If you are looking for a great car that has everything thrown in for a decent price – then look no further than the Seat Ateca. What Seat have done here is made the perfect car that has a minimum of 510 litres of cargo space (seats up) and 1,604 litres with rear seats folded, loaded to the roof – with the added option of being a fully active compact (SUV) – which isn’t a bad thing if you are looking for something that will get you and your family about in style with minimal of fuss.
Power and Efficiency:
The Ateca I currently have on test is powered by an 115PS, 1.6 TDI Ecomotive diesel engine with a 6-speed manual gearbox and a respectable top speed of around114mph. It also has no less than 250Nm of torque, plus a 0-62 time of 11.5 seconds. Fuel consumption is also very good with a combined figure of 64.2 mpg.
On the road:
I like the way the Ateca handles – it feels very well balanced. Also, when the road gets twisty its more than capable of holding its own. The steering also feels light and agile – and when you hook all this up to its fantastic 6 speed gearbox – you really can’t go wrong, and It’s no exaggeration for me to say that I think the Ateca is the better car here when you compare it to its rivals such as the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Renault Kadjar and Peugeot 3008.
Equipment, Safety and Technology
Inside: As with all Seat’s, the interior is of a good standard – but, as I have said many times, Seat is a part of VW group, so it will last for years. The seating is actually rather good even after a long journey, and the dials and switches are laid out very well and are very clear and precise.
Some of the standard equipment across the range includes; driver and front passenger airbags, front passenger airbag deactivation, front side airbags, two curtain airbags, driver’s knee airbag, Traction Control System (ASR), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC) Electronic Differential Lock System (XDS) and Hill Hold Control
Plus it doesn’t stop there either – you also get; Media System Touch which includes a 5-inch
Monochrome touchscreen, MP3/WMA sound features, USB and SD card connectivity, four
speakers, FM radio, Bluetooth audio streaming and hands-free system, steering wheel mounted audio and phone controls.
Remember my test car is one of the top models in the Ateca range, and yet it only costs £24,330. So, as far as I am concerned you get a lot for your money, plus I really do think it has something more to offer than the normal run of the mill compact SUV.
To sum up:
I’m going to give the Ateca five stars in this test (which is rare for me), not only because I like it a lot but because I believe it’s worth every penny. Next time you are out looking for a new compact SUV, try looking that little bit harder, because as I have shown, the Ateca is a brilliant buy.