Holden Barina 2005 Review

Perhaps a sense of style, some zip, even some modicum of class.

But, I'll give it to Holden — this new Barina is cheap.

Born in Korea of Korean-American parents, the Daewoo Kalos has been adopted by Holden to start life in Australia as the Holden Barina.

The smallest Holden now comes with a broad range of standard equipment and feature-to-feature represents good value for money.

Externally, it's a pretty car that follows similar design cues with the Hyundai Getz. Basically, these two babies are cubes with noses.

The three-door Barina tested comes with long doors for easy access to the rear, but the door won't open far if there's an

obstacle alongside the car.

The five-door model costs $1500 more yet is more user-friendly, even when not carrying rear passengers.

The Barina's boot is shallow, requiring folding down the split rear seat to carry any decent load.

Beneath the floor is a full-size spare tyre, which is very welcome.

I'll now pour cold water on all these niceties by pointing out the dashboard.

Whatever possessed the cabin designers to choose gloss-black plastic sheets — in four different textures from flat to leather-look to golfball dimples and raised bumps — to make the dash is anyone's guess.

It is a vision, tragically permanent for the car's owner, that sits in front of the driver and passengers as a stark reminder that this is a cheap car.

At least the centre console has plenty of buttons.

Standard fare rates highly, with dual airbags, MP3-compatible CD player, electric windows and mirrors, comprehensive instrumentation and airconditioning.

Occupants have good all-round visibility, even those in the back.

The seats are relatively comfortable, but offer little body support, and even two adults can fit in the rear.

Performance is quite brisk with one person aboard, though suffers when fully loaded, which is surprising for a 1.6-litre engine.

This one should have a lot more zip for its capacity, though I'd admit the four-speed auto entices a few horses out of the corral so they don't compete in the stampede.

Generally, it's a car that is easy to punt around. As you'd expect, it's size and tight turning circle makes it nimble for shopping.

It is also surprisingly adept at cruising the freeways at 100km/h with the only intrusion being tyre roar.

It's a nice package backed up by Holden, but has some fierce rivals in this light-car category.