We review the Seat Ibiza from price to economy and all its features

THIS is the essential Ibiza remix.

The Spanish supermini, updated for summer 2015, has  more efficient engines, more personalisation, a new interior and cool smartphone tech.

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But you’ll notice Seat HASN’T gone the whole hog and tinkered with the exterior design.

That’s because there’s an all-new Ibiza coming in 2017. And why bother with a nip/tuck when it’s still better looking than its VW Group sisters, the Polo and Fabia?

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It could have been a disaster waiting two years for the latest German engineering, though.

So the 2015 Ibiza, priced from £10,000 for the three-door, is armed with six new down-sized engines. My pick is the 1-litre turbo (95PS) with five-speed manual —  0-62mph in 10.4 seconds, 68.9mpg and free road tax (CO2 94g/km). It’s a good all-rounder.

There’s also a faster 1-litre turbo (110PS) with seven-speed auto but the quickest is the 1.4-litre (150PS) in FR trim that does 0-62 in 7.6 seconds and 137mph.  That’s too much for me at £16,245 — it’s not far off a Fiesta ST — and besides, it will be eaten alive when the racy Cupra version drops.

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For mega economy, Seat claims the new 1.4-litre diesel (75PS) will do 83.1mpg. Probably 60mpg-plus in the real world but still good numbers.

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Inside the Ibiza is much improved (touch-screen, satnav, reversing camera, USBs) and hyper-connected. It works with all makes of smartphone and includes Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

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The new £14,070 “Connect” model even comes with a free Samsung Galaxy A3 worth £249 — and a Seat app to read/send texts and Twitter updates.

It’s not all good, though. It’s not wireless and there’s zero effort in the back (no drink holders, no 12volt/USB ports). That needs sorting for 2017.

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And surely the Ibiza needs a cool sound system for those Ibiza anthems.

Beats by Dr Dre?

VERDICT: Spanish flair, German engineering and cheaper than VW and Skoda. Worth a look.