SEAT Arosa

SEAT Arosa
Overview
Manufacturer	SEAT
Production	1997–2005[1]
Body and chassis
Class	City car (A)
Body style	3-door hatchback
Platform	Volkswagen Group A00
Related	Volkswagen Lupo
Powertrain
Engine	1.0 L I4 1.4 L I4 1.4 L I4 16 valve 1.4 L I3 TDI 1.7 L I4 SDI
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,323 mm (91.5 in)
Length	3,551 mm (139.8 in)
Width	1,639 mm (64.5 in)
Height	1,460 mm (57 in)
Chronology
Predecessor	SEAT Marbella
Successor	SEAT Mii

The SEAT Arosa (Typ 6H) was a city car from the Spanish automaker SEAT, from 1997 to 2004. The model débuted in March 1998, at the Geneva Motor Show, while its facelifted version was presented in October 2000, at the Paris Motor Show. It shared the same platform with the Volkswagen Lupo.

The successor, SEAT Mii, was launched in October 21 2011, and has been on sale since January 15, 2012.

Pre-facelift (1997–2000)

Named after Vilagarcía de Arousa, a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, Spain, it was only available as a three-door, four-seater hatchback. The Arosa, launched in 1998, was to a large extent identical to Volkswagen's own city car which was introduced later in 1998, Volkswagen Lupo, and both cars were based on the Volkswagen Group A00 platform, a shortened version of the A03 platform used by the larger Volkswagen Polo and SEAT Ibiza.

The Arosa was initially manufactured at a Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, and only in May 1998, was the production moved to SEAT facilities in Martorell in Spain.

The Arosa was designed by the same man who designed the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, Jozef Kabaň.

SEAT Arosa Pre-facelift front  SEAT Arosa Pre-facelift rear

Facelift (2000–2005)

The model later received a facelift in October 2000. The Arosa replaced the SEAT Marbella in the Spanish brand's lineup, but itself was not replaced by any SEAT, when production ceased in June 2005. A successor eventually arrived in 2012 with the Mii.

Apart from its exterior restyling, the facelift model featured a restyled interior, with a new dashboard.

SEAT Arosa Facelift front  SEAT Arosa Facelift rear

SEAT Arosa 3L

In 1999, SEAT presented the SEAT Arosa 3L to be launched in January 2000, a lightweight car fitted with a 61 PS (45 kW; 60 hp) 1.2 L TDI three-cylinder turbo diesel engine and consumption 2.99 litres per 100 kilometres (94 mpg_-imp; 79 mpg_-US). In order to reduce its fuel consumption, there has been an extensive use of aluminium and other light materials, cutting weight to 860 kilograms (1,900 lb), improvements in lowering the air resistance, Start-Stop modules and use of low-friction tires put into alloy wheels.

The model was also equipped with an electronically driven automatic transmission with three modes: 'Eco', Normal and 'Tiptronic'. This combination of powertrain and saving weight allowed the Arosa 3L to accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 14.7 seconds, and reach a top speed of 164 km/h (102 mph).^[2]

Engines

The Arosa was available with the following units:^[3]

Petrol engines

• 1.0 L (999 cc) I4, 8v OHC, 37 kW (50 PS), 86 N·m (63.4 ft·lbf)
• 1.4 L (1390 cc) I4, 8v OHC, 44 kW (60 PS), 116 N·m (85.6 ft·lbf)
• 1.4 L (1390 cc) I4, 16v DOHC, 74 kW (100 PS), 128 N·m (94.4 ft·lbf)

Diesel engines

• 1.4 L (1422 cc) TDI I3, 6v OHC, 55 kW (75 PS), 195 N·m (143.8 ft·lbf)
• 1.7 L (1716 cc) SDI I4, 8v OHC, 44 kW (60 PS), 115 N·m (84.8 ft·lbf)

All engines came with a five-speed manual transmission, with a four-speed automatic optional on the 1.4 (44 kW).

Concept models

The 'SEAT Arosa Racer' concept car

At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2001, SEAT presented two SEAT Arosa-based concept cars:

• the 'SEAT Arosa Racer'
• the 'SEAT Arosa City Cruiser'

Sales and production figures

Since its launch in 1997 up to 2005, more than 175,000 SEAT Arosa cars have been sold and produced.

The total production per year of SEAT Arosa cars, manufactured in SEAT and other Volkswagen group plants, is shown in the following table :

model	1997	1998 [4]	1999 [4]	2000 [5]	2001 [6]	2002 [7]	2003 [8]	2004 [9]
SEAT Arosa	???	38,338	46,410	28,403	22,980	19,627	13,814	9,368

Awards

• 'Golden Steering Wheel’ 1997 ^[10]
• 'Utilitário do Ano' award in 1998, in Portugal ^[11]

References

1. "SEAT Arosa (1997 - 2005)". RAC. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
2. Seat Arosa 3L http://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrberichte/0,1518,47067,00.html
3. "Global Autoindex". Retrieved 2007-02-17. (also the source for technical data in the infobox)
4. "Volkswagen AG Annual Report 1999" (PDF). Volkswagen AG. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
5. Volkswagen AG Annual Report 2000 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2001/03/Annual_Report_2000.-bin.acq/qual-BinaryStorageItem.Single.File/VW_GB_2000_e.pdf
6. Volkswagen AG Annual Report 2001 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2002/03/annual_report_2001.-bin.acq/qual-BinaryStorageItem.Single.File/20020312_GB_2001_e.pdf
7. Volkswagen AG Annual Report 2002 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2003/03/annual_report_2002.-bin.acq/qual-BinaryStorageItem.Single.File/vw_gb_2002_en.pdf
8. Volkswagen AG Annual Report 2003 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2004/03/annual_report_2003.-bin.acq/qual-BinaryStorageItem.Single.File/20040309_gb2003_e.pdf
9. Volkswagen AG Annual Report 2004 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2005/03/annual_report_2004.-bin.acq/qual-BinaryStorageItem.Single.File/Gbericht_2004_en.pdf
10. "The new SEAT Ibiza wins the Golden Steering Wheel prize in Germany". Media.seat.com. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
11. Palmares SEAT http://www.seat.pt/pt/generator/su/pt/SEAT/site/campanhas/DesportivoDoAno/main,lang=pt.html

External links

• Der Spiegel article on the SEAT Arosa 3L (German)
• SEAT Arosa image gallery