The Chevy Spark is a rather cute car. For any Transformer 2 movie fans out there, the Chevy Spark was a tough little green beast named Skids. If you have to YouTube that Transformers clip, don’t worry I had to as well.
If you do a lot of city driving, you’ll enjoy zipping along in the Chevy Spark. This bad boy trumps around time quite easily with adequate handling. This car is well suited for city driving. As for highway driving, getting from 0-100km/hr took about 13 seconds.
The interior is surprisingly roomy. Chevy’s new MyLink multimedia system dominates the centre stack and very easy to work with. The interface is simple and colourful. The inside is dominated by hard plastic along the dash and including the temperature control knobs.
Under the hood, is 1.2l four-cylinder engine that pumps out 84 horsepower and produces a mere 83 lb-ft of torque.
On the first day I had the car, exiting one of the downtown parkades, one of the attendants commented on the cute aluminium rims. All models come with the 15″ dual colour machine face painted aluminum rims. While they may look and handle great in the summer, I suspect they’ll make driving challenging during winter with snow and ice ruts. In the spring, just like every other Winnipeg, dealing with potholes will be a challenge.
The Spark directly competes with the Mini Cooper, Scion iQ and Fiat 500. Keep in mind, all those cars are 2-doors. The Spark has 4 doors plus the hatchback. For 4-dorr comparisons, consider the Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa and Hyundai Accent.
Seating in the back is fair with limited leg room for my hulking 5’8” stature. It would fit infants and kids quite easily. Dropping the seats to open up the rear cabin space involves a bit of work and doesn’t allow for a completely flat trunk. My hockey bag barely fit. There’s more than enough room for your gym bag. Then again, if you’re like most Filipinos, lots of space for your gym bag and a couple basketballs.
The Spark comes in three trim levels starting with the LS ($13,495), LT ($16,695) and 2LT ($18,495) 5-speed manual transmission models, with available option for a 4-speed automatic.
The names of the available colours that are offered for the Spark are are far from standard. Driving around in a bright Jalapeño Metallic green sub-compact definitely turned heads. The Spark also comes in Salsa Red, Techno Pink, Denim Metallic and Lemonade Metallic.
The road tester 2013 Chevy Spark 2LT was provided by Vickar Community Chevrolet in Winnipeg.
Photos by Ron Cantiveros | Filipino Journal
