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Seat has named their supermini offering after the renowned holiday destination hoping to capture some of that youthful and carefree spirit, and for the most part, I dare say they have been largely successful. For those thinking that the new Honda Jazz looks a little too cutsey for their taste, the Seat Ibiza rightly should be more than the next alternative in the practical small hatchback segment. It packs a 355 litre boot, and the rear seats provide plenty of knee room even for someone of my height. Sharp lines and an appealing angular design, coupled with a beautiful font for both the central infotainment and the driver's instrument cluster round off the supermini package. And speaking of packages, this Ibiza I tested was a top-spec (locally at least) Style Plus model, meaning it now gets additional tech features including adaptive cruise control, tiredness recognition, and keyless access. Yare yare. All you really need to know is that this is a $92,999 (as of 31 October 2019) car that packs a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder delivering 114bhp and 200Nm. For context, that's practically as much torque as you get in the larger 1.4-litre Volkswagen Golf. And boy does that seven-speed DSG make use of that torque. Day-to-day driving will see the dual-clutch shifting gears at the earliest opportunity, meaning that you get a fuel consumption of 14.7km/L, which is nice, but flog the pedal and the car switches instantly out of siesta mode, sending you away. The three-cylinder's thrummy noises switch into something addictively snarly, and being in something so small makes that zero to 100km/h figure of 9.5 seconds feel conservative. Readers of my stuff elsewhere will know I was an absolute fan of the old Audi A1, but this car just feels so much more nimble. The light but communicative steering makes it feel like you can chuck it into corners with near reckless abandon, and the car swallows directional changes with much aplomb, but the new MQB A0 platform also adds to the Ibiza's suite far greater highway sovereignty. Sound insulation feels like a class above and the car suffers none of that nervousness other cars in the segment can be prone to at high speeds. Just how exactly has Seat managed to make the Ibiza feel so chuck-able in the twisites yet so mature at the straights is genuinely astounding, especially when you consider that this car makes do with only a semi-rigid rear suspension. So there has to be some catch right? Well, unfortunately, yes. The Volkswagen Group's brand positioning becomes apparent when you knock on the door cards, which sound definitively hollow, and that DSG I mentioned earlier can be over eager to switch into the taller gears when doing gentle cruises, leading to some uncouth vibrations transmitting into the cabin. Shoppers looking for a mature, grown-up supermini ought rightly to look at the Volkswagen Polo or the Skoda Scala. But who really gives a toss about little niggles like that. The Ibiza is bleedingly fun to drive and (I suspect) own. Adaptive cruise control and tiredness recognition in a car this fun? Obviously someone out there hasn't been taking their pills. Just like Mike Posner on his holiday trips, why not choose to do something fun once a while? Make this car your trip. Live life on the fun side. Opt for horsepower just once. Buy this. Now, where's my Valium? ----------------------------------------------- Click here for the full review on sgCarMart! -----------------------------------------------

It seems that Asian automakers somehow have the ability to manufacture pretty interesting super-mini cars. Take a look at the Mitsubishi Mirage, for example. It seems like Mitsubishi tried to shrink the car so that it can just fit into the A-segment. However, with Honda, things seem to change a little bit as the Japanese automaker seems to be lean towards practicality. You see, instead of competing in the A-segment as well just like the Mirage does, the Honda Fit (also known as the Jazz here) plays in the B-segment and it's quite big too. Carrying a chunky boot capacity of 335 litres, I think the Fit is a leader in its class. However, if you are satisfied with the boot capacity of the current generation Honda Fit, you may feel happier to know that Honda is already preparing the next generation Honda Fit that carries a total of 400 litres when it comes to bringing along your stuffs. Yes, you heard it right, it's the 2014 all new Honda Fit that's in the works! The car will make its first bow to the public of its home country by the end of 2013, after which it will also go global. But thanks to these accompanying Japanese scans, we're not going to have to wait that long just to know how the car will possibly look like. These scans manage to show us some parts of the car, including the interior and possible colour choices - two of which seem to be very bright neon colours - that Honda will be offering for its latest Fit. While the car is supposed to play in the B-segment still, it has grown a little, by 60mm (that's around a little above 2 inches). So, the car now measures 3,960mm. Well, don't be disappointed if you're keen on practicality that comes from a smaller size. The smaller the size of the car is, the easier it is for you to manoeuver through traffic, right? But, the good news is that passengers will have more spacious legroom, thanks to the wheelbase that now has a length of 80mm. This growth in size is probably partially due to the new architecture the car is being built upon. I believe it is this new architecture that Honda will also use in order to produce its very first SUV/crossover in the B-segment. Well, honestly, the car looks modern and is also prettier than the previous generation Honda Fit, although it does look kind of boxy in a few spots. The car also borrows a transparent nose that we've come to know from the Honda Civic hatchback of the previous generation. Now, let's get to the most important part of a car - under the hood. With the 2014 Honda Fit, we'll have the privilege to choose between a 1.2-litre and a 1.4-litre VTEC petrol engines. And, if we choose the latter, we'll also be able to choose a six-speed automatic transmission. Yet, for those who live in the European continents of this world, a 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine that produces 120bhp is also an available option. Actually, I would say that there's still one engine that Honda will probably offer with its 2014 all new Fit. That would be the hybrid engine with a total capacity of 1,500cc in addition to a power output of 110bhp. This engine is previously used by the Civic as well. However, this engine will only see the light of day provided that the seemingly hybrid car pictured in the scans is actually a hybrid car indeed. Despite a bigger size than its older brother, the car maintains a light weight. This is possible thanks to the fact that the head and block utilises aluminium alloy. So, with its bigger size that makes for more spacious legrooms, do you think that the 2014 All New Honda Fit is still practical enough for you to be interested in? If you feel like sharing your thoughts, the comment section below may be your best friend.

PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to put Hybrid Air powered vehicles on the road by 2016. The system combines an internal combustion engine with compressed air energy storage. It is similar to electric hybrid system but uses compressed air for energy storage rather than batteries. A hydraulic pump/motor unit recovers energy generated from the combustion engine and from braking/deceleration and stores it in the air energy storage unit. The system claims to improve fuel efficiency by 45% and increase a vehicle's range by 90% as compared to conventional engines of similar power ratings. The system can operate solely on gasoline power, air power or a combination of both when high power acceleration is required. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjqFihLltSY In small vehicles such as the Citroen C3 and Peugeot 208, the system is said to achieve a combined cycle fuel efficiency of 2.9-litres/100 km with an estimated CO2 emissions of 69 g/km. PSA plans to introduce the system in their B segment models from 2016 in the first phase. C segment and light commercial vehicles will follow after that.