IMO, I think I just drove the most miserable car

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: Pesca
Maybe the hatch Toyota Yaris could fall in the same category, even if it is more expensive.


That's hardly a fair comparison. As small as it is, the Yaris at least drives like a car. It drives like a cheap car, but a car. The Spork does not drive like a car. It drives like a pile of stuff that could have been made into a car if it hadn't had the misfortune of being built as it is.


Ahh, the Spork. Never a name so appropriate since the Pontiac Ashtray, er, Astre, their "better" Vega.

I went and checked, its front brake rotor is ventilated. Significance? Geo Metros came with solid ones. Safety marches on.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: Pesca
Maybe the hatch Toyota Yaris could fall in the same category, even if it is more expensive.


That's hardly a fair comparison. As small as it is, the Yaris at least drives like a car. It drives like a cheap car, but a car. The Spork does not drive like a car. It drives like a pile of stuff that could have been made into a car if it hadn't had the misfortune of being built as it is.


Ahh, the Spork. Never a name so appropriate since the Pontiac Ashtray, er, Astre, their "better" Vega.

I went and checked, its front brake rotor is ventilated. Significance? Geo Metros came with solid ones. Safety marches on.

The Spork weighs in at nearly 2400lb! but I've seen a 250hp Fiero run with a SC Lotus Elise on a track for 10-15 minutes on its solid front rotors from a chevette, so you can still do a few good stops even with solid rotors...

 

[Jarlaxle]

Volvo (yes, VOLVO!) Used solid front rotors on the 240s into at least the 80s.

4-lug Omnis got them to the end in 1990.

 

[glock19]

Well, apparently someone likes the Spark.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/16/chevy-outpacing-toyota-honda-ford-subcompact-sales/

 

[SwampSurvivor]

They use a JATCO CVT, so, of course it's going to be awkward and strange. And unreliable.

The 5 speed is actually a lot of fun to drive! And they are bigger on the inside than the outside.

If my car gets totaled this afternoon by all of the hail we are predicted to get - a Spark is on my list of replacement cars!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
They use a JATCO CVT, so, of course it's going to be awkward and strange. And unreliable.

The 5 speed is actually a lot of fun to drive! And they are bigger on the inside than the outside.

If my car gets totaled this afternoon by all of the hail we are predicted to get - a Spark is on my list of replacement cars!


If it were me, I'd definitely have the Jeep under covered parking and the Focus out in the open.

 

[rjundi]

The Spark is the car now I see really overweight or huge people driving about who cannot fit ducking.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: Miller88
They use a JATCO CVT, so, of course it's going to be awkward and strange. And unreliable.

The 5 speed is actually a lot of fun to drive! And they are bigger on the inside than the outside.

If my car gets totaled this afternoon by all of the hail we are predicted to get - a Spark is on my list of replacement cars!


If it were me, I'd definitely have the Jeep under covered parking and the Focus out in the open.


The last storm we had there weren't any open parking spots in the parking lot. The Jeep was parked next to a tree, the focus was out in the open. I swapped them around. Luckily, no trees

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: Pesca
Originally Posted By: tony1679
Also, your dealer should have put you in a car similar to the one you own.


+1 on this.

You can go back to the dealer and ask him to change your rental car.

That is what my ex-wife did when her car was in for an electrical problem with her Sonata: At first, they gave her a subcompact car (don't remember which one) She went back and got an Altima instead (nice car).

Especially if you don't know how long they will keep your car, you may need the space for the weekend or other stuff.

As for a comparison to the spark, you (in fact just us) the Nissan Micra and the Mitsubishi Mirage (do you have this one in the US?). Maybe the hatch Toyota Yaris could fall in the same category, even if it is more expensive. Probably more the iQ from Toyota/Scion (depending of the countries).

There are more suited for cities than urban driving.


