2015 Chevrolet Spark a cheerful urban vehicle
Welcome to the latest installation of My Cheap and Cheerful Summer — or my most recent subcompact review. I’ve spent the past few weeks evaluating little bottom-of-the-food-chain rides such as the Mitsubishi Mirage and Nissan Micra, and I say with all sincerity that it’s been an interesting experience.
The Spark is Chevrolet’s entry into the city car segment. Originally known as the Daewoo Matiz, it was a popular sight in Korea, its country of origin, long before it made its way over here in 2012.
Unlike the $9,998 Micra and Mitsubishi Mirage (after incentives), the Spark comes standard with OnStar, a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot, air conditioning and power windows, even in the base model. However, the buy-in price for the LS Manual reflects that, with a jump of more than $2000 over the other two. That may seem insignificant, considering the extra features, but in this segment, price is the bottom line.
The Spark’s styling is a study in slashing geometric lines. Its height lends the illusion that the Spark is smaller than it is — at 3,675 mm from tip to tail, it’s actually longer than either the Scion iQ or Fiat 500 — plus it boasts an extra set of doors.
At this trim level, there’s more cheerful than cheap in the cabin. This particular Spark 2LT features tomato-red “leatherette” upholstery with splashes of matching trim throughout the cabin. Most of it is rendered in hard plastics, but the effect is anything but dreary. The gaugepod adjusts up and down with the steering wheel, which is a funky touch, as is the blue ambient lighting. The centre stack is simple yet modern and features Chevrolet MyLink with navigation screen, AM, FM, satellite and Internet radio options, Bluetooth and voice recognition for connected smartphones. New for this year, the built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot can accept and connect up to seven smart devices to the Internet using your data plan.
There’s plenty of headroom and the front feels sufficiently roomy. Unlike the Smart Fortwo, the Spark has a genuine back seat and there’s enough room for four passengers without the rear being some sort of penalty box for tiny people on a timeout. And the rear seat splits and folds down, expanding the cargo space from 323 to 883 litres, a healthy advantage over the Micra’s 820 and the Toyota Yaris’s 768, but falling short to the Mirage’s impressive 1,330 litres.
Under its snub little nose, the Spark has an 84-horsepower four-cylinder engine, making it more powerful than the Mirage. However, it’s a lot less powerful than the 109-hp Micra, which becomes apparent with highway passing. Power is less crucial in this segment than manoeuvrability and fuel economy, and the Spark is nimble enough to negotiate busy urban traffic and the tall expanses of glass provide excellent visibility.
The 9.9-metre turning circle is slightly bigger than the Mirage’s 9.2, but neither compare to the Smart Fortwo’s 6.95. Steering, while on the light side, is accurate and feels suitably matched to its handling, which is tuned more toward comfort than sport. It’s not as lively in character as the Micra, so any hard cornering will reveal a bit of body roll, but the suspension soaks up most of the bumps you’ll likely encounter on your daily commute. As for fuel economy, the Spark averaged 7.2 L/100 kilometres in mixed driving, which isn’t as impressive as the Mirage’s 5.8.
The Spark’s a fairly pleasant little runabout with plenty of standard features.
This $20,428 2LT variant is at the pricier end of the spectrum, but forgoing some of the extras brings the price down accordingly.