It’s hatchback, city-car, fun, pure and simple.
Jonathan Humphrey nips about in the SEAT Mii FR Line 1.0 75 PS 5-speed manual
SEAT along with its made in Barcelona image is one of the most youthful of car brands. TheMii is the entry-level car in the Seat range and the trendy cousin of the more expensive Volkswagen Up and Skoda Citigo. The car combines Spanish design with German Engineering.
The Seat Mii is a smart looking city car, with good build quality, fun to drive and cheap to run. The Mii FR-Line model that I drove brings a more sporty look to the Mii range. Overall, well equipped, the car is a perfect fit if you are in the market for a reliable city car with a simplicity and easy going nature.
Inside the Mii the driving position is great, everything is at hand, the interior features splashes of red here and there with red stitching, the seats are covered in an easy to clean material with FR logo badging. Hard..ish plastics still abound, but all, easy to wipe, and the car will sparkle once again. Instrumentation is crisp and clear and the six-speaker sound system was just right for the car.
Navigation is not standard, there isn’t a built-in touch-screen, however, I liked the hands-free sat nav cradle atop the dash, I am not sure of the latest legalities with using Google maps on the move using your phone in this position, but it is at hand. SEAT offers a driveMii app to be used for in-car connectivity. Air conditioning and USB ports are available and easy to find.
The boxy shape makes a roomy car; the model tested was a five-door and it is pretty spacious in the back. The boot is more than a reasonable size for this type of car at 251 litres and with the seats folded 959 litres gives more than enough capacity for airport runs or those trips to IKEA. A three door version is also available.
On the road, performance is adequate, with light and easy steering but with a sporty nature and a firmish ride from the stiffer suspension and sixteen-inch alloys. The three-cylinder thrums along nicely with 74hp and a 0-62mph in 13.2.seconds. On longer runs and on motorways, the Seat Mii remains refined and once up to speed cruises along quite happily. The five-speed gearbox is notably easy to shift. Economy on my journeys around the south easily produced 50+mpg and with low emissions of 106g/km CO2 you are doing your bit.
With a length of just 3,557 mm, the Mii makes parking a pleasure, with its wheels on each corner, boxy city car nature, visibility is excellent and soon you manage to get into spaces that you would have imagined too small.
The car tested is also equipped with the convenience pack which included auto-headlights, a coming and going headlight function and rain sensing wipers and safety assist which automatically scans the road ahead by laser and activate the bakes between 3-19 mph to avoid low-speed collisions.
This area of the market has heated up again recently with new city cars from Kia, Suzuki and Ford. The SEAT Mii FR-Line is more fun than some, good looking, great value cheap to insure and and well placed to succeed.
Car reviewed: Seat Mii FR-Line 12V 75PS – On the road price £11,715 0-62mph 13.2 secs Top speed 106mph Fuel Economy combined 64.24mpg CO2 emissions 102g/km Engine 999cc 3-cylinder petrol EU6 Max Power 75PS@6200 rpm Torque 952Nm@3000rpm Transmission 5-speed manual insurance Group 4E
Well designed and built
Low emissions and economical
An optimum size for a city car
Has some stiff competition
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