Hello! It's been a few months since I've visited.
Well, my '05 Forenza Wagon has just under 30k on the odometer. Aside from a minor few initial bugs, it's been rock solid.
The 2.0 litre Holden engine is a GM Family II model, originally an Opel design from the '80s, updated with fuel injection and DOHC over the years. The Holden plant is well into their second million of produced units. From what I've read it is a very durable engine . . . desirable for taxi service in Europe. The one weakness is the timing belt. To preserve your warranty, get it inspected every 30k and replaced at 60k. If you never break a timing belt, the engine should last about forever. If you break a timing belt, the engine will last about one revolution.
The ZF automatic transmission (German Design - Korean Built) is also a mainstream European design and is very solid. It's overlapping clutch design requires very precise shift performance. If you ever change the fluid, use only the factory spec fluid no matter what anybody tells you. You might pay upwards of $15 a quart for it.
My 2005 had some minor shift point and engine drivability issues. The respective computers have been flashed to the 2006 spec and now they behave flawlessly. The stalling issues on the Daewoo-built Verona engine have been overcome, and never affected the Forenza in the first place. The engine management system (computer) is made in the USA by Delphi. Whether that's a plus or minus in anybody's guess, but it is again a very mainstream unit.
The GM-Daewoo operation is the shining star in the GM empire. I think they made around a million cars last year. The actual car company has been around since the 1930's and have been affiliated with GM off and on for a long time. After they became part of the Daewoo empire, they were dragged into bankruptcy with the rest of the conglomerate. The cars have always been pretty good, they just suffered bad upper management under Daewoo and the car division was finally sold to GM and Suzuki. They are very common in other parts of the world, so it's not like the parts supply is going to dry up any time soon. Aftermarket replacement parts are now entering the US retail market. High performance parts are a little scarce. A company in Canada called 360 Dynamics used to import and/or make performance parts for Daewoo based cars, but they called it quits earlier this year.
The same basic car goes by many names: Suzuki Forenza, Suzuki Reno, Daewoo Nubira, Daewoo Lacetti, Chevrolet Optra, Chevrolet Lacetti, Holden Astra, and Buick Excelle (sold in China) to name a few. The Daewoo name hase been switched to Chevrolet in all but a couple of Asian markets.
The oil spec is a little vague, and is different for the same engine sold in different countries. My manual says that 5W-30 is good for all temps, and that 10W-30 is OK above 0 degrees F. This engine seems really easy on oil. At my OCI of 3,500 miles it's still almost amber. I experince no leaks and zero oil consumption. The engine is pretty understressed and just about any decent oil with a reasonable OCI should be plenty good.
The engine is capable of some serious horsepower. Chevrolet Europe is running this car in the WTTC racing series with the engine tweaked to something like 270 HP and it stays together. I think our underpowered Forenzas should be OK for a long time.
I've done a bit of reading. Anything else I can babble on about?