"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
10/29/2015 at 09:34 • Filed to: None
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"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
10/29/2015 at 09:34 • Filed to: None | 2
| 24 |
This is the 2014 Chevy Spark, the official car of “I am too poor to afford a real car and I am afraid of used cars”. Last week, I rented this car for 4 days and drove it 700 miles round trip between NJ and VA. Equipped with a 1.2L 4 cylinder engine putting out a whopping 84 HP and 83 lb-ft of torque, this car will rocket all 2368 lbs (plus passengers) up to cruising altitude. Thanks to the CVT, you will smoothly and quietly enter traffic just like any other car. At a base price of around $13k, this bargain basement vehicle is in a class of it’s own.
Based on the Aveo before it, the Spark is intended to be an affordable new car that you can get with all of the modern safety features, a nice warranty, easy parking in the city, and great gas mileage. This is all fine and dandy but really this car is an utter piece of crap.
To make matters worse, the typical colors of this car you will see out there are neon pink, powder blue, or this type of green. The car almost looks acceptable in white and does not really offend me. However, the typical colors just make me angry. Sure people are entitled to their own tastes but this car is not tasteful in any regard.
Could not get the image to post, but here is a race car version: [ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .html]
When I get a rental car, I kind of expect it to be crap, but this was another level. It is noisy inside with the CVT always keeping the tachometer pinged, the ride is rather rough, and acceleration requires full throttle just to get it moving. But in any case the car is cheap! So if the quality of car is completely unimportant and the only thing that matters is price, I guess someone could consider this car. However, here are some other cars in that price range for 2015:
- Chevy Cruze $16.2k , - Hyundai Elantra $15.4k , - Toyota Yaris $15k, - Kia Forte $15.3k , - Fiat 500 $15k
Just about all of those options (while a little more expensive) are certainly better cars. The Mazda2, Mazda3, and Ford Fiesta are also even better options that could certainly get into that price range as well. But even so, the price really cannot be beat.
Overall impression: please do not ever try this as a rental, it is not worth it!!!!!!!!!! But if someone really does not care about driving, needs a new car, and wants it to be cheaper than anything else, then I guess this car makes sense without any real competition. Even the smartfortwo and the Scion IQ cost more with the only contender for "cheapest car" being the Mitsu Mirage. But really, we might as well start comparing tandem bicycles at this point..
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 09:39 |
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YAY, NEON!
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 09:40 |
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A Spark review that doesn’t mention the Mirage? For shame!
Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 09:41 |
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Yes, but based on certain information I found yesterday, I kind of want a Spark EV. 141hp, 327lf/ft torque, 0-60 in 7.2 seconds. Granted not hugely fast, but not slow by any means. Imagine the look on peoples faces when they get out dragged (or even kept up with) by a Spark.
smobgirl
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 09:52 |
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I beg to differ...much better as a rental than testing a car someone is trying to sell or cares about. Because we all know, a rental car is the fastest car... in the world!
I rent cars for work frequently and they’re usually the cheapest/least attention-grabbing car I can get from the lot, since I’m usually in bad parts of town inspecting public housing. I have to find a way to make it entertaining!
Logansteno: Bought a VW?
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 10:04 |
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I hope the new one is an improvement because I oddly like this segment of small cars with small engines that you have to thrash to go anywhere. I’ve always thought this car with a manual would be fun to chuck around a city.
boxrocket
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/29/2015 at 10:10 |
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Yeah, but a Soul EV or Focus Electric can be had for similar money, as can a Nissan Leaf. Why punish yourself with the spark?
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/29/2015 at 10:10 |
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Look up the specs on the EV—pretty impressive.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> boxrocket
10/29/2015 at 10:32 |
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Simple.
Soul EV: CW, 3400lb. Power, 109hp. Torque, 210lb/ft.
Focus EV: CW, 3600lb. Power, 143hp. Torque, 184lb/ft.
Leaf: CW, 3350lb. Power, 107hp. Torque, 187lb/ft.
Spark EV: CW, 2940lb. Power, 141hp. Torque, 327(GM) or 400(reviews)lb/ft.
Also, http://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/spark-ev .
And for full comparisons, check out the bottom of this one (spoiler: Spark takes it). http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/focus-electric
With a few suspension tweaks, this thing would go from "funny want" to "awesome".
M54B30
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 12:07 |
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Was forced to rent one in Minneapolis to get home after ny flight was cancelled in August. Hertz “only” charged me $275 for the one day rental (last car they had), how generous of them.
My kid’s car seat only fit facing forward. I’m glad my two suitcases were coming in on the flight the next day because they wouldn’t have fit in the trunk or backseat. My kids stroller only fit diagonal from the passenger side floor to the driver’s side roof. My carry-on backpack filled the entire trunk almost. The engine was so buzzy at full throttle (which is always) that I kept thinking I was on the rumble strips.
But.
Got good gas mileage. the bluetooth stereo worked well. It maintained 80mph into a strong headwind for 6 hours straight (south dakota) without issue. The driver seat was suprisingly comfortable after 10 hours.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> M54B30
10/29/2015 at 13:15 |
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Yeah I do not know how in hell I got 41 mpg in that car! I was flooring it at every acceleration. 700 miles cost only like $40 in gas!! Normally that trip costs about $60-$70 in my own car.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/29/2015 at 13:17 |
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Yes, I forgot to mention how good the electric version is. I had been reading some reviews on the Spark and there is a Motortrend one that really praises the electric version for how good it is. But even with this turd, I was burning everyone off the line just because I would always floor it. The problem was that it had no "medium speed". It was either painfully slow or noisy and feels fast but really is still slow.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/29/2015 at 13:19 |
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Haha lighter than everything else, more power and more torque than everything else. Plus you lose that terrible engine groan. Wow, I really want to try an electric Spark. Throw coilovers on it and some good tires. That might actually be kinda fun!
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 13:20 |
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My thoughts exactly. Ultimate sleeper? Ultimate sleeper.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/29/2015 at 13:22 |
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Apparently the manual is slower than the CVT! I mean "slow car fast" is always fun but this one is just a penalty box. I kept high spirits throughout it, but really it is like saying the glass is 1/100 full. Driving a Miata is fun because it is slow. Honda civics, Mazda 3, and the like can be fun because you need over 6000 rpm to go anywhere. Idk exactly what it is, maybe a manual really would fix the problem for me.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> smobgirl
10/29/2015 at 13:25 |
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Well of course, I certainly still had fun. But that is because I live and breathe "Slow car fast" every day. But that car honestly felt unsafe at times. Making turns into traffic and passing people was a trial of patience. And nobody else really had patience and would honk at me while I am flooring it and trying to move. It was fun from a masochistic standpoint but I was just really confused why I saw others on the road. Like are they all rentals? Or do people actually buy these??
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/29/2015 at 13:26 |
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Last paragraph, I certainly mentioned it. Funny, I had a laugh with the Hertz rep. When I said that the car sucks, he said "At least it isn't a Mirage".
HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 13:51 |
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I disagree with the part about the colors that the Spark comes in. Small cars should be in fun colors. I still quite like Grape Ice AKA the reason my wife wanted a Spark. I’m very glad we got a Honda Fit instead tho which also comes in a few fun colors, including the Tide Water Blue on her’s.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
10/29/2015 at 14:14 |
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I think the car just has all the wrong proportions so accentuating them with crazy colors just makes it worse. This is the same case with the Fiesta sedans. That car looks really classy in hatchback form but the sedan is just wrong. Then they sell it in crazy colors which just makes it worse.
http://images.dealerrevs.com/gallery/photo.…
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boxrocket
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/29/2015 at 14:18 |
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Your point is will made. I just know that I’ve found the ICE versions of the Focus and Soul to be satisfactory, and the ICE spark to be even less likeable than you describe (especially the stereo and seats). The leaf is actually appealing on several levels, not the least of which is a Nissan dealership up the street from where I work where I can charge it for free.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> boxrocket
10/29/2015 at 14:22 |
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Yeah, I couldn't live with an ICE Spark either. It seems the EV is a completely different animal though. As far as the others go, I have no idea what the Soul or the Leaf are like, but I found the Focus interior to be awful. Maybe that's changed with the last facelift though.
CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/29/2015 at 15:01 |
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I love how they advertised it as having more torque than a Ferrari.
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Logansteno: Bought a VW?
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 15:03 |
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Maybe the bump to 98 horsepower and a slightly bigger engine in the new on will help. The interior looks pretty nice in it too so maybe it's not a total penalty box like this one.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/29/2015 at 16:03 |
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I had no real complaints with the interior. The seats were supportive enough for the 6 hour journey, the radio worked well enough, and all the normal car features were found in there. Other than tiny trunk space and the fact that the defroster took a very long time to get the fog off the windows in the morning, the inside of the car was pretty good.
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HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/29/2015 at 22:55 |
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The fiesta sedan is hideous, compact sedans genuinely need to die.