The SEAT Ibiza Bocanegra has been strategically positioned to add lustre to the ‘Alfa Romeo’ of the Volkswagen Group. OK, so nobody at SEAT has actually mentioned the whole ‘A’ word since Erich Shmitt was president, but there is one man who seems pretty keen to keep up the tag line.

Design director Luc Donckerwolke (you may still know and love him as Lambo man) is working hard to give the Spanish carmaker some edge. After successfully reinventing Lamborghini, Donckerwolke moved to SEAT in 2005 and despite the broader palette -- think Tribu Concept, IBe Concept -- his designs remain sharp, high impact and with no sign of bloating.

If you don’t know the SEAT Ibiza drill by now, the FR is the fast and (relatively) insurance friendly one, while the Cupra is Renaultsport Clio rapid, albeit with much better running costs (44.1mpg vs. 34.4mpg; 148g/km of CO2 vs. 195g/km of CO2 respectively).

The mechanically identical Bocanegra version will set you back an extra 700 notes over a standard Cupra, ramping the price up to £17,245 (prices have been revised since my video). It gets 17in gunmetal alloys, black gloss treatments around the mouth (Bocanegra actually means black mouth in Spanish) and door mirrors, while inside gets appliquéd with lots of ‘B’ logos.

It’s certainly a very positive step in the right direction but SEAT’s engineers still need to be loosened up as much as the designers. Not being able to fully disengage ESP in a hot hatch, for example, is a massive no no, as is paying £700 for no engine upgrades. Not even a little chip, guys?

Also, the use of a lighter (and cheaper) XDS electronic limited slip differential is fine in the same way that Kanye thinks it’s fine to use voice synthesizers. It does a fine job, though we’d prefer it if he just had a decent singing voice to start with (read have a mechanical diff). Like I said, the SEAT Ibiza Cupra Bocanegra is a very positive step, but I’d still like to see a bit more rebellion. If you want to know more about the Bocanegra, why not have a listen to podisode six of The Gas Station.

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