2010 Holden Barina Spark Reviews

Graham Smith road tests and reviews the used 2010-2012 Holden Barina Spark.

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.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.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.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.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.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.

For a start, this is not the new Barina as such. That comes late next year to play against the Mazda2, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i20 and - at some point - a sub-Polo sized Volkswagen.This, on the other hand, is a newer notion for Holden, an even smaller (though handily roomy) car to which the familiar Barina name has been appended as a blatant localised marketing ploy - the rest of the General Motors world calls it the Spark. The latest South Korean (and soon to be South African) made "Barina" is meant to play against the driveaway and eventually chuckaway likes of Suzuki's Alto and Nissan's Micra.Marketed solely and more than somewhat patronisingly to what can only be incorrectly, but accurately, described as chicks, the whole venture hinges on one seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Are femmes prepared to forsake an automatic transmission option for the safety, sharp shape and eco-friendliness that the Spark brings to the table?The manual only gambit keeps the starting price of the entry CD variant down to $12,490, for which it gets fruit including 14-inch alloys, body kit, front fog lamps, rear spoiler, power adjustable exterior mirrors, vanity mirrors, CD player, iPod/iPhone AUX input and a USB input for MP3 players, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, remote keyless entry operates doors and rear tailgate.Yep, the econo-car motif has moved on a bit since the original Hyundai. The CDX adds 15s, more exterior bling, and nicer paint options.You're not burdened with tech at this end of the market, save for the standard audio and safety fixtures. The steering is hydraulic, MacPherson struts up front, torsion beam at the back and, really, you can't complain. The diminutive 1.2-litre four cylinder engine puts out a seemingly feeble 59kW/107Nm, but also only 128 grams of C02 per kilometer while using a claimed 5.6L of unleaded per 100km.This is where Holden hope, rather than reckon, objections to having to move the left foot and hand to change gear will be overcome. The Alfa Romeo-like hidden rear door handles suggest a coupe's lines. There are so many sharp angles you want to watch cutting yourself.  With only 3.5m in length to work with, design cues have been fairly crammed in.The exterior either works for you or it doesn't. Less equivocal is the interior, and the most impressive aspect of it is the space.In the unlikely event two men ever occupy this car at the same time, a tall burly one can sit behind another with room to move. More funky - and don't Holden abuse that word - is the motorcycle-like instrument cluster mounted on the steering column which includes an green illuminated analogue speedometer with digital tachometer (so you greenline rather than redline) and trip computer.The Spark won only four star in European crash safety testing due to the stability control being optional in that market. Here ESC goes with anti-lock brakes and six airbags as standard, which should aid its quest to win five sparklers from forthcoming round of ANCAP tests.Well, you have to change gear yourself, babe. A lot if you want to maintain progress. Though not quite so much as you might have expected.The 1.2's output, while hardly neck-snapping, isn't exactly snore-inducing. Though our exposure was limited to 85km with two adults on board, the Spark didn't exactly fizzle when called upon to haul up hills or even cut through a few mildly interesting twisty bits of bitumen. It is borderline fun, in fact, though carrying four adults - or too great a haul from the seasonal sales - will tax it.Road noise is minimal, suggesting that boasts about insulation aren't empty. The CDX probably shades the CD when hustled along a bit, but who are we kidding here with talk of dynamics?The Spark will get you to the next Mimco clearance and back, girlfriend, no problem. Just as long as Mum and Dad made you get a manual license.