Chevrolet Spark
How often have we been told not to judge a book by its cover? What about judging something by its name? See, here’s my biggest problem. In a modern world where every idiot who can write their own name is having a book published, you should at least make sure your book has an attractive cover. I mean make it stand out among the sea of books on the shelf! Because let’s face it, as anal as it may seem, when I walk into CNA, I pick up the ‘pretty’ book first…
Now what about names? If your name is Chantal, but it’s spelt with six hundred ‘l’s and your mommy threw in a ‘z’ and two ‘t’s for good measure, what does that say about your parents?
And then the other day I Googled how to spell Homer Simpsons famous “D’oh” correctly, and out popped a Government Web Page. DOH is the acronym the Government uses for the Department Of Health! The website is www.doh.gov.za, and I’m sorry, but I’m judging by that name!
Now the reason I’m going on about names is because I recently spent some time behind the wheel of the new Chevrolet Spark. See the old one really was a spark. It would glow for a moment and then sort of frizzle out. I have never driven one, and I guess that’s because I’m scared I would have been given the 800cc version. Driving this little car would more than likely have finally pointed out the obvious; I need to lose quite a bit of weight. So I avoided it all together…But the new one isn’t actually a Spark, but more of a bang!
The only thing I’m not so sure of is the styling. In lime green, with those huge headlights, massive grill and aggressive looking brow, it looks like the bastard love child of a toad and a Komodo dragon! My test unit was in a metallic blue, and that worked.
An awesome little feature is the rear door handles which are incorporated into the frame of the door frame. The LS I drove also had funky little alloy wheels, which should have been a little bigger – they look disproportionate to the size of the nose.
Inside the fit and finish is brilliant. The dash and panels all fit properly, and have a very good feel to them; even though they look cheaper than they feel. Whatever, they’re good. There is a brilliant air-con. The radio looks s awesome with its huge buttons, and is MP3 and USB compatible. The instrument cluster is made of an analogue dial for the Speedo and a digital readout for the fuel gauge, rev-counter, trip computer and the clock. It’s a bit of an odd set up, but works well with the cars funky nature.
Both models have new 1.2 litre four cylinder engines which is good for 60kW and 108Nm. This little engine has an incredibly throaty exhaust note, but it just adds to the character.
Driving, the Spark feels very nimble and light on its feet. The clutch pedal is incredibly light, but it means that asthmatics could probably change gear just by coughing in direction of the pedal, or old people could use their walking sticks.
The brakes are very good. They have ABS with EBD and brake assist.
All in all, the new Spark is a brilliant car, if you can get past the bizarre looks – and buy it in the right colour. Would I have one? I don’t think so. Mainly because I am a shrivelled up conservative eighty year old on the inside, and it’s a little too over the top for me.
If you are a hip, funky, young individual who wants brilliant value for money, and something completely different, then this little car is for you. Just please don’t call it Chantal, whatever you do.
Mark Hohls
Photo Credit: Quickpic