The new Seat Ibiza received an excellent rating after the stringent crash tests organised by the prestigious Euro NCAP organisation – 5 stars in passenger protection, 4 stars in child safety and 3 stars in pedestrian protection. Officially released today, this result places the Spanish model in a privileged position, scoring it as one of the safest cars of its segment.
 
The 85 hp Seat Ibiza 1.4 16V Reference was chosen for the tests. Since the equipment level is different in every country, Euro NCAP selects the unit with the minimum level of standard safety equipment for its testing.
 
For the purpose of the test, the new Seat Ibiza unit features driver and passenger airbag, head-thorax sidebag, ABS, TCS + EBA, electric front seatbelts + load limiter, three-point rear seatbelts, fasten seatbelt warning light and beeper and rear window Seat Isofix anchoring points.
 
Occupant protection: 5 stars, the highest possible score
 
The new Seat Ibiza was put to three different crash tests – frontal impact, side impact and pole impact. The result was a 5 star rating, the highest score possible.
 
The 2008 Ibiza received 14 out of 16 possible points in the front impact test, the highest score of 18 in the side impact test and 2 out of 2 in the pole test.
 
The figures speak for themselves; a total of 34 points which means that the Euro NCAP 5-star rating is the highest possible in terms of occupant protection.
 
Child protection: 4 stars
 
It is obvious that the Seat Technical Centre’s safety efforts have produced outstanding results, which are corroborated by the results achieved in the child protection test. After crashtesting the models that offer the best child protection, the new Ibiza scored 38 points.
 
Besides, the ease with which the car can be equipped with child retention systems thanks to the rear Seat Isofix anchoring points and the possibility of installing a third anchoring point called Top Tether, which prevents the child Seat from rotating in the event of a crash placed the new Ibiza in the top ranking positions with 4 Euro NCAP stars for child protection.
 
Pedestrian protection: 3 stars
 
Pedestrian protection is one of the aspects that underwent close scrutiny in the development stages of the new Seat Ibiza. Considerable improvements have been made to two impact sites – the bonnet and adjacent areas, and the bumper. Their crashworthiness was put to the test by Euro NCAP.
 
The new Seat model achieved an excellent result of 19 points, deserving 3 stars, with a green bumper rating which is the best for this part of the car.
 
With the points received after the Euro NCAP tests, the new Seat Ibiza takes a giant qualitative step to become one of the safest cars in its segment, in response to the expectations of the technology used in the development of the Spanish maker’s new vehicle.
 
SEAT concentrates its efforts daily on increasing road safety by applying the latest breakthroughs on its cars and taking actions to help reduce road accidents, and over two million kilometres of endurance testing are proof that safety plays an important role in the new Ibiza.