Believe it or not I didn’t originally set out to buy a bright yellow car.

My mission was to find a solid, useable hatch with good torque and cruising ability for the motorways but with pace and excitement for the local back roads.

I enjoyed the integrity and build quality of the Audi A3 I had recently lost as a company car so this influenced my preference towards a vehicle of VAG group origin. A Golf was one option but it left me a little cold. I fancied something hotter and the sunny Spanish warmth of a SEAT Ibiza shone through!

Naturally it was the sporty Cupra that appealed, with the 4 cylinder 1.8 turbo lump seen in so many other quick VWs and Audis.

I was set on a silver or black colour car at first, but this Onvi yellow example advertised privately on Auto Trader was local and so I went for a look. Only on its second keeper, unmodified and with a full SEAT service history, it was what I was looking for. A deal was done and away I drove with what I still think is a very good value car for around £5,000. You get that engine (in 156 bhp form), half leather trim, air conditioning, CD multi-changer, electric windows and mirrors etc. all wrapped up in an attractive and well-engineered package.

First thing I decided to do was get the wheel alignment checked as the steering wheel was slightly off centre. A quick visit to Elite in Rainham, Essex showed the tracking was way out. £52.75 and some adjustment later and the car felt instantly better, tracking smoother and feeling more alert to steering input than previously, though still not good on detailed feedback. This is one area this car really lacks compared to the Clio 172, which I had owned previously. The ride too appears a little stiff and crashy after the poised and pliant Renault.

Next up was a new set of wheels. The standard five spoke alloys looked dated and dull. So, in a bid to improve the looks and handling I sourced a set of black Team Dynamics Pro Race 2’s on ebay. 17 inch diameter and complete with new tyres for £450 they were a bargain. With each wheel weighing only 7.5kg each they reduced the unsprung weight and improved the ride, whilst looking a lot meaner than the standard items!

The problem with modifying a car is you inevitably start a snowball rolling. So when it became obvious the exhaust had seen better days I decided to look for something with a bigger tail pipe to match the bigger wheels. Now, I have to hold my hand up at this point and say I think I made a mistake. I should have paid the good price I was quoted by Big Boys Toys at Thurrock, Essex and had a full Milltek Sport cat-back system fitted. But I didn’t. Instead I spotted a secondhand stainless steel system on an owners club forum and paid what I thought was a bargain price for it. Except it didn’t fit. To cut a long story short the front section was okay but the back box mountings were all wrong. To complete the job I ended up getting a custom back box made up and the whole exhaust cost more than the Milltek would have in the first place!

This experience put me off doing anything else to the car for a while, or so I thought… Not long after I was out shopping and in a queue of traffic for the car park. After a few minutes I noticed the water temperature gauge creeping up above 90C. I jumped out and realised the cooling fans weren’t working. I booked the car in to Big Boys Toys and the fault was quickly diagnosed as nothing more serious than an under bonnet fuse.

While they had the car they asked if I’d like to try a trial Revo Technik ECU map. It took all of 3 seconds decide!

The problem with the trial map is that after 5 hours of engine running time it disappears, and so soon after this happened it was booked back in to have the full map installed permanently.

What an improvement! The car pulls harder in every gear and is much more responsive to small changes in throttle pressure. Very much worth the £355 price. You do notice a small drop off after sustained heavy use but this is down to the inadequate SEAT intercooler and its position, as a dyno session a month later confirmed.

At Surrey Rolling Road in December the car recorded a best of 186.4 bhp with 240 lbs·ft of torque (see graph), which was 30 bhp up on standard. This was on its first run. Subsequent runs showed lost power due to higher inlet charge temperatures.

As the New Year started the maintenance book reminded me it was time to book a service. With a cam belt and water pump change also due I decided to hand the job over to Big Boys Toys again (The SEAT main dealer prices were a bit steep and BBT change the water pump for one with a metal impeller – more reliable than the plastic impeller on the standard fit item).

I’m pleased I did. For one thing apparently the car had the wrong spark plugs fitted. Hidsons of Maidstone were the last of the main dealers to service my car and it turns out they had either fitted, or not noticed the plugs when they serviced it.

With maintenance complete and a bill for £399.98 paid, the Ibiza is going better than ever and I don’t have any further mods planned. Honest…