Geneva 09' Preview: 2010 Chevy Spark Officially Unveiled

wah... it's so small.
wah... it's not safe.
wah... the engine is so small. I can't get to 60mpg in less than 6 seconds. wahhh....

My Hummer/Escalade/Expedition would eat that thing alive! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! RAH RAH RAH!!

I think it looks great, actually, but GM better hope that gas goes back up to $4/gal in the US if they want to sell it in the US.

"GM has officially unveiled the 2010 Chevy Spark that will have its official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show next month."

This isn't the first time I've heard this expression used, but am I the only one that feels there's something wrong with this sentence?

Cute, but the dash speedo/tach looks like it snaps off so you can take it with you. Wonder about the knee room for the driver too.

Might be ok for buzzing around town or shopping, not sure about crowded freeway commutes..

Sparky: if you don't weight 500 pounds you'll be fine.

People will buy this car not because the gallon is $4 but because they will save about $150 in a month driving this against driving those huge PoS Hummer/Escalade/Expedition. Filling up this car will probably cost you about $20 and will take you to work for about 2 weeks. Compare that with the Intrepid/300c/younameit crap that's on the road today.

It's basic specs sound good, although I'd like more numbers. But likely a good competitor for the Smart, Fit and Yari set.

But not good to look at. WAY too busy. In that segment things other than looks do take precedence, but all else was equal...

No way is the USA model going to get the 1.0l or 1.2l engine. That would be too fuel efficient and the car would be too affordable(highway MPG higher than a hybrid for half the cost?). Expect an 1.6l or 1.8l. .

Seriously - If a 1.0l engine makes it over with MPG as good as other manufacturers non-USA engines of that size then this would defiantly be on my buy list. Hopefully