Seat cars

2013 Seat Ibiza SC Trophy

Just in time for the 2013 Wörthersee event, Seat is coming back with a new version of its Ibiza SC Trophy racecar. It looks familiar, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s because Seat already showed something similar to it last year.

This time, though, the Spanish automaker is giving us a refreshed take of the sports hatch, complete with some new aesthetic modifications and a nice and subtle performance upgrade.

This year, Seat’s work on the Ibiza SC Trophy includes stripping out the interior to fit in some racing equipment, including a full roll cage. The car also gets a modified oil sump, an improved braking system, and a set of 18-inch racing wheels that really add some sportiness and overall awesomeness for the Ibiza SC Trophy.

In addition to the noticeable aesthetic and racing modifications, Seat also gave the Ibiza SC Trophy a 1.4-liter turbocharged TSI engine that now produces 200 horsepower, 10 percent more than what last year’s Wörthersee offering, and mated it to a seven-speed DSG transmission.

It’s quite a treat seeing Seat have some race-spec cars like this, and the best part is, it only costs €31,500 ($41,195).

Click past the jump to read more about the Seat Ibiza

2013 Seat Leon Cup Racer

Today at the Wörthersee show, Seat has unveiled the new Leon Cup Racer - a model specially prepared for racing series worldwide. The Cup Racer is offered in two versions: one with a DSG transmission priced at €70,000 ($92,000) and the endurance version with a sequential transmission and mechanical differential lock priced at €95,000 ($124,500).

The Cup Racer version is based on the standard five-door Leon and feature a metallic matte grey paint combined with orange accents. The model is about 40 cm (15.71 inches) wider than the standard version and sits on 18-inch racing wheels. Seat has also installed an aerodynamic package that improves the car’s stability at high speeds. This kit includes a new front spoiler, a rear diffuser and a two-phase roof spoiler mounted on a support.

For the interior, the company offers a high-strength roll cage, bucket seats with a HANS head-protection system, a multifunction steering wheel and a high-resolution TFT display. Under the hood, the Leon Cup Racer gets a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine that delivers a total of 330 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque.

Click past the jump to read more about the standard Seat Leon.

Car Infographics: The Evolution of the Seat Ibiza

In the European market, the Seat Ibiza is one of the most successful hatchbacks, so is no wonder why the model is already at its fourth generation. Mhairi Steele has created a very cool infographic for Seat UK that presents the evolution of the Ibiza and combined that with a number of events that occurred during this period.

The first-gen Ibiza was launched onto the market in 1984 and lasted until 1992. The second generation arrived in 1993 and stayed on the market until 2002 and it was equally impressive. The third generation was built between 2002 and 2008, and the current generation followed that up. During its lifetime, the model received numerous updates and many engines have been added to the lineup.

Ibiza was witness a number of unrelated innovations through its lifespan, including the launch of the first personal computer, Tom Hanks winning his second Oscar for the movie “Forest Gump,” the launch of Facebook in 2004, the release of first iPhone, Barack Obama becoming the first black president of the U.S. and much, much more.

We are also pretty sure that the history will continue, at least for another 30 years...

2013 Seat Mii Miinx

The Seat Mii isn’t necessarily the coolest car on the planet, but any time a car company does something to help out an important cause, we can’t help but notice. The Mii Miinx began its life as a normal old Deep Black Metallic Mii Sport, but in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month, a Seat dealership chose to make it into a one-off show car.

After pulling this Mii Sport and its 75 PS (74-horsepower), 1.0-liter engine off of the showroom floor of Dales Seat in Cornwall, it was wrapped boot to bonnet in a gloss-pink vinyl wrap. To help add a little more of a custom look to this otherwise bone-stock Mii, the folks at Dales Seat tinted the headlights.

This Seat Mii Miinx comes relatively well-equipped, featuring: 15-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear shift, tinted rear windows, fog lamps, and a sports suspension.

The base Mii Sport goes for £11,500 ($18,298 at the current exchange rates), but, as you can tell, this is no normal Mii Sport. There are no immediate plans to sell the Mii Miinx, but Dales Seat has received numerous offers via Twitter and telephone. We’re sure the car will eventually be sold off to some lucky buyer for a good bit more than its base price.

In the meantime, Dales Seat will be donating £100 ($159 at current exchange rates) to Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity for every Mii it sells. Even if you can’t pick up the Mii Miinx, you can still snag up a Mii and have a portion of its profits go to a great cause.

Click past the jump to read Seat’s full press release.

2013 Seat Ibiza Cupra

After the Ibiza Cupra Concept unveiled earlier this year at the Beijing Auto Show, Seat has finally dropped the production version. The model delivers stunning design, amazing performance and state-of-the-art technology and will be put on sale in January 2013. On the British market the model will be priced at £18,825 or about $30,000 at the current exchange rates.

Seat used the Cupra name for the first time back in 1996 as a special, top-of-the-line Ibiza built to commemorate Seat’s World Rally Championship victory in the 2.0-litre category. Since then the model became a hit and now is being used for both the Ibiza and Leon ranges.