As a matter of fact they do have the Mitsu Mirage. Has a big warranty which is pretty important for a car like this. I don't know why a Mitsu should be any less cool than a Fiat. Its not like the Fiat is super reliable or something. The Micra isn't sold here but the Versa is. Surprisingly roomy and well-trimmed considering its usually the cheapest car in America. I expect a stick shift would make any of these cars a lot easier to like.

 

[Stregone]

I got one of these recently and I love it. You need to remember it is a CHEAP car. Comparing it to a camry is stupid, a camry costs $10k+ more, which is a whole heck of a lot for a car that costs not much over $10k to begin with.

I read a bunch of reviews before buying it, and I noticed two camps. There was one camp where they [censored] all over it, not reviewing it for what it is (a cheap city car). And another camp that loved it, comparing it to other cars in its class.

Also, I am 6'1 and there's plenty of room for me. Even in the back seat my head has a couple inches of room above it.

 

[jimbrewer]

Honestly Stregone, such a car seems pretty appealing to me. A lot of us middle-agers have worked ourselves into a short-commute job. I think I read somewhere that the average age of a Spark owner is quite a bit more than they originally expected.

with younger people the main competition is a zip car.

Assuming proper gearing with a manual transmission, such a car ought to be able to do about 70-75 mph all day long. I don't know about the CVT. What more do you need?

GM could go a long way in positioning these cars as "cheap and cheerful" instead of "rock bottom transportation" by simply offering a wider array of colors. Saw a beautiful car today with a light grey-blue color. Add a few slightly off-beat colors from a professional stylist and they would be set.

 

[jimbrewer]

Honestly Stregone, such a car seems pretty appealing to me. A lot of us middle-agers have worked ourselves into a short-commute job. I think I read somewhere that the average age of a Spark owner is quite a bit more than they originally expected.

with younger people the main competition is a zip car.

Assuming proper gearing with a manual transmission, such a car ought to be able to do about 70-75 mph all day long. I don't know about the CVT. What more do you need?

GM could go a long way in positioning these cars as "cheap and cheerful" instead of "rock bottom transportation" by simply offering a wider array of colors. Saw a beautiful car today with a light grey-blue color. Add a few slightly off-beat colors from a professional stylist and they would be set.

 

[oilmaven]

I believe I read that the Spark will be redesigned for 2015...don't remember all the details but the front end will get a makeover (less "HEADLIGHTY"). I find it hard to believe that they couldn't bump the power of that engine (100 hp maybe?) without adversely affecting the mileage...would make all the difference in the world (although I had a 1983 Le Car that had a 55 hp 1.4L carbureted engine with a 4 speed manual that I thought was zippy enough...remember those?).

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: oilmaven
I believe I read that the Spark will be redesigned for 2015...don't remember all the details but the front end will get a makeover (less "HEADLIGHTY"). I find it hard to believe that they couldn't bump the power of that engine (100 hp maybe?) without adversely affecting the mileage...would make all the difference in the world (although I had a 1983 Le Car that had a 55 hp 1.4L carbureted engine with a 4 speed manual that I thought was zippy enough...remember those?).


The engine is a Daewoo leftover. Likely they don't want to put in any more money than necessary since the other small engines that they have are too high-tech (read: expensive) for this city car.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

I LOVE the Spark! It's plenty enough car for me. The ones I've test-driven ride just fine and they have no trouble doing 70. What more could you want?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: oilmaven
I believe I read that the Spark will be redesigned for 2015...don't remember all the details but the front end will get a makeover (less "HEADLIGHTY"). I find it hard to believe that they couldn't bump the power of that engine (100 hp maybe?) without adversely affecting the mileage...would make all the difference in the world (although I had a 1983 Le Car that had a 55 hp 1.4L carbureted engine with a 4 speed manual that I thought was zippy enough...remember those?).


The engine is a Daewoo leftover. Likely they don't want to put in any more money than necessary since the other small engines that they have are too high-tech (read: expensive) for this city car.


