto box. It was nice to see adaptive cruise control included along with driver profile adaptions for responses to throttle and steering.

    I’m a fan of the 1-litre TSi unit, and I was keen to see how it behaved in the new MQB A0 chassis. I’m happy to report that it was well suited to the chassis with no evidence of wheel tramping from accelerating quickly from a standstill. Performance wise you won’t find many chances to try its top speed of 113mph and its 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds isn’t going to win any awards. Economy is going to be good with an average of 56.5mpg being achievable. Exhaust emissions are 114g/km. The Arona ranges from 106g/km for the diesel to 115 for the bigger of the petrol engines.

    Inside you are cosseted to a quiet ambience. Something I’ll get to later with the FR. It’s all nicely laid out and well screwed together. Some of the architecture is Seat. It demonstrates a square edge design to things like the door handles in infotainment surround. You can see where the great value in price has perhaps scuppered some material refinement inside. The dashboard top is of hard plastic, and some of the switchgear is directly carried over from the VW group. This again flags up the “not quite there” in design. The layout is simple and VAG. The dashboard on this top model doesn’t have the beauty of VAG adaptive dials. Perhaps an upgrade that will come later.

    I was impressed with the new Arona. Its main attribute will be value for money. Youngsters are struggling to get themselves on the property ladder but getting into an SUV from Seat will not be a problem.

    Next up on test was the 150ps 1.5 TSi Evo FR Sport with a six-speed manual for £22,040. This is Seat’s top of the range sporty model. It certainly feels sprightly over the other models in the range with 150ps available. It’ll whizz you from 0-62mp in 8.3 seconds and take you to 127mph. The new 1.5 petrol engine certainly makes light work of keeping up momentum and is very flexible. It’s fitted with a stiffer suspension set up as you would expect in a sporty derivative. It removes a lot of the body roll you get with the more subdued models. This, however, causes some upset.

    What is apparent in the FR Sport is road noise. At first, we assumed it was from the big 18” alloy wheels. It turned out it wasn’t because the Xcellence Lux also wore the same sized wheels and that was able to carry itself quite serenely along your given route. This then can only be attributed to the dynamic chassis.

    Do I like Arona? Yes, I do. Again I would like the see Seat use some more of that hot Spanish flair the Spaniards are known for. As for my model choice, It would have to be the Xcellence Lux. The extras you get over the normal Xcellence far outstrip the extra £1000 is very much worth it. The SE Technology from £17,545 will probably be the most popular sold model.

    Love

    Price
    Ride in softer sprung models
    Use of space

    Loathe

    Needs more Spanish flair
    Ride noise in FR model
    Some plastics a bit cheap

    The Lowdown
    Car – Seat Arona
    Price from – £16,555 to £24,235
    Available now.

  • CAR REVIEW | Seat Ibiza FR Red Edition 1.2 TSI

    ★★★★ Seat Ibiza FR Red Edition 1.2 TSI | I’ll say it now and get it out of the way. The Ibiza has just too much Volkswagen about it.

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  • The Week In Cars – Ferrari or Porsche?

    Porsche have shown us the hottest Cayman yet, the GT4. As suggested by spy shots, it gains a much more aggressive body kit with a fixed rear wing along with 20 inch wheels.

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