… SEAT Arona SE …
What is a small SUV, you might ask? Take the new SEAT Arona for instance, it looks more like the offspring of shortsighted night out between a hatchback and a proper mid-sized SUV. What you get is something that fits comfortably inside the footprint of the average family hatch and easier to park than an overfed off-roader.
The main benefits are more head and shoulder room inside, the driver sits slightly higher up and can therefore see more ahead and around, plus it’s easier to get in and out, especially if sprachling with weans, kiddie-seats, buggies and all the other paraphernalia that the modern family has to lug around with them. No wonder they are becoming so popular.
As for the Arona, the result is a good looking wee car that ticks all of the above boxes. And it comes with the SEAT badge on the grille which is a good indicator of build quality, reliability and the assurance of one of the largest car manufacturing groups in the world.
There could be another reason. From personal experience, SEAT dealers appear to be more helpful than some of their car dealing/servicing brethren!
That in itself is not enough to cut the mustard in one of the industry’s fastest growing car buying sectors. Everybody is building these cars which means the competition is fierce. Good looks and practicality are not enough, any successful car needs internal comfort and acceptable ride quality.
Again, the Arona does the business. This a tastefully finished motor inside as well as out, with seating for four adults, or five at much less of a squeeze than commuting by train!
At 4,138mm long, the Arona is 79mm longer than the New Ibiza but it’s 99mm taller, hence the increased headroom. The added height also allows for more ground clearance which is fine if you’ve moved into a new house and they haven’t finished building the roads yet!
The seat cushion is also 52mm higher than the Ibiza and headroom is over 33mm higher than the saloon car. The suspension has been increased by 15mm and the windscreen is slightly more vertical than in the Ibiza for an even roomier interior while the slightly bigger and taller body allows for a much larger boot, with 400 litres capacity.
The seat material looks tough enough to stand up to junior’s wide range of footwear and the interior looks as though it will be easy to clean up spillages. Mind you ‘unintentional spillages’ shouldn’t be a factor as the car rides well and doesn’t roll too much on corners, so tender stomachs need have no worries.
The dashboard looks rather plain and uncluttered with a central 8 inch touchscreen panel and two dials dead ahead, although that disguises the fact that the Arona comes with all the driving assistance and infotainment systems that you might expect these days. These include Front Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Hill Hold control, Tiredness Recognition System, Auto lights and wipers, Multi-Collision Braking, Keyless Entry and Start System, precise and high-quality rear camera, and Connectivity Hub with Wireless Phone Charger and GSM signal amplifier. Rear Traffic Alert, Blind Spot Detection and Park Assistance System are optional extras.
The car on appraisal was the 94 bhp, 1 litre triple which might not appeal to the power hungry, sporting motorist, but seriously, it goes well and handles really nicely and it was fun driving it over the ‘Bathgate Alps’ which those of a certain generation will recall from Esso Uniflo Championship navigational rallying days.
With a 5 speed gearbox this is no motorway, long distance cruiser but it sits at 70 mph with ease, although I couldn’t get anywhere near the ‘official’ combined fuel economy of 57.6 mpg in everyday motoring. However that is typical of all manufacturers’ 1 litre engines these days. The laboratory tests always promise so much more than driving in the real world.
At £16,555 for a small SUV, it might at first sight seem a tad expensive, but you get a lot of small car for the money, and it still undercuts many of its rivals.
As for me, I really liked it.