SEAT Mii Sport
We drive the new SEAT Mii Sport - so is it the finest version of the city car yet?
The days when city cars were poorly equipped and made are long gone – the Mii Sport is a fine example of a good-looking, high-quality, grown-up small car. With its peppy engine and well chosen extras, it’s easily worth £705 more than the SE.
The Mii Sport marks the top of SEAT’s city car range. It features a 74bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine, so is no hot hatch, but is the most powerful manual Mii money can buy.
The newcomer features 15-inch alloy wheels, lowered suspension, front foglights and tinted windows. At £9,980, it costs £705 more than the 59bhp SE on which it’s based – so is it worth the extra?
As well as those exterior upgrades, the Mii Sport comes with a gloss grey dash and darker upholstery, in addition to standard kit like a leather steering wheel and electric windows and mirrors. It certainly stands out in the bright orange Tribu colour of our test car. And like its VW up! and Skoda Citigo sister models, the Mii feels the part inside with solid materials; that gloss grey dash looks classy as well.
On the move the lowered suspension does the Mii’s ride no favours, and it bounces over speed bumps more than the standard car. However, the 74bhp engine provides peppy performance: SEAT claims the Sport sprints from 0-62mph 1.2 seconds faster than the 59bhp SE, recording a time of 13.2 seconds, and you’ll feel the benefit in town, let alone when joining motorways.
CO2 emissions of 108g/km also mean the Sport will cost £20 a year in road tax, like the SE – the Ecomotive is the only Mii to slip below the 100g/km threshold. And with claimed economy of 60.1mpg against 62.8mpg for the SE, the two are neck-and-neck on running costs.
The lowered suspension doesn’t make much difference to the way the Mii Sport goes around corners. It feels agile, with precise steering, and is enjoyable to drive. The most impressive part of the package is the space on offer. Thanks to its long wheelbase, the car really can transport four adults.
So we think the Mii Sport is definitely worth the extra over the SE. Not only is it faster and more generously equipped, it’s also just as cheap to run.