The new Ibiza Cupra is powered by a a 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine that delivers a total of 180 HP and 184 lbs-ft of torque. It can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds and can hit a top speed of 142 mph.

Hit the jump to read more about the 2013 Seat Ibiza Cupra.

2012 SEAT Ibiza by JE Design

The SEAT Ibiza is not what most enthusiasts would qualify as a hot-hatch, except when fitted with the 1.4-liter TSI or 2.0-liter TDI engine, which produce 150 PS (147 horsepower) and 143 PS (141 horsepower), respectively. Leingarten-based custom auto enthusiasts, JE Design, has managed to turn even the lower-level Ibiza models into a semi-hot hatch, or at the very least, a sharp-looking and peppy hatchback.

The 2012 SEAT Ibiza is available in three body styles, 3-door hatch, 5-door hatch, and station wagon. The JE Design kit is built to fit any of the body styles that the Ibiza comes in. The SEAT Ibiza itself starts at €9,995 and ranges up to €16,340. This upgrade kit, of course, goes on top of the cost of the car, but with the SEAT Ibiza’s low cost, the entire package becomes rather affordable.

Click past the jump to read what JE Designs has done to make the SEAT Ibiza more stylish, comfortable, and even a little bit faster.

2012 Seat Ibiza SC Trophy

The second model to be displayed by Seat at the 2012 Wörthersee event, next to the Leon Super Copa, is the Ibiza SC Trophy. The SC Trophy is based on the new generation of the standard Ibiza. It is priced at 31,500 Euro (about $40K at the current exchange rates) and has been described as the ideal starting machine for amateur racing drivers.

The new Ibiza SC Trophy is powered by a 1.4 liter TSI engine that delivers a total of 180 HP and is mated to a seven-speed DSG transmission operated from the steering wheel. The engine has been combined with a modified oil sump, a powerful brake system, and racing suspension running on 18-inch wheels housed under noticeably flared wheel arches.

The interior drops all the "unnecessary" elements from the production model and provides only data truly relevant to racing drivers. The interior is painted in a special grey paint finish combined with fluorescent orange on the mirror casings, wheels, and interior roll cage.

The Seat Ibiza SC Trophy can be driven in single-brand race series.

2012 Seat Leon Super Copa

Seat will be attending the legendary Wörthersee event with another extensive display: the Spanish company plans to unveil some very cool concept cars as well as a bunch of vehicles that can already be ordered. Once such vehicle is the Leon Super Copa - a model inspired by its sibling racer from the WTCC and priced at 63,000 euro, or about $80,000 at the current exchange rates.

The new Leon Super Copa is powered by an uprated version of the 2.0-liter TSI engine from the Leon Cupra R. The engine delivers a total of 300 HP and a peak torque of 250 lbs-ft, sprinting the car up to a top speed of 155 mph. The engine’s output travels through a six-speed DSG transmission and mechanically locking differential to the front wheels.

The Seat Leon Super Copa features a special grey paint finish, while the mirror casings, wheels, and roll cage highlight the vehicle in a fluorescent orange.

SEAT Ibiza Cupra "Concept"

For those that happen to not know what Sociedad Española de Automòviles de Turismo, known simply known as SEAT, is, don’t feel bad, as not many people do. This is a Mexican car manufacturer now found under the Volkswagen Group umbrella that is known for creating sporty cars tuned more toward the youthful crowd.

At Beijing, SEAT released an all-new “concept” car that is more of a certain reality than a concept, according to SEAT, but it is still technically a concept. This vehicle is a new trim level to the newly released Ibiza SC, known as the Ibiza Cupra Concept.

This isn’t just any old trim level though; this is a high-performance model that has an additional 20 percent more horsepower than the current highest output engine in the Ibiza SC. It also features some sharp styling upgrades over the SC trim level.

How does this hot hatchback compare to its bigger brothers in the Volkswagen group and other vehicles in the crowded European supermini class?

Click past the jump to find out.

2012 Seat Leon FR+ Supercopa

Seat UK has unveiled a very cool Leon FR+ Supercopa edition - a model inspired by the Supercopa one-make race series. On the British market, the new model will be priced at £22,530 ( about $29,417 at the current rates) - or just £750 (about $979 at the current rates) more than the standard FR+ version.

The new Leon FR+ Supercopa features a Seat Sport designed body kit that includes extensively re-worked front and rear bumpers, smart side skirts, a more pronounced tailgate spoiler, bespoke BBS 18-inch alloy wheels, and unique chrome-tipped twin exhausts. The model will be painted in either Nevada White, Emoción Red, or Speed Blue.

The list of standard equipment will include: 18-inch alloy wheels; a new 2.2 sat-nav with five-inch color touchscreen, dynamic route guidance, DAB radio, Bluetooth audio streaming and SD card slot; Bluetooth phone connection; bi-xenon headlights with AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System); and rear parking sensors.

The new Supercopa version will be offered with the usual diesel and petrol engines: a 2.0-liter TSI with 211 HP or a 2.0-liter TDI CR with 170 HP.