Faults:

The airbag light is permanently on; it will be fixed with a new seatbelt pre-tensioner, but the part has taken 2 months to arrive.

Squeaky driver's seat back.

Driver's headrest falls to lowest position after adjustment.

General Comments:

The standard car is quite quick and the 6-speed gearbox keeps things on the boil nicely. There is loads of torque from 2,000 to 4,000 rpm.

At idle the engine is quite rattly, but it soon smooths out as the revs pick up.

Handling seems quite good; very sure-footed, but somehow it feels high so I am discouraged from exploring the limits. There is little body roll, so perhaps the problem is lack of support from the 'sport' seats. Ride is quite hard, but I like that.

The seats are very uncomfortable over long distances; no lumbar support and insufficient under-thigh. they also lack bolstering despite being described as sport seats, and have no upper body location at all.

I have had the car chipped by APR (now Revotechnic) who claim 180bhp and 300lb/ft. It is now very quick; a true hot-hatch that regularly surprises drivers of 'performance' machinery. It will still return 50mpg on a motorway run and I have yet to see a tank show less than 40mpg on the (pessimistic) trip computer.

I have also changed the wheels as I thought the originals looked awful, and I have had the door handles and mirror backs painted as the car looked like a base model when they were black.

The standard stereo sounds OK, but I replaced the head unit and found a vast improvement. The speakers are actually not too bad for standard fit.

Faults:

On delivery the radio code had not been programmed in. Dealer phoned back same day with correct code.

Some minor rattles, especially from the front passenger seat belt clip.

General Comments:

This car has a much better interior than the previous Ibiza. The seats are a lot more comfortable although the display for the air conditioning and ventilation is almost impossible to look at whilst driving!

A very refined TDI PD engine with minimal cabin noise, even at motorway speeds. Excellent acceleration.

Specification is good too. It has ABS with disc brakes all round, 15" alloy wheels, electric mirrors and windows, climate control, CD player, remote locking too.