Road Test: Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI FR 3dr DSG

Launched alongside its hotter, meatier, Cupra sibling, the FR is, as Seat would have it, the all-round package: a day-to-day car for the discerning yet sensible young man who wants affordability, performance and practicality in one.

Regrettably I don't think you get much of any of those in the FR. The 148bhp on offer doesn't ever feel like enough, and doesn't work half so well with the standard DSG gearbox as the 178bhp available in the Cupra.

It still costs £14,995, a lot for a small Seat, hot or not, and that's only a grand less than its far more impressive stablemate. And the Ibiza FR is no great shakes on the practicality front, despite being available as a five-door, thanks to a rear that is short both on leg- and headroom, surely a problem for the sort of angry adolescent who has one of these, and endless nights four-up pulling doughnuts in shopping centre car parks, in his sights.

The FR is too far short of the Cupra yet too close on price. If insurance quotes are the deal breaker for the sort of buyer Seat has targeted here, I think they'd be better off getting something profoundly cheap and cheerful and driving the door handles off it than ruining themselves on a slightly underwhelming version of the car they really want.