Daewoo leftover engine? I guess this isn't an economy car, I mean what are the odds of getting trouble free high mileage?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: oilmaven
I believe I read that the Spark will be redesigned for 2015...don't remember all the details but the front end will get a makeover (less "HEADLIGHTY"). I find it hard to believe that they couldn't bump the power of that engine (100 hp maybe?) without adversely affecting the mileage...would make all the difference in the world (although I had a 1983 Le Car that had a 55 hp 1.4L carbureted engine with a 4 speed manual that I thought was zippy enough...remember those?).


The engine is a Daewoo leftover. Likely they don't want to put in any more money than necessary since the other small engines that they have are too high-tech (read: expensive) for this city car.


Daewoo leftover engine? I guess this isn't an economy car, I mean what are the odds of getting trouble free high mileage?


Low-tech engine, low-tech suspension, built to withstand rougher places than the continental US since it's another "world" car, it should do just fine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The low tech suspension is the same as in the Fiesta, Corolla, Fit ... Struts in front and twist/torsion beam rear. It is simple, but it works well. Except in the Windstar ...

The S-Tech II engine in them has VVT, but lacks DI (a good thing). The engine in my 2011 Focus doesn't even have any sort of VVT. Unlike the Aveo engines, these don't break timing belts every 30K miles - GM was smart and went with a chain.

They REALLY should have kept the Aisin 4 speed auto instead of going with an unreliable CVT. Leave the snowmobile transmissions in snowmobiles and use big boy transmissions.

The Sparks don't get blown around on the highway much. Definitely less than my Focus does.

The Versa gets blown around horribly

 

[dgcamero]

Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
It's distant relative might just be a Mazda CX-5....we have one as a rental (6200 miles new) and what a joke. Uncomfortable and lacks power big time. For those that like the CX-5, my post is not to knock it if YOU like it but it certainly isn't what I expect from a ride. We commute 150 miles per day and we feel like we've been beaten at the end of the day.

To give it credit though, a large part of our dissatisfaction may be due to Enterprizes rental car policies....the car came with two key fobs, neither of which work. You have to use the valet key to unlock the drivers door, get in and start it BEFORE you can unlock the other doors. That and no interior lights plus a filthy interior all add to our experience. I will highly recommend the local Enterprize manager have his/her future freed up! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it had a range of 43 miles of fuel when I picked it up...took it back but they were closed.

Sorry to highjack your thread!


Anytime I have a gratis paid car (like when people hit my car, or a car repair), I go to Hertz Local Edition instead of Enterprise, I get all the info from the payee and take it to Hertz and they always take care of everything. It's amazing how much better customers take care of a Hertz rental (they're always the top of the line models) than Enterprise's bottom of the barrel strippos! I'm sure a bit of that also has to do that your rental rep is not the person responsible for cleaning and maintaining the car in their polyester suit.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: dgcamero
Originally Posted By: Fleetmon
It's distant relative might just be a Mazda CX-5....we have one as a rental (6200 miles new) and what a joke. Uncomfortable and lacks power big time. For those that like the CX-5, my post is not to knock it if YOU like it but it certainly isn't what I expect from a ride. We commute 150 miles per day and we feel like we've been beaten at the end of the day.

To give it credit though, a large part of our dissatisfaction may be due to Enterprizes rental car policies....the car came with two key fobs, neither of which work. You have to use the valet key to unlock the drivers door, get in and start it BEFORE you can unlock the other doors. That and no interior lights plus a filthy interior all add to our experience. I will highly recommend the local Enterprize manager have his/her future freed up! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it had a range of 43 miles of fuel when I picked it up...took it back but they were closed.

Sorry to highjack your thread!


It's amazing how much better customers take care of a Hertz rental (they're always the top of the line models) than Enterprise's bottom of the barrel strippos!


LOL! Obviously you never had the Hertz rental that I just drove 1474 miles.