2012 Holden Barina Spark Reviews

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

Some bright spark forgot to include an auto in Holden’s light hatch when it launched in 2010. The Spark (Holden calls it a Barina Spark but it is no relation to the light-sized car) now belatedly has one as it chases the estimated 70 per cent of light car buyers who opt for a self-shifting transmission. The adage that you get what you pay for has never been truer and the $14,490 price reflects its cheap interior and average handling.The Spark only comes in one spec and the four-speed auto adds $2000 to the $12,490 price. Equipment runs from alloy wheels to Bluetooth connectivity, auxiliary and USB inputs for the four-speaker stereo and steering wheel-mounted controls for the phone and audio. That compares well with its competition, but back seat passengers will have to work out how to use a manual window winder.The 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine has another 43cc of capacity to give a bit more grunt than the one used in the manual Spark. With 63kW/113Nm it leads the sub-$15,000 pack for on-paper performance. The auto also gains electric power steering that has been locally tuned to improve response.There’s nothing wrong with the outside of the Spark. It sits on 14-inch alloy wheels and has a trendy look to it. The same applies inside, where the motorbike-inspired instrument display should appeal to students looking for cheap transport or first time car buyers. But the plastics look and smell a generation old, clearly showing its Daewoo origins.The Spark trails only the VW up! for safety but is still only a four-star car as judged by ANCAP. The body is solid but some of the impact is transferred into the cabin, posing a potential risk to the chest and upper thighs. It earned 31.02/37 overall to be just behind the Nissan Micra but light years above the Alto. Six airbags and ABS with stability and traction control are standard.The Spark responds relatively quickly and will be a good thing around town or on the highway. Put some weight on board and point it at a decent hill and the transmission’s age dulls the experience like an authoritarian parent at a teenage party. The auto reacts too quickly to any change in accelerator pedal pressure, hunting for a higher gear before slurring back into a lower cog when it realises it can’t hold revs.Nothing dramatic, but it will see a lot of owners burying the right foot and blowing the claimed fuel consumption. The torsion beam rear end and limited suspension travel also see the Spark bang through decent bumps rather than roll over them.The steering is direct and only needs a light touch to change direction, but the lack of feedback means there’s a disconnect with exactly where the wheels are pointing. The instrumentation is clear enough, though, and the seats are OK, but interstate runs won’t be recommended with adults in the back. The cargo area is a modest 170 litres, reinforcing its status as a shopping trolley.

Meet the cheapest mass-produced electric car on the road today, the US version of the Holden Barina Spark. When it goes on sale next year it’s expected to cost less than $30,000.But with the US government’s $7500 incentive for electric vehicles and the Californian government’s $3500 rebate, the price will likely dip under $20,000. That’s Toyota Corolla money.The Spark EV’s nose is covered in checkered camouflage because we had a sneak-preview drive ahead of its unveiling at next week’s Los Angeles motor show. But if you imagine the shiny grille treatment of the Holden Volt grafted onto the front of this hatchback you’ll have a pretty good mental picture of how it will look.This is General Motors’ first all-electric car since the ill-fated EV1; the company accused of killing the electric car in a documentary movie has re-invented it. The Spark EV might have cutesy looks but it is the fastest electric hatchback on the road to date.Engineers have also given it sports suspension and wider tyres – the opposite of the skinny rubber favoured by eco cars. It will be built in South Korea and sold in North America at first but Australia is on the distribution “wish list”.“With the Volt, we’ve introduced the notion of electric Holdens . We’re well positioned to take advantage of other GM global EV projects should the right level of market demand become apparent,” says Holden director of external communications, Craig Cheetham.Electric cars still don’t make economic sense, but the Spark EV puts the technology within reach of mass-market buyers for the first time. The petrol-powered Holden Barina Spark starts at $13,990 – so it would take decades to recoup the $15,000 or so price difference in fuel savings from the $30,000 fully electric model.But that’s still a much lower price premium compared to other electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiev which each cost about $50,000 – or about $30,000 more than similarly-sized petrol cars. The cost of electric cars aren’t expected to make another large step down for another five years, the estimate the industry gives for the next change in battery technology.The Spark EV has an electric motor under the bonnet and a 255kg lithium-ion battery pack under the back seats, straddled over the rear wheels. Both are elegant installations. The technologies are borrowed from the Holden Volt plug-in hybrid but are different in design and capacity.The Spark EV’s electric motor has about 100kW of power and a phenomenal 542Nm of torque – just 8Nm less than the V8 in the Holden Special Vehicles GTS sports sedan. And all this in a car that weighs 1346kg – 500kg less than the HSV. By comparison the bigger and heavier Volt has a 111kW and 500Nm electric motor, which makes the Spark EV quicker from 0 to 100km/h (less than 8 seconds).Press the “power” button to start the car and the computer does 1400 diagnostics checks in the time it takes the instruments to light up. Recharging time is 8 hours from empty, but a fast charger can bring the battery pack to 80 per cent full in 20 minutes.General Motors wouldn’t reveal driving range until next week (it