Southside - DublinPeople.com

14 motoring● Mii, Mii, Mii!This Seat is a neat two-door city carIT’S NO secret in motoring circles that the Volkswagen group were nothappy that their Up! didn’t win or even make the shortlist for the IrishContinental Car of the Year awards.Are we Irish so fussy that the WorldCar of the Year cannot even make it onto the Irish short list?There could be a simple answer. TheVW group has produced three small carsall based on the same platform, the VWUp! The Skoda Citigo and this week’s testcar the Seat Mii.Obviously the votes were spreadaround; it’s a bit like putting three candidatesfrom the same party into a smallconstituency at general election time.I drove the Up! earlier in the year andit was really cute. You will be able to readabout the Citigo on these pages nextmonth, but this week I’m focussing on thestrangely named Seat Mii, which is theleast expensive of the trio.Seat certainly grab your attention withtheir car colours; a few weeks back Idrove a green coloured Ibiza and thisweek the Mii was a bright yellow. It’s acolour that might not be everyone’s ‘cupof tea’ but it will certainly get you attentionin your local supermarket car park.by Sean CreedonIf you don’t fancy sunflower yellow, youcould opt for something ‘safer’ like black,red or silver, which is still the number onecolour for Irish motorists.This is a neat two-door city car. Externallyit looks cute, almost toy-like, butinside there is a surprising amount ofspace. There is plenty of head and legroom and it can take four adults or maybetwo adults plus three children in the back.I drove the Chic level where the frontwindows are electric, but if you opt forthe basic version the windows are manual.No doors at the back and the rearwindows don’t open. You also get a touchof the sunflower yellow in what is alreadya very bright interior.The boot is narrow, but very deepwhich means you can carry a lot of luggageor shopping and at the bottom thereis a full-size spare wheel. It really is a citycar, but I also found it comfortable on along drive. There are no fans of two-doorcars in our house, but this time there wereno complaints as the Mii was such a funcar to look at and to drive.I think this 1.0 litre car would be attractiveto singletons who thinking aboutbuying their first car. It might also be ofinterest to empty nesters, who might prefera new car rather than getting NCTtests every two years on an older car. Idealfor city driving, you can park in the tightestspots, and you can turn on the proverbialsixpence.Prices start at €9,895 for the basicmodel, while the Chic version I drove willcost you €11,350. There is also a sportversion where prices start at €11,550. Iread recently that an automatic version isnow available in the UK, but I don’t knowif the automatic will be available here. Anautomatic would push up the price and Ithink this car will be attractive to peoplewith tight budgets, who will enjoy workingthrough the five manual gears.No complaints from me this time, thiscar will go forever on a full tank of petroland I think the Mii is a great addition towhat is now becoming an impressiverange of Seat cars.9 JANUARY 2013. SOUTHSIDE PEOPLEA sweet Mini winfor new mumPHILLIP Monks, theMarketing Manager ofbb’s coffee & muffins,presents Claire Mc-Cusker with the keysto her brand new MiniCooper, which shewon by buying a box of12 Mini Muffins in thenewly refurbished Carrickminesstore.During the first month afterthe Mini Muffins launched, forevery box sold bb’s coffee &muffins donated €1 to Barnardosand entered customers intoa draw to win the MiniCooper.New mum Claire, originallyfrom Stillorgan but nowliving in Leopardstown, waspicked at random out of thousandsof nationwide entries.Speaking of her win Clairesaid: “I’ve never won anythingbefore in my life so to win anew car is amazing. I was aregular visitor to bb’s coffee &muffins Carrickmines after givingbirth to my first child lastspring and the Mini Muffinswere the perfect sized treat totake home and give out atMums’ Mornings to visitingMums and kids.”Photo by John Ohle Photography€13875 Prices start from €21900 €25800 €35900BILL SHEEHAN AND SONS74 Rathgar Rd., Dublin 6Phone: 4970123www.billsheehanandsons.com