It "Sparks" a Little Interest
Key words: "A Little"
The Chevy Spark has been in production in some way or another since 1998. Many people around the world might know it as a Daewoo / Chevy Matiz. It is a small "city car" that is supposed to be Chevrolet's least expensive car on the road. It is now in its third generation and has been available in North America since 2012. It was made to compete against the Smart Car, Fiat 500, Mazda 2, and the newer Scion iQ.
Let's take a look:
Different Styles:
The Chevy Spark basically only comes in one style in North America; a 5-door hatchback with only 4 seats. Before 2014 it had either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed auto transmission, the 4-speed has been replaced by a CVT.
It only has one engine, the smallest Chevrolet makes; a 1.2L 4 cylinder gas engine.
Now in very small numbers, and in only a select few states in the U.S., the Chevy Spark could be bought as a 100% electric vehicle. As that is not an easily available car, I will not review it....yet.
Styling and Comfort Impressions:
The Chevy Spark was designed to basically just look like a very small car, unlike competitors who try to make their "city cars" look different than a normal car, and Chevy has done a good job.
The Spark really just looks like a smaller version of the Chevy Sonic, which doesn't look bad itself. It has big lights in the front and back to make it look like a bug, somewhat small windows, and decent-sized tires. It comes in a variety of fun, bright colours so you can really make it your own.
Going inside isn't too bad. It does have mostly cheap, hard plastics but keep in mind how inexpensive this car is. The controls are easy to use and in a good position. The dashboard is pretty small, consisting of one large circle for your speed and then a small screen to the side that shows your RPM, fuel level and a variety of other figures depending on which buttons you push on the side of it.
You can get parts of the interior to match the exterior colour of the car; a nice touch.
The front seats are way too soft and not supportive at all. If you push back hard enough, you can actually feel the whole seat flex and bend. Headroom is good, but the seats don't go far enough back to give good legroom while driving.
The sound system is quite bad if its just the 4 speaker setup. The upgraded 6 speakers are not much better.
Getting into one of the two extremely small back seats isn't fun. While the door opens nice and wide, there just isn't enough room to shove your legs in if the front seats are in any sort of comfortable position. Once you are in, and are sitting behind a short person in front, there is OK headroom due to the hatchback design and high roof. You sit very upright and your knees literally dig into the back of the person driving, not ideal for anything but a short trip in the city.
Finally the trunk, or lack there of. If all seats are up, the trunk only has enough space for maybe two small carry one suitcases standing up next to each other. With the seats down, there is actually a respectable about of room. The seats only fold flat if the bottom cushions are pulled up and forward, and the front seats are not all the way back.
Driving Impressions:
City cars are supposed to excel in small spaces, deal with the stop and go world that is city traffic, and be super easy to park. If that was all that the Spark would have to do, it is fantastic. However, we all use cars for multiple purposes and while it may spend most of the time in the city, for those rare occasions when you need to get onto the open road, things aren't so nice.
The car has a nice upright sitting position for the driver, combined with the relatively large windows, you have very good visibility, a plus in heavy traffic and small parking garages.
When you turn the engine on it's actually very smooth, but in no way is it quiet. The engine then stays pretty loud no matter what speed you are going, especially when it's pushed, but it still remains smooth the whole time ( how did they do it?).
The turning radius for the Chevy Spark is very good, you could easily turn around in a narrow 2-way street without stopping or hitting the curb. It should also go without saying that parking is super easy due to its narrow width and short length. It can basically fit anywhere.
If you ever need to get the car out on the open highway get ready for a battle. The engine is very weak. it struggles to keep up with traffic going 100 km/h + . Passing is something that really should not be attempted. The wind and road noise at highways speeds is also pretty bad, making normal conversations hard without yelling.
Yet throughout it all, the car actually handles and rides very well. It's nimble and soaks up bumps pretty well without being bouncy.
Yet throughout it all, the car actually handles and rides very well. It's nimble and soaks up bumps pretty well without being bouncy.
Overall:
For the Chevy Spark to work for you, the situation would have to be specific. You live in a large dense city, you actually do need a car everyday for some reason and you are on a budget. The other situation is: you live just on the edge of a large city, where you work and do most of your daily activities, you have another vehicle in the house for moving the family around and longer trips, but you need a second car.
It is suitable for occasional short trips through the city where you need to drive at least 2 other people, and just a tiny bit of stuff. Or its just you but you need to move a decent bit of stuff around on occasion.
Would I pick it? No, because there are better options out there. the Chevy Spark is not he worst, but it's definitely not the best, even if you are working with a budget. Mazda 2 or Mitsubishi Mirage are nicer and cheap. Minis and Fiats might be more fun, but they can't hold 4 people well and are expensive. The Spark falls somewhere in the middle, like the Nissan Micra.
Facts/ Figures:
Price ( for mid trim level): $16,000+
FWD
Max HP: 85
Max Torque ft-lbs: 82
MPG (approx*): City: 27 Highway: 36
Cargo room (approx*): 11, 31 CuFt
Length: 145''
Width: 64''
Tank Size (gal): 9.2
Miles on one tank (using combined MPG figures): 300
Average used price with 60,000KM or less: $11,000+
* when I say "approx" I usually am using the numbers given by the actual manufacturer or Consumer Reports, minus 1 to be a bit more realistic.
**No pictures featured are my own, they have been taken either from Google images or the manufacturer's website and their rightful owners should get any credit for them. This review featured all pictures from the manufacturer's websites ( some through Edmunds.com).
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Enjoy!
J.K.
