Arona oh so good in so many areas
By Declan Colley
The municipality of Arona on the Canary Island of Tenerife might not be famous for much, other than being a tourist destination, but this town of 93,496 souls might just be about to become more notable on an unexpectedly global front.
As has been the tradition with VW-owned Spanish manufacturer SEAT, the company names its cars after places in its native land — Ibiza, Leon, Alhambra, Ateca and so forth.
As far as I know, there is no place in Spain called Mii (SEAT’s micro-mini), but hey, everyone is allowed an exception to every rule.
In any event, the Arona is now with us and the car, named after the humble Canary Island municipality, is set to blow SEAT into a new era of growth for the Martorell-based company.
The small SUV has been imbued with all the ingredients necessary to see it sell in the sort of numbers that the firm has long dreamed of.
With demand for supermini-based SUVs now estimated to be four times greater than it was even as recently as 2015, every manufacturer worth its salt it clambering on this particular bandwagon and, with the Arona, SEAT is especially well placed to take advantage of this sales phenomenon.
Of course, it is not the case that SEAT has cornered this market all for itself, as there are now more of these things on the go than could ever have been imagined just three short years ago.
And the market is now just being populated by manufacturers who could be described as having mass appeal, but also those who ply their trade at the so-called premium end of the market.
But, whatever about all the competition, I have a feeling that many people who look at the Spanish offering will find no further need to tramp around endless dealerships to find what they are looking for.
No, they will have found exactly what they require with this diminutive Spaniard. And, that being the case, the municipality of Arona is going to became a lot more famous than it ever thought possible.
The reason why the Arona is going to be huge for SEAT is simply that it is so good in so many areas: it has a great engine, interior space is excellent, the connectivity systems are some of the best and most intuitive I have come across in this class of car, the specification is excellent and the price is hugely competitive.
Sure there are minor downsides — aren’t there always with cars.
Given the snazzy and funky look of the exterior of the car, you might expect that the interior might just be that little bit youthful and jazzy, but it is not. It is drab and bland and that is something SEAT is clearly going to have to address at some point in the future.
But let us take a look at the upsides which, as I’ve said, are many and varied.
We will start with the engine and, on this topic and on a week when Toyota announced that it would no longer be making diesel-engined passenger cars, it is worth pointing out once again — as we have done on many occasions in these columns — that small capacity petrol engines are about to have their day in the sun.
In fact, we proclaimed some time ago — even before Lexus took the phrase up as an advertising slogan — that ‘diesel is dead.’
The Toyota decision this week at the Geneva Motor Show pretty much confirms that to be the case, although several German manufacturers still believe diesel can be revived.
But with individual cities across Europe gagging to ban diesel and many individual governments hungry to display their environmental chops by taxing diesel off the planet, the future for oil-burners is definitely going to be short-lived.
That leaves the options of either hybrids or small capacity petrols as the only commercially viable choices for manufacturers. And SEAT has a really good one; or rather, several in fact.
Some car makers, like Toyota, in particular, have pioneered and embraced hybrid engines like their future depended on it and to some extent their future does depend on it. But they have also been whittling away at a variety of petrol-only solutions.
Other manufacturers have only embraced hybrid as a means of lessening their CO2 footprint and trying to minimise the potential fines they face for not doing so, but they too have been sniffing around various petrol options.
SEAT, having the backing of the vast VW parts bin and the various engines therein, has thus got access to some of the best there is on offer when it comes to such as three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines. And with cars like the Arona, they are intent on making a lot of money from it. On the evidence of this week’s tester, they will have little difficulty in doing so.
We tested the 1.0 TSI engine in the car in XC specification and it was a dinger. There is 115 bhp available from an engine which allied to a six-speed manual ‘box. The performance figures will not stagger you, but they're not bad nonetheless, what with top speed being 184 kmh and the 0-100 kph time coming in at 10 seconds dead.
So what you get is a lively and economic unit (5.0 l/100 km or 56 mpg) with a very soulful soundtrack, a stock in trade for all three-pots, which makes it a delight to drive in whatever environment you choose for it. It will easily master the demands of city life, while being equally at ease on the open road.
Given that the Arona is based on the excellent Ibiza platform, it is no surprise the car is as sharp as a tack on the handling front while also delivering a ride quality that might only have previously been seen in bigger cars. Comfort levels are top drawer and, as I already averred, the infotainment and connectivity systems are second to none.
Throw in a specification list which includes everything from alloys to cruise control to park assist to rear camera and you have a package that gets better looking the more you take it all in. Butter all that up with an exceptionally comfortable and practical interior and you’ve got one very tasty morsel indeed.
We have known for some years now that SEAT was eventually going to start rattling cages across the motoring spectre and, while it might have taken a cataclysm at VW to finally get them going, they have taken up the challenge with considerable gusto and with cars like this one the Spanish outfit are ready for the big time.
Arona is ready for fame.
from €22,815 to €27,591 as tested.
a petrol cracker.
you will be genuinely amazed.
SEAT gets it right
