Holden Barina 2006 review

The move enabled the company to offer the basic South Korean hatch for an impressive starting price of $12,990, which has triggered record sales.

GM Daewoo also builds a sedan version of the Barina, added to Holden showrooms in February. At $14,490, the four-door sedan is also competitively priced.

The Barina sedan, sold as a Chevrolet Aveo in Europe and the United States, is an updated version of the Daewoo Kalos that was sold here.

Australians have had some input into the updated model.

The plain exterior styling had already been decided, but former Holden designer Mike Simcoe shaped the interior.

Holden also fitted its own grille to the Barina and a Holden team worked on suspension settings and steering to give it the best set-up for Australian roads.

The front-wheel-drive Barina sedan runs the same engine as the Barina hatch — a 1.6-litre four-cylinder with dual overhead camshafts. The five-speed manual is standard; a four-speed automatic costs $2000 extra.

Standard equipment includes airconditioning, MP3 compatible CD sound with steering-wheel controls, electric windows, full-size spare and heated exterior mirrors.

Metallic paint is an optional extra at $250.

The Barina sedan has the same wheelbase as the hatch.

The standard car rides on 15-inch steel wheels and braking is supplied by discs at the front and drums at the rear.

It has a 60/40 split-fold rear-seat backs and boot space, adding up to 400 litres.

Standard safety gear includes front airbags for driver and passenger and front seatbelt pre-tensioners.

Side airbags are available in Europe, but not in Australia.

An option pack that includes anti-skid brakes and 15-inch alloy wheels costs an extra $1190.

The Barina sedan is fitted with a passenger safety cell made of high-strength steel to deflect crash energy.

The European New Car Assessment Program cast doubt on the safety of the Barina sedan when it handed out a two-star crash result in February.

GM Daewoo and Holden have disputed the result and asked for the car to be retested.

On the road

Look past the Barina sedan's safety concerns and it shapes as a reasonable buy. It is not great to drive or ride in and its looks won't stop traffic, but it does the job at the right price.

But we have a problem with its two stars in Euro NCAP tests.

We can't recommend it unless it does better when it is retested and we are told why it performed so badly in the first test.

According to Euro NCAP, many used cars offer better crash protection than the new Barina, including the superseded model (four stars). Hopefully, the problem is resolved, because the Barina sedan is not a bad car.

Mike Simcoe has done well with the interior and it looks good. The dials and buttons appear cheap and the plastics are rock hard, but what can you expect for the money?

The only problem with the Barina's interior is the speedo, which moves up and down in lumps at 100km/h. The interior is given a lift with metallic trim touches.

There is more power than needed from the workhorse engine, but it is rough and noisy when pushed.

The test car's automatic transmission works well enough. It sometimes hunts for the right gear and is not the smoothest unit, but it is not so bad for the money.

Engineers have worked hard to eliminate soggy handling that has plagued many South Korean models.

The Barina sedan handles well on bumpy roads and steering feels more solid than the previous Daewoo Kalos sedan. Some people may even find it too heavy.

The trade-off for the suspension work is the ride is fairly firm and the suspension tends to crash and bash and even pick up a lot of bumps on relatively smooth roads.

The boot is quite large and the Barina sedan has a full-sized spare, instead of a skinny spacesaver.

Its airconditioning works well and quickly demists the windscreen on cold mornings.

The CD sound system is good, but the unit gets hot after an hour or so.

When it comes to style, the Barina sedan doesn't have much.

Its exterior is bland, but at least it isn't ugly, as many earlier South Korean cars were.

The test car has optional alloy wheels and the anti-skid brakes pack, which improves its look.

Anti-skid brakes shouldn't be bundled with alloys in such a package, but at least it is an affordable $1190.