HARD on the heels of SEAT’s smart-looking new Ibiza comes its cheeky little brother. Two fewer doors have allowed the designers even freer reign with the striking new design.

The roof has a different profile and the muscular rear end has been reworked, while the car itself squats appreciably closer to the road than the more practical five-door.

With its aggressively bold, arrowhead-shaped front end and flared wheelarches, the Ibiza SC is clearly aimed at younger buyers, with prices starting at about £8,600.

The underpinnings for the SC, like the five-door, lengthen the car’s wheelbase and widen the track to make the car look and feel more substantial.

Improvements in suspension, steering and brake performance combine to deliver a more involving drive. Sport model suspension is tauter than the normal set-up, delivering excellent feel, but the downside is a bumpier ride.

And fat tyres, while delivering excellent grip, suck road noise into the cabin. While being light and easy to manage, the Ibiza SC car is officially one of the safest cars in its class, collecting a top five-star rating in the Euro NCAP tests.

The maximum five stars were awarded for the passenger protection test, with a four-star rating for child protection and three stars for pedestrian protection, one of the highest collective scores in the supermini class.

In addition to new side head-thorax airbags, plus the option of side curtain airbags, all models also have anti-lock braking as standard, plus front seatbelt pre-tensioners, a front passenger seatbelt warning buzzer and rear Isofix child seat anchorage points.

Other optional active safety systems include traction control, electronic stability programme and tyre pressure warning.

The influence of almost two decades of Volkswagen control is easy to see in the fit and finish of the Ibiza, which is SEAT’s best-selling car in the UK and worldwide. It needs to be good to compete with the likes of the Renault Clio, Peugeot 207, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta and has a decent loading of standard equipment from front electric windows, height- and reach-adjustable steering wheel and CD player with steering column-mounted controls to remote central locking and height-adjustable driver’s seat.

There are some other nice touches. A hillhold function keeps the vehicle’s stationary on slopes for two seconds between releasing the brake pedal and accelerating.

Front foglamp cornering lights, which illuminate as the steering is turned, are also standard on most versions.

Other options are swivelling bi-xenon headlamps, rear parking sensors, a radio-integrated Bluetooth connection and the pre-installation in the middle of the dashboard of a dock to connect a portable satnav system, initially available to hook up the TomTom One V3.

The engine choice is between three petrol units – 70 horsepower 1.2-litre; 85 horsepower 1.4-litre and a 105 horsepower 1.6-litre with diesel-engined Ibiza SCs arriving now.

While all the engines are mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, a seven-speed automatic/sequential manual gearbox will be offered to buyers of the 1.6-litre engine this year.

Auto facts SEAT Ibiza SC 1.4 Sport

Price: £10,280

Insurance group: Three

Fuel consumption (Combined): 45.6mpg

Top speed: 110mph

Length: 403.4cm/158.8in

Width: 169.3cm/66.6in

Luggage capacity: 10cu ft

Fuel tank capacity: 9.9 gallons/45 litres

CO2 emissions: 149g/km

Warranty: Three years/60,000 miles