said the battery had a capacity of “at least 20kWh”). If it had a 24kWh battery pack a driving range of 100 miles or 160 kilometres would be possible. Most motorists drive less than 80 kilometres to and from work daily.Below the shiny Volt-like grille and hidden behind the bumper are “shutters” that close at high speeds to improve airflow around the front of the car, and open at low speeds to improve cooling.The underbody is almost completely flat to allow it to better slip through the air; even the rear spoiler and side moulds have subtle curves in them to make a clean “break” with the air to reduce turbulence.The interior is largely unchanged from the regular Spark, but the instrument cluster has been replaced with the digital display from the Volt. It looks small (the Spark competes in the city-car segment) and has seatbelts for five – but it can fit four adults in relative comfort.It is yet to be independently tested but there’s no reason to suggest the Spark EV would not get the same 4-star ANCAP safety rating as the petrol-powered model. Six airbags are standard.Last year a Volt battery pack caught fire weeks after a US government crash test because it was not drained properly. But before and since that incident the Volt battery packs have been tested in severe impacts – mounted in cars as well as standalone in laboratory conditions – and none have caught fire on impact.Emergency services are also trained on how to deal with electric car battery packs after a crash. Following cyclone Sandy in New York, 16 electric sedans made by Fisker caught fire – after one became submerged in salt floodwaters for hours and then wind carried flames to 15 others parked alongside on the shipping dock.But the company said it was the Fisker’s 12V battery that caused the initial spark, not the lithium-ion battery pack, when it fed power into the circuit. However a Fisker car’s lithium-ion battery pack did catch fire earlier in the year after the supplier installed faulty cells.Here’s the big surprise. The Spark EV is awesome to drive. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though. This little car has more torque than a Holden Commodore V8 – and only 1.4 per cent less torque than the almighty HSV GTS sports sedan.General Motors has tweaked the electric motor gearing slightly to make peak power arrive at 65km/h – the speed at which most other electric cars tend to taper off -- on the way to a top-speed in excess of the speed limit.It also steers well and handles bumps much better than the regular petrol-powered Spark. That’s because engineers gave the Spark EV a wider “footprint” – by pushing the wheels further out to the extremities of the car. And then they fit wider rubber (15 x 6-inch up front and 15 x 6.5-inch at the rear).You read that right. The rear has wider rubber than the front (just like HSV performance cars do) to handle the weight of the big battery pack in the rear floor. Now, if only Holden could make the regular Spark handle like this.

Did you get a shock a couple of weeks ago when the price of petrol jumped almost 30 cents litre at the pump? Fear not, help is here.There’s little you can do about the rising cost of oil – but there is a choice of fuel-efficient cars with most mod-cons for less than $14,000 drive-away, no more to pay. Previously, it hasn’t always made economic sense to trade-in your old banger and buy a new car purely to save money on petrol. More often than not, the fuel savings are evaporated by the high cost of a new model.But that’s changing. The strong Australian dollar – and the most competitive new-car market in the free world – means you now get much more for your money. Standard fare typically includes six airbags, air-conditioning and, in most cases, wireless Bluetooth phone connectivity. That’s in addition to the miserly consumption and peace of mind new cars provide.As ever, the headline prices are for cars with manual transmission. Figure on another $2000 for auto (where available). One other word of caution: always ask how much metallic paint costs. Holden charges as much as $550 extra (Hyundai and Nissan $495 and Suzuki $475) which takes some of the shine off the bargain price.With all that in mind, we’ve assembled the four cheapest – and most worthy – fuel misers money can buy.Holden Barina SparkSales of the smallest new Holden money can buy have fallen off a cliff this year because of newer competition and the lack of an automatic transmission. But the baby Barina Spark will be worth another look in January when it finally becomes available with an automatic transmission – two years after it went on sale.The Barina Spark is among the smallest of this bunch but it comes with five doors and five seating positions, although there is really only room for two in comfort in the back. The interior has a futuristic design. It’s a user-friendly layout, with plenty of storage cubbies, although the plastics are hard to the touch.The 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine is willing but, as with most cars in this class, you need to keep the revs up to maintain momentum up hills. Or keep with the traffic. Road holding is sound but not best-in-class. Happily, there’s a full-size spare in the boot.The sound system is below average and Bluetooth is not standard (it’s a $410 accessory). In North America the Barina Spark is available with internet radio; Holden is rolling this feature across the range starting with the regular Barina in the new year.As with many brands, Holden offers fixed price servicing. But check the fine print: Holden requires you to service the car every nine months, not 12, which makes it dearer to maintain over the three-year warranty period. And another thing: Holden has the dearest metallic paint option in this group. At $550 extra, be sure to haggle.VERDICTSharply priced but lacks some features standard on rivals. Wait until January for the updated model.Holden Barina SparkFrom: $13,990 drive-awayEngine: 1.2-litre four-cylinderEconomy: 5.5L/100kmTransmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed auto from JanuaryHyundai i20In the past few months the Hyundai i20 has had a facelift and a price cut, and it’s now back to being a bargain buy. When the i20 was released two years ago, Hyundai initially set the price at $16,990 – and buyers stayed away in droves.The Hyundai i20 has the longest warranty of this lot – five years and unlimited kilometres – but at this price only comes with three doors. Standard fare includes six airbags, Bluetooth connectivity (including music streaming) a new six-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmissions.The i20 is among the roomiest of this quartet, with the biggest boot (Hyundai i20: 295L, Nissan Micra: 227L, Barina Spark: 170L, Suzuki Alto 110L). As with the others, it comes with a full size spare. The Hyundai i20 is also the only car in this price range to score a five-star crash safety rating (the Volkswagen Up is five-star but it is $13,990 plus on-road costs, giving it a drive-away price closer to $17,000).The Hyundai’s interior is neither striking nor dull, it’s been designed to make life easy with 12V and USB power sockets, decent sized door pockets and a roomy glovebox. Given that the i20 has the biggest engine of this bunch, it’s no surprise it has more go and copes with the daily grind with less stress than the others.Road holding is near the top of these four cars but not class-leading. We’re not a fan of the Kumho Solus tyres in the wet. In the dry they’re fine. Hyundai’s fixed-price servicing deal is among the cheapest available – but the offer runs out after three years. Disappointingly, service costs return to free-market prices in the last two years of Hyundai’s warranty coverage.Given that it has just introduced this program, here’s hoping Hyundai extends the servicing deal to five years before the first customers hit this hump in their ownership experience. And another thing: Hyundai makes a point of the fact that the i20 was designed in Germany – but it’s built in India.VERDICTThe roomiest, zippiest and safest among this quartet (also has the longest warranty). But you only get three doors at this price.Hyundai i20From: $13,990 drive-awayEngine: 1.4-litre four-cylinderEconomy: 5.3L/100km manual, 5.9L/100km autoTransmission: 6-speed manual or 4-speed autoNissan Micra STWith its bubble-shaped cutesy looks, you could be forgiven for thinking the Nissan Micra is a bit of a toy car. But it’s surprisingly capable and, in the three-cylinder guise we’ve chosen, more fuel-efficient in the real world than the rating label suggests.The Micra very nearly won a host of Car of the Year awards when it was released two years ago, winning praise for its road holding and fun-to-drive dynamics. It tops the class in this price range (and has the tightest turning circle this side of a Smart car).Picking the right time to buy is key to the Micra's appeal. It has been priced as low as $12,990 drive-away for a manual model (an absolute steal), but the current cash offer is $13,990 drive-away – or 0 per cent finance for 60 months. However, if you take the finance offer you must pay full retail, which is closer to $15,990 drive-away.Our advice? Pay cash or arrange your own finance and shoot for a $12,990 drive-away price and see if you can get a Nissan dealer to take the bait. As with the Hyundai i20, the Nissan Micra has an inoffensive but functional interior, with plenty of hidden cubbies, big door pockets and glovebox and (for an economy car) surprisingly good seats.Although there are seats for five, it’s better off carrying a maximum of four. An unusual omission, the centre back-seat position lacks a head rest. The sound system may look bland but the audio quality is above average, and the Bluetooth set-up works a treat – but it doesn’t yet include music streaming and there’s no USB power source, just a 12V socket.Nissan offers fixed price servicing for the Micra (and the rest of its range) but it’s the dearest in the business. Nissan requires a visit to the dealer every six months – and the cost of each visit is higher than the competition. And another thing: Depending on overseas demand, Nissan sources the Micra from factories in Thailand and Indonesia.VERDICTOur pick based on its current discount price, the Nissan Micra is the best to drive in this group and (contrary to the label) among the most frugal.Nissan Micra STFrom: $13,990 drive-awayEngine: 1.2-litre three-cylinderEconomy: 5.9L/100km manual, 6.5L/100km autoTransmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed autoSuzuki Alto GLIf you really want to drive your dollar further, the Suzuki Alto is the champion. Priced at $11,990 drive-away, it’s making life hard for the other mainstream brands – and even the cut-throat Chinese car makers struggle to undercut it.The Suzuki Alto is three years old now but is standing up well to the test of time. Its 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine is not the most refined in its class, but it operates with sewing machine-like reliability. It’s also the most frugal car in this group – in part because it demands premium unleaded petrol (95 octane), which is dearer to buy but goes further than regular petrol.The Suzuki Alto doesn’t come standard with Bluetooth but the current $11,990 offer for the “Indie” pack includes a portable navigation unit which comes with Bluetooth. The Alto has a hard-wearing functional interior that probably won’t win any beauty contests, but it’ll likely outlast owners. At least Suzuki is honest about how many people can fit comfortably; it only has seatbelts for four occupants.The boot is small (at least there is a ful size spare underneath) but as with all the hatchbacks here, the back seats fold so you can fit more gear. And another thing: Suzuki is the third-biggest car maker in Japan and outsells Mitsubishi, Subaru, Honda and Mazda in Europe. The Alto comes from India, where Suzuki is the market leader.VERDICTAt this price, nothing gets close. The limited edition ‘Indie’ pack is a bargain as it includes navigation and Bluetooth.Suzuki Alto GLFrom: $11,990 drive-awayEngine: 1.0-litre three-cylinderEconomy: 4.7L/100km manual, 5.3L/100km autoTransmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed auto