Road Test: Seat Ibiza 1.8 20V T FR 3dr

Seat's weird ideas about styling really seemed to kick in with this evolution of the Ibiza, and having set the precedent for successes like the Altea and balls-ups like the Toledo, the VW Polo-based supermini is about ready to hang up its boots. The FR is one of those final lifecycle marketing tricks, breathing some life into the stiff.

Even with the might of VW's powertrains to plunder, this semi-hot hatch isn't in the box just yet.

The petrol version gets the same 148bhp 1.8-litre turbocharged engine as the Polo GTI, so performance is similar and better than the overly torquey diesel FR that spins away too much of its grunt through the struggling front tyres.

The real changes to this last hurrah FR, however, are cosmetic. They've redesigned both front and rear, as well as giving it bigger wheels and badges and twin exhausts.

But, for all that, it's still merely an Ibiza with none of the aspirational styling that the Polo steals from the hugely respected golf GTI.

The interior is also a place that time has forgotten, not only burdened by evidential budget limitations when it was originally conceived, but given a further pasting today by the unavoidable passage of time.

That said, the Polo GTI is a ball-breaking £15,410. Seat has seen sense and actually dropped the price for '06 to a tempting £11,950.