Urban with a young spirit - those are the first words of the press release for the all-new SEAT Ibiza and Arona Beats editions. Frankly, we have no time for that kind of marketing talk, but anything Volkswagen makes in collaboration with Beats by Dr. Dre seems to sell well.
We like the design of both the cars, but the Beats treatment adds nothing of value. There an orange finish for the trim pieces around the fog lights, the mirrors, and the Arona's roof. This looks more like a SEAT color than something from Beats, a brand with red logos.
The cabin is also decorated with play/pause buttons on the back of the cabin mirror or the aluminum pedal covers. Orange accents take the form of matt piping, contrast stitching and trim around the infotainment.
To start with, the standard equipment package will include the Full Link system (MirrorLink, Android Auto, and CarPlay) to connect your smartphone. The BeatsAudio sound system comes with an eight channel, 300-watt amplifier, digital signal processor and seven speakers: two tweeters in the A-pillars and two woofers in the front doors, two wide-band speakers in the rear, as well as an integrated subwoofer in the spare wheel.
But our favorite features are the more distinctive key (hopefully that's not a case) and the fact that you get standard Digital Cockpit. Until now, you couldn't get a screen to replace the dials on these small SEAT models. It looks like the same 10-inch setup as in the VW Polo, with two smaller gages for fuel and oil temperature on the sides.
SEAT seems to be making nearly every engine available, as there are eight powertrains for the Ibiza Beats and six for the Arona. We'd avoid the base 1.0 MPI and opt for the 1.0 TSI with either 95 or 115 HP. A 1.6 TDI diesel is available with anything from 80 to 115 HP and a 7-speed DSG. However, the 1.5 TSI with 150 HP is missing from the range at this moment.
The cabin is also decorated with play/pause buttons on the back of the cabin mirror or the aluminum pedal covers. Orange accents take the form of matt piping, contrast stitching and trim around the infotainment.
To start with, the standard equipment package will include the Full Link system (MirrorLink, Android Auto, and CarPlay) to connect your smartphone. The BeatsAudio sound system comes with an eight channel, 300-watt amplifier, digital signal processor and seven speakers: two tweeters in the A-pillars and two woofers in the front doors, two wide-band speakers in the rear, as well as an integrated subwoofer in the spare wheel.
But our favorite features are the more distinctive key (hopefully that's not a case) and the fact that you get standard Digital Cockpit. Until now, you couldn't get a screen to replace the dials on these small SEAT models. It looks like the same 10-inch setup as in the VW Polo, with two smaller gages for fuel and oil temperature on the sides.
SEAT seems to be making nearly every engine available, as there are eight powertrains for the Ibiza Beats and six for the Arona. We'd avoid the base 1.0 MPI and opt for the 1.0 TSI with either 95 or 115 HP. A 1.6 TDI diesel is available with anything from 80 to 115 HP and a 7-speed DSG. However, the 1.5 TSI with 150 HP is missing from the range at this moment.