Seat Ibiza 1.0 TGI test drive: five reasons to switch to CNG

After testing the Seat Ibiza 1.0 TGI, we give you five reasons why you should consider Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a purchase option. And it’s not just about consumption.

Seat is betting on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and the new Seat Ibiza TGI is the best proof of this. The Spanish brand has three vehicles that can run on this fuel: the Seat Mii Ecofuel with 68 CV, the Seat León TGI with 110 CV, and the new Seat Ibiza TGI, which has just gone on sale. And by the end of the year the Seat Arona 1.0 TGI SUV will join the range, with the same engine as the Ibiza.

A day of testing with the Seat Ibiza 1.0 TGI, including a refuelling to fill its CNG tanks, and some interesting data such as the comparison of the cost per kilometre of natural gas versus petrol or diesel, as well as the irresistible launch offer and discounts from Seat, make the Ibiza TGI interesting… even if you weren’t considering a CNG car in the short term.

And I say “in the short term” because, when weighing up pros and cons, the Seat Ibiza TGI has a lot of the former and very little of the latter. Among the cons, there are only two things. First, the loss of boot capacity to make room for the gas tanks: the 355 litres drop to 262 (also sacrificing the spare wheel), which is still not bad at all. The second is that there are still few CNG refuelling stations in Spain. But note, I said “still”. Think longer term. Why not get a natural gas car now, which you can use like a petrol car, and be ready for when a refuelling station is near your home in a few years? If that doesn’t come with any “burden”, it can be an option.

I recommend you keep reading to the end. These are the 5 reasons why the Seat Ibiza 1.0 TGI is worth considering.

Cost per km: up to 45% less than petrol

The following figures are calculated on the basis of the average consumption under the homologated cycle, but they can be extrapolated to real consumption, which would increase in the same proportion in all cases. If we convert the fuel cost and consumption into euros per kilometre, with 3.3 kg/100 km for the Ibiza TGI compared with 4.7 l/100 km for the petrol Ibiza 1.0 TSI, the natural gas Ibiza TGI saves up to 46 per cent compared with petrol.

And if we compare it with an Ibiza TDI? With the current fuel price and an average consumption of 3.8 l/100 km, the saving for the natural gas version is still considerable compared with diesel: around 30 per cent. What’s more, the Ibiza 1.0 TGI is even cheaper than an equivalent hybrid. If we compare it with the Toyota Yaris hybrid, which has a homologated consumption of 3.3 l/100 km, driving 100 kilometres would cost 4.1 euros. The Ibiza TGI, with its consumption of 3.3 kg of CNG and at the current price of 0.97 euros per litre, has a fuel cost of 3.2 euros to drive 100 km.

With Compressed Natural Gas: extended range

Another way of looking at it: filling the two gas tanks of the Seat Ibiza TGI costs about 12.7 euros. Let’s look at how many kilometres we can drive with that money depending on the type of fuel:

How many kilometres can I drive for 12.7 euros?

Ibiza TGI: 394 km
Ibiza TSI: 214 km
Ibiza TDI: 271 km
Hybrid rival: 305 km
LPG rival: 327 km

As you can see, the cost-per-kilometre advantage favours CNG in all cases. And since the two CNG tanks located under the boot floor of the Ibiza TGI hold about 13 litres, and the 40-litre petrol tank is kept, you can add almost 400 extra km to the normal range of the petrol Ibiza TSI without having to stop to refuel. In total, almost 1,200 km.

This may not seem like a significant advantage, but there it is. If you can’t refuel with CNG, you can always use the car with petrol like a normal Ibiza TSI.

Driving, use and maintenance of the Ibiza TGI

More points. First, if you like an Ibiza with the fantastic 1.0 three-cylinder petrol engine, then the TGI version suits you. It’s true that with the 117 kg of extra weight, and the engine “losing” 5 CV, performance suffers a little. But only a little: about 2 km/h in top speed and one second in acceleration. Seat quotes this version at 90 CV between 4,500 and 5,800 rpm, with a maximum torque of 160 Nm. The top speed is 180 km/h, and 0-100 km/h is covered in 12.1 seconds.

In practice, the Seat Ibiza TGI drives and feels practically the same as a petrol car. In fact, the car always runs in natural gas mode, unless the CNG tanks run out, or when starting from cold at very low temperatures. The switch to petrol mode in these cases is automatic, and the driver notices absolutely nothing. Oh! And refuelling is practically the same as with a petrol or diesel car, as you can see in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaYOIq1QWXI&feature=youtu.be

The Ibiza TGI is no “lightning bolt”, and with just 5 gears and very long transmission ratios it might seem to lack push or horsepower. It’s just a matter of handling the gearbox well if you want to pick up speed fairly quickly; the small engine gives a lot. In short gears for city driving it is agile and responds wonderfully, and on the motorway it allows very relaxed cruising with the engine turning at very low revs.

Dynamically, the extra weight doesn’t affect the steering when you drive over potholes, brake or tackle bends. The Ibiza’s chassis is very good, and the brand’s engineers have barely had to adjust the rear springs to the new weight distribution.

Finally, and if maintenance is something you might worry about, there is only one difference between the Ibiza TGI and the TSI: the latter can go up to 30,000 km between oil changes using scheduled maintenance, while the TGI requires one every 15,000 km. Beyond that, both require at least one annual service, even if you don’t reach those 3,000 km, at a practically equivalent price. Every 4 years, however, you will need a visual inspection of the tanks at a specialist workshop.

Seat Ibiza TGI: with ECO label

We keep adding advantages, and here we get into all the benefits of the ECO label. Here you have everything you need to know about the DGT environmental badge, but in brief, one important benefit is being able to enter cities during high-pollution episodes when traffic restrictions are activated.

Add to this the general aid applied to cars with an ECO label (reduction in the Road Tax, exemption from the Registration Tax), or the savings in regulated parking zones or on tolls in some cities, and you have another argument for buying. That makes four.

Ibiza TGI price: take advantage of the discounts!

You’re surely wondering what the additional price is for the TGI technology. Under normal conditions, about 2,000 euros. A difference that was more than offset when there were funds under the Movalt Plan for aid to buy eco-friendly cars.

But since the aid for CNG cars ran out in just one day, and Seat’s commitment to natural gas is firm and determined, the brand is offering for two months a discount equivalent to what is needed to match any version of the Seat Ibiza TGI with the petrol TSI variant. This amounts to about 2,000 euros off, so the list price of 17,410 euros drops to 15,410 euros… which can be 10,650 euros if you add all the additional discounts in force for the Ibiza range! Remember that the TGI can be ordered with any trim level, including FR.

To take advantage of all the discounts, you have to finance the purchase through the brand’s finance company. And that brings one more benefit that translates into savings: the Ibiza TGI then adds 5 years of warranty, 5 years of roadside assistance, 5 years of maintenance and fully comprehensive insurance for the first year.

Also, since the CNG tanks are delivered full – this is not a courtesy of the brand, it is because they must check the tightness when leaving the assembly line – and there is an agreement with Gas Natural Fenosa under which you can get a 200-euro fuel card, it could be said that the first 5,000 km driven with the Seat Ibiza TGI would cost you nothing.

We haven’t talked about safety, but there’s not much need to. The Seat Ibiza TGI is not a car adapted to run on compressed natural gas. It is built on the same assembly line as the rest of the Seat Ibiza models with petrol or diesel engines, and passes the same safety tests and crash tests. And as a fuel, CNG is as safe as or safer than petrol.

Technical specifications of this car

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