Holden Barina Spark 2010 review

I AM so delighted that Holden released the Spark on the Australian market. For quite a while, I didn't have much to complain about. Now, thanks to the Spark, I do.

This is a car that is perfect for the city. It's compact, cheap to buy and run, has excellent safety gear - it even has stability control - seats four people and is as nimble as a small motorbike.

The trouble is that all this comes at the cost of any performance. The 1.2 litre engine is made for the job but the cost is a car that has to be revved hard to keep up with traffic.  It's just made for the commuter, not the driver, which is par of the course for this sub-light car that costs from only $12,490.

Value

It's cheap but there's no doubting that it has lots of features to lure the motorists who's more interested in getting frugally from A to B.
For example, while the chassis dynamics and engine's power delivery are rubbery, they are overlooked in favour of the cabin's bright ambience, the four-adult seating, iPod-compatible sound, an efficient airconditioner, electric windows and heated mirrors and a flexible interior.

The CD costs $12,490 and gets cloth seats, 14-inch alloys and electric front windows. The $13,990 CDX tested here adds vinyl seats (yuk) and 15-inch alloys but not a tremendous much more.  Both have standard electronic stability control and six airbags.  Given the Spark is more for the commuter of the family, rather than the enthusiast, go for the CD.

Design

It's a metal box with a pronounced, chunky nose - hardly a stylist's headache - which evolved from the 2007 Chevrolet Beat concept hatch.  Its bold nose and slanted headlights create a lot of on-road presence. Coming down the road looks like someone shrank a Volkswagen Crafter van.

Other than the Spark's face, it's just a box. But it uses its angular lines to push out cabin space to the slab sides and to the rear wheels, allowing it to fit four doors and accommodate four adults.

The rear doors have Alfa Romeo-style hidden handles built above the waistline to give it a three-door look - a feat carried off well and which creates a clean body shape.

Inside it's generally simple and functional. However, the dashboard is "try hard" with a funky combination of bolt-on speedo and digital side panel that tries to compete with the very ordinary styling of the rest of the dash.

So you have a small digital panel for things like start-up warning lights and an LED fuel gauge, while extraneous alerts - seatbelts and airbag, for example - are mounted in a wide plastic-fronted slit atop the centre console.

Okay, so it works but it's a bit like a dog's breakfast.  The rest of the CDX's cabin is simple, with small seats in Korean-grey and black vinyl - just the thing for the trip back from the beach on a 36C day - and yet it's on par for the car's market and price.

Technology

Again, think simple. The 1.2-litre engine is a revision of the GM-Daewoo small-bore powerplants and will disappoint those seeking a car that lives up to its Spark name.

However, commuters who trawl through traffic will delight in the miserly fuel economy and in theory, can get up to 600km from the tiny fuel tank.  It comes only with a five-speed manual and you can hear prospective buyers backing out of the showroom right now.

If you're interested, the chassis is a simple MacPherson strut/torsion beam arrangement with front disc brakes and the world's smallest rear drum brakes - you can laugh at them behind the spokes of the alloy wheels - and all spun on hydraulic (not electric) assisted steering.

Safety

The Spark gets a four-star crash rating but will win friends with its primary safety benefits of nimble manners.  The standard ESC and six airbags are an excellent sales inducement and sufficient to lift this car to a more desirable level than something in the second-hand market.  However, the Spark is a sub-light car and that translates to its light road feel that doesn't build much driver confidence on freeways.

Driving

Basically, you can gauge how the Spark will drive simply by looking at it. And the picture isn't all pretty. The torque figure of only 107Nm - think Malvern Star - comes in at 4500rpm.

That's a lot of revs. Because it's not supported by much under that engine speed, you have to get up there - noisily - before the car confidently moves forward.

If you take it easy, you'll be fine. But the problem isn't you. There's hundreds of other impatient motorists out there who are quite prepared to run you down because you're slow and small.

I had a woman in a Prado trying to push me through a 50km/h zone. She was so close to the rear of the car that I could only see the grille in the rear vision mirror as I edged up towards 60km/h.

On the freeway at speeds of about 100km/h it is at the mercy of brisk side winds and the vortex caused by passing trucks. It's also an environment where the little engine buzzes at 3000rpm and starts to compete with the radio.

Put your foot down and there's no change. The speedo stays at 100km/h for a long time because there's not much torque available and you're still 1500rpm shy of the maximum 107Nm.

Take it back to the city, however, and the Spark's pin-sharp steering and weeny 9.9m turning circle makes you a star driver.  It has great visibility that complements the near vertical shape of the rear hatch.

What continually frustrated me was the rubbery gear shift - remember, no automatic option here - which played guessing games with me as I went for the next cog. Finding reverse really tested my patience.

The engine has nothing - I repeat, nothing - below 2000rpm except noise. You have to sweat hard to predict the engine delivery to the point where a graph of the power-torque curve should stuck on the dash.

But get it right and the little engine loves to sing its heart out. That contrast of a high-revving city car may be new to Australia but it's stock issue in Europe.