David Linklater.
Holden’s new city car aims to deliver budget motoring without skimping on technology. Does it succeed in being cheap and cool? By
My, how the Holden Spark has grown. Metaphorically, I mean. Not in millimetres.
In fact, the new Spark is the same size as it ever was: its 3595mm length is identical to that of the previous ‘Barina Spark’ and it’s actually shorter than microcar rivals like the Mitsubishi Mirage and Suzuki Celerio. But it doesn’t look it, right? There’s a grown-up aura around Spark that belies its market segment and sub$20k price.
It’s all part of Holden’s mission to take the Spark from Nana-car to new-generation buyers. Yes, yes: we hear that every time any maker launches a new small car and it’s usually nonsense, because young Kiwis would rather spend their money on a new mobile phone every year and drive an old used-import, leaving these entrylevel hatches as see-me-out machines for very senior citizens.
But Holden is trying harder than most. For a start, the Spark does look pretty cool for a teenytiny hatch. It’s also loaded with technology and convenience features, including pushbutton start, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto phone projection technology (a must for any millennial), a colourful seven-inch MyLink touch-screen and (on our flagship LT test car) a reversing camera.
That phone projection also allows the Spark to offer integrated satellite navigation, without Holden actually having to stump up for the software. Because of course it comes via Apple or Google from your phone. Fine with us: smartphone sat-nav usually beats in-car any day, because it’s always up-to-date and serves up real-time traffic information.
There’s something very modern about the cabin architecture. There’s hardly any switchgear, for example: just four buttons plus volume control under the touch-screen, then simple dials for the air conditioning/ ventilation lower down on the console. It’s all very clean and finished off by some cellphone-like glossy, coloured trim inserts across the dashboard and doors.
Our test car is pretty low-key, but you can also customise your Spark with colour themes for the grille and mirror caps, eight different 16-inch alloy wheel choices for the LT and addenda such as roof spoilers and ‘sport’ pedals.
Holden New Zealand (HNZ) has even devised a youth-appropriate finance scheme for Spark called ‘add fuel and go’: for $99 per week you can drive away in a Spark and everything’s covered apart from fuel (you can see what they’ve done there).
It’s an interesting idea that will surely appeal to young people who can’t be bothered getting bogged down in car finance, insurance and servicing costs. But HNZ’s claim that it’s a cellphone-like ‘‘allinclusive subscription service’’ is a bit disingenuous. Surely you subscribe to services and lease products?
Indeed, that’s what this really is: a hybrid lease. Three years of ‘add fuel and go’ totals $15,444 and at the end there’s a residual value to pay if you want to keep the car. But a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down with kids, doesn’t it? It’s a clever way to market a familiar financial product.
We’ve gone very millennial here, haven’t we? Half-way through this story and we’ve only talked about connectivity and what it’s going to cost you every month.
Well, there’s a nice surprise for those who are actually interested in driving this car: it’s as grownup on the road as it looks. Holden makes much of the power output from the new 1.4-litre engine. In truth it’s not worth getting too excited about that: it has the kiloWatts but the four-pot doesn’t have anything like the cheeky character of the three-cylinder engines in the rival Mirage and Celerio. Maybe it’s too grown up for its own good.
But dynamically, the Spark is class-leading. The LT is only available with a continuously variable transmission, but it’s a good one. It’s calibrated to avoid ‘flaring’ at low speed and if you’re brave enough to venture up the tachometer (yes, the Spark has one), the transmission mimicks a conventional automatic by stepping down to lower revs as you hit the redline.
Better still, the electric power steering has substance and the chassis handles open-road cornering with aplomb. Both have been fettled by Holden in Australia, albeit using the hardware from Spark’s home factory in South Korea. They’ve done a nice job of making this much more than a city-bound machine.
It’s an inconvenient truth that the short wheelbases of city cars often result in a choppy urban ride. Holden’s done great work in this respect as well: Spark doesn’t exactly glide over rippled city streets, but it’s smoother and more composed than any rival.
Corners have to be cut for a sub-$20k car of course. Spark’s cabin is nicely built but the plastics are hard. The car doesn’t stretch to climate control for the air-con.
Accommodation is good up front, although the slippery ‘leather’ trim of the LT isn’t as comfortable as the cloth in the cheaper LS. The rear seats are adult-sized, but the backrest is upright and the squab quite short; we’re not talking long-haul comfort here.
Which is just as well, because you won’t be taking much luggage. The boot is laughably small at 185 litres; you get much more carrying capacity in a Mirage or Celerio. Seriously.
But such practical matters are hardly deal-breakers for a budget city-car like this.
The main problem for this little Holden is the same as that afflicting every other microcar on the market: the price of the toplevel version takes it dangerously close to next-size-up supermini territory. The difference with Spark is that its equipment and driving dynamics makes it a genuine alternative to those larger models.