GM.. Nice Fiesta(?) Fighter!

[stovt001]

Smart cars are flying off the lots at extremely high premiums here, despite their mediocre gas mileage and awful transmissions. I figure there are enough fools GM can take money from, especially if the Spark is more friendly to drive than the Smart.

The Viva is going to have to be pretty darn good. The Fit is simply a brilliant car, and the Fiesta looks to possibly be even better. It may not have much to worry about with the Yaris/xD and Versa, but Honda and Ford really do have the segment leaders there.

I'm also interested in seeing how the Cruze does against the Focus. The Focus is one of the best selling cars in Europe. The Cruze is very large, almost a midsize, so it will probably be more for customers looking for room and not at all interested in performance. If Ford brings over one of the high performance Focus variants from Europe, I may just jump ship for one of those.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by stovt001

I'm also interested in seeing how the Cruze does against the Focus. The Focus is one of the best selling cars in Europe. The Cruze is very large, almost a midsize, so it will probably be more for customers looking for room and not at all interested in performance. If Ford brings over one of the high performance Focus
variants from Europe, I may just jump ship for one of those.

The Cruze is actually a few inches shorter than the Cobalt...very comparable in size to the Civic, as a matter of fact...I don't know if that's what you meant by "large".

And a Cruze 'SS' (no doubt building on the exemplary Cobalt SS) isn't at all out of the picture....and if that happens, the car will have a very broad appeal. And no doubt draw a LOT more buyers than the Cobalt did.

[stovt001]

If that happens, then it will be interesting. Ford has some very legitimate pedigrees with its performance Euro-spec Focuses, but the Cobalt SS proved to be a solid performer, to say the least. Still, from all I know of the Cruze, it seems like it was designed more with luxury, spaciousness, and efficiency vs the Focus. That's not bad, just a different priority and probably a strategy that will work better in the U.S. market, where size seems to be the primary concern, gadgets second, and lip service towards efficiency.

[len56]

It's the black autobots from transformers!

yay?

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by len56

It's the black autobots from transformers!

yay?

Sorta. The Autobot was the Chevy Beat concept. The Spark is based off the Beat concept, but has four doors.

[stovt001]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

The Cruze is actually a few inches shorter than the Cobalt...very comparable in size to the Civic, as a matter of fact...I don't know if that's what you meant by "large".

And a Cruze 'SS' (no doubt building on the exemplary Cobalt SS) isn't at all out of the picture....and if that happens, the car will have a very broad appeal. And no doubt draw a LOT more buyers than the Cobalt did.

Somehow I missed the first part of your post when I wrote my earlier response. I remember reading a number of articles that said the Cruze was sized between the Cobalt and Malibu, and so some suspected it might not replace the Cobalt at all, but slot between them. I unfortunately can't seem to find those articles right now. I did find a couple on Edmunds.com. One said it was about the size of the Cobalt, but the wheelbase has been stretched. That makes sense, because the Cobalt has huge overhangs and the Cruze looks like it has a couple inches less in overhangs. Another Edmunds article puts it at 181 inches, 1 inch longer than the Cobalt which I will also point out is rather long for a compact.

I am very happy with my Cobalt's size, and the SS mechanicals are pretty solid, so I might consider a Cruze SS if it were offered. Decisions...

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by stovt001

Somehow I missed the first part of your post when I wrote my earlier response. I remember reading a number of articles that said the Cruze was sized between the Cobalt and Malibu, and so some suspected it might not replace the Cobalt at all, but slot between them. I unfortunately can't seem to find those articles right now. I did find a couple on Edmunds.com. One said it was about the size of the Cobalt, but the wheelbase has been stretched. That makes sense, because the Cobalt has huge overhangs and the Cruze looks like it has a couple inches less in overhangs. Another Edmunds article puts it at 181 inches, 1 inch longer than the Cobalt which I will also point out is rather long for a compact.

I am very happy with my Cobalt's size, and the SS mechanicals are pretty solid, so I might consider a Cruze SS if it were offered. Decisions...

I remember those articles, too...in fact, I may have spread the word around here whenever the Cruze came up. What I remember was discussion about the pricepoint...basically; the car's powertrain and interior warrant a higher price than the Cobalt...but it's not a 'necessary' increase beyond some ~600 bucks or something low like that. The articles continued to say that GM will price it in between the current Cobalt and Malibu anyways because it will sell nonetheless (most civics sold run for an avg. of ~19k), and they can make a profit off of it.

Oh, and I looked some stuff up because you had me curious now about the size difference...

Cobalt:

L-180.3
W-67.9
H-57.1
WB-103.3
Cargo-13.9
Weight-2783


Cruze:

L-178.5
W-70.7
H-58.2
WB-105.7
Cargo-13.2
Weight-2750(?)


Sources:
http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/cru...sandspecs.html
http://www.chevrolet.com/vehicles/20...an/features.do

[stovt001]

Interesting. That added width would sure be appreciated. The Cobalt is one narrow car, though that does make for convenient parking. The huge overhangs on the Cobalt annoy me, so about two inches more of wheelbase and two inches less of overall length ought to tidy those proportions up very nicely.

I think GM could easily up the price from the current Cobalt a bit, especially if they improve the Aveo/Viva, move it a bit upmarket into Fit/Fiesta territory, and position the Spark below that.

[MrIcky]

I like small cars in theory, it's just that most of them fail in execution. Cars like the Fit and Mini are the exceptions to the rule. If I actually lived in the City I'd be very interested in a car this size.

[Zabo]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

I like small cars in theory, it's just that most of them fail in execution. Cars like the Fit and Mini are the exceptions to the rule. If I actually lived in the City I'd be very interested in a car this size.

Myself included, due to the fact that with several modifications to the engine; looking at the light weight nature of the car (safety BS aside) could get a quick off time screamer.

Not to mention the look of the interior brings up a road cruiser (goldwing windjammer fairings) look on the dash as well as the entire HVAC/Dash setup. I dunno about you guys but that look is what really turned me onto the car in the first place. It looks like it may have some potential for a second fun vehicle (as odd as that sounds. :/)

[FenwickHockey65]

Thought you guys might like a look at this...



May be the next-gen Aveo.

[Smokintires]

did anyone notice the weird looking rear windshield wiper on the Spark?

[Zabo]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Thought you guys might like a look at this...



May be the next-gen Aveo.

Are they shooting for a concept at NAIAS/Chicago '10?

Originally Posted by Smokintires

did anyone notice the weird looking rear windshield wiper on the Spark?

Nope, that's normal. Tracking of the wiper will probably give it better coverage for the drivers side. That and if you made a normal arcing arm it wouldn't perform as well as that arm..

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Zabo

Are they shooting for a concept at NAIAS/Chicago '10?

Perhaps. It's slated for the 2011 model year. Comparing the rendering (which is from the Chevrolet design studio, by the way) to some IVER cars brings up a lot of similarities.