I can't see the Ibiza ever being fitted with a 4WD system - the Golfs a bigger car - on the Ibiza the weight and size of the system would make it impractical in a car so small
 
Petrol has a wider torque band than the diesel so it does not need the 6 spd.. also cheaper/lighter/ more similar to the rest of the petrols to get the volumes up for lower costs. Marketing drives the 6 speed a little... some autos now have 7 speeds and they are getting more and more pointless especially if you are under 120-130 mph max speed.

As for 4wd .. what would be the sales volume verus the cost to create.. ultimately another marketing question. The Leon 4wd must have sold not very many cars (even if it was an easy 4-motion rip off). Ultimately no market seen so none made... now when they finally get the Subaru diesel on the market then we will see a worthwhile 4wd diesel to compete with the VAG products. (well except Subaru have had fragile early engines..)
 
Most people used to buy diesels with 6 speed GBox for Motorway travel, this is still true but more poeple are using them for town work and short journeys.

The Cupra 20VT is more of a GTI type car, I think it should have been an option, ie the Lupo GTI it was offered, but you ended up changing gear so much beacuse of lack of torque!
 
on the Ibiza the weight and size of the system would make it impractical in a car so small
Fiat used to do a 4x4 Panda years ago.....last year when I was on holiday, walking up a steep rocky mountain track in Italy, one chugged up past us, I had to do a double take - didn't think even a Landrover would make it up it was so rough !!
 
i think you numptys are all missing the point a little.

Yes the next ibiza will have a 6 speed box, like all cars now the increase in the need to drop the emmsions outputs means they will have to. You only have to look at the latest Corsa CDti which has had a change of cogs to lower the emssions under 120g/km.

Gearbox specialists have contracts in at the moment to develope gearboxes to help lower emsissions. in fact ZF have nearly finished an 8 speed Auto which lowers emisions by 20%. With silly targets set by the EU to lower the average emissions output to 130g/km by 2010 the mechanicals of the car and weight are now seen as the vital part to get emissions down.

Thus you will also see less 4Wd cars and permanent 4wd will be a thing of the past soon.

aside from the real reason. there is one other too.

All of us will remember the Focus St 170 that was released before the Focus RS. Well this came with the Getrag 6 speed gearbox a great gearbox too ( its the same as the Mini cooper S's). Anyway when they were designing the Focus RS they assumed first off that they would go for the 6 speed in it. but during testing it just did not feel right, they could not get the ratios right, thats wehy the Focus RS ended up reverting back to a 5-speed gearbox as it matched the engines characteristics much better.

Hopwever there are cars that do need a 6 speed, and after owning one i would not say the ibiza 1.8t is one of them. However other cars like the peugeot 206 Gti 180 were in desperate need of one. my mates pug would cruise at 5000 rpm at like 90 ish. Way too high.
 
6 speed isnt automatcially better than 5 speed.

Especially as you can stay in gear longer and 5th gear maxed will still see you going to jail!

It would be nice for the fuel economy on motorways, but if thats what you want, you should have got a derv
 
There was an article where the seat boss said that he wanted the next ibiza to be iconic or follow in the footsteps of the delta integrale. Whether that means we might see a 4wd ibiza I dont know, but VAG do want to push the Seat brand more, as they are talking of offering a propper sporting saloon seat, and also a mid engined seat sports car based on the rumoured upcoming audi R4.
 
Fiat used to do a 4x4 Panda years ago.....last year when I was on holiday, walking up a steep rocky mountain track in Italy, one chugged up past us, I had to do a double take - didn't think even a Landrover would make it up it was so rough !!

True - but the compromise is the handling of the Panda isn't exactly up with the Ibiza - the weight and bulk of the 4wd system compromises the setup of the rest of the car.
 
to me that 6th gear is only really gonna be used for motorway driving. not much else. its not like if u were on a long corner on a race track u wuld stick it in 6th.lol.
I think 5speed box was best decision for the beeza cupra.
The Derves can get away with it, because they are more likely to be used for motorway driving.

i think that is what seats thinking was behind this!