Anyone seen/driven a Chevrolet Spark yet? Geo Metro 2.0 ?

[sendler]

So you like the new Spark then. What do you think of the Ford Fiesta?

[Arragonis]

The current (2010 on) Fester is a pretty neat car, as was the previous model. Solid, nice to drive and well put together. The petrol engines are nothing special (ecoboost excepted) and the 1.6 Diesel is a little fragile. Like most moderns it is about 1.5 times the size and 1.5 times the weight of its older relations.

I did ponder a 1.4 Diesel instead of George but I could do without the DPF issues associated with mainly low speed or town driving.

One annoying problem - silver trim on the dashboard reflects in the windscreen on sunny days.

[niky]

Would it help if I said the new Spark was miles better than the old one? The old one was terrible by the time they replaced it, but it was decent compared to the utterly horrid stuff Daewoo was making along with it. At least, decent if you ignored the 0 star EURONCAP results...

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I like the Fiesta, despite the cramped rear seat. Great driving car, even if the steering is nowhere near as good as the Focus. And the last one I drove had much improved low speed driveability from the DCT. Only nit is that they still won't give us manual control for the transmission.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

A Spark featuring Argentinian license plates appeared in my neighborhood this week. Looks better than a Ford Ka (the raised Brazilian version doesn't count) or a Kia Picanto.

Originally Posted by niky

I like the Fiesta, despite the cramped rear seat. Great driving car, even if the steering is nowhere near as good as the Focus. And the last one I drove had much improved low speed driveability from the DCT. Only nit is that they still won't give us manual control for the transmission.

And back here one of the complains is the absence of the DCT for the Fiesta

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

A Spark featuring Argentinian license plates appeared in my neighborhood this week. Looks better than a Ford Ka (the raised Brazilian version doesn't count) or a Kia Picanto.

The Ka(ck) is not good - most unreliable new car here in the UK. The Picanto is very nice IMHo compared to a Spark, especially inside. I would have had one but too spendy for me as it (the 2011 model) was brand new to the UK when I was buying.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Both my uncles had each a 1st-gen Ford Ka. One had a '98 with the Endura-E 1.0L engine and the other had a '00 with the Zetec RoCam 1.0L and actually never complained about those. But the newer Euro Ka is actually a rebadged Fiat...

[Arragonis]

The original Endura engine is the old OHV "Valencia" engine updated to FI isn't it ? The one with non-adjustable tappets so after 50K or so miles it sounds like a skeleton wanking in a biscuit tin.

Very reliable though.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

The original Endura engine is the old OHV "Valencia" engine updated to FI isn't it ?

Not sure if that was the Valencia or the Kent.

[Arragonis]

I believe (not researched it fully though) that the kent begat the Valencia when they started making Festers in that Spanish city. They also made the engine cheaper to make through some changes - may be even the non-adjusting tappets.

[MetroMPG]

2134 Sparks sold in the US in Oct.

http://www.gm.com/content/gmcom/home/company/investors/