It’s been 90 days +7000Kms of sheer driving pleasure on our Mint Green Chevy Spark 1.0LT. Before, we had test driven the Estilo and the Santro Xing. The Santro Xing had an old boxy look with an ok mileage while the Estilo was uncouth from behind, unstable at high speeds and had a noisy engine. Our decision was luckily, the right one.
Chevy Spark has a fresh, mesmeric and a proportionate look. It has god in its details, both exterior (top rails, rear wiper, spoiler, fog lights etc.) and interior(cup holder, sunglass holder, trays, drawers etc.) as well. All the details forge to form a cohesive piece of art. Central Speedo makes it unique from the lot. Interior is fairly commodious with an intelligent space utilization. However seating 3 adults at the rear is a little uncomfortable. AC is powerful but a touch noisy when we twist the knob to 3 and 4. Boot space is ideal for a small family. If needed, to increase, we can always fold the rear seats 60:40. Build quality is admirable (51% high strength steel body) and so are its safety features. The 3 year warranty on the car and a steadily improving courteous service boosts our confidence.
The S-tech 995 liter Engine is silky smooth (almost inaudible) and very sympathetic. The maneuverability is just enthralling, like a compact sports car, good for cutting through Bangalore’s infamous traffic infested roads with ease, thus saving traveling time(time=money). After first service, the city mileage with AC we are getting is 13.5Kmpl.
Last week we drove from Bangalore to Pune (860Kms) in just about 12 hours straight, touching a stable, top speed of 152Kmph somewhere between Belgaum and Nippani on NH4. Lowest drag coefficient among small cars helped. Mileage was 15.2Kmpl for speeds b/w 110-130Kmph and 17.0Kmpl for speeds b/w 80-110Kmph. Even negotiating the hair pin bends on the Amboli Ghat was such a cake walk and the pulling power of the engine during the steep ascent was indeed commendable.
We never felt we traveled 2400Kms to Shirdi and back in 4 days. Thanks to a fantastic gas filled front and rear suspension. We were also well insulated from pothole infested roads in certain stretches and unexpected punctures. Thanks to the Tubeless tires for that smooth and suave feel. Our next mission is to drive to Hunder in Ladakh and back, as we did in our Unicorn last year. Anybody interested??
I sincerely thank the GM service engineers for a great first service. Spark is an incredible car, small to look at but big from inside. Best things in life indeed come in small packages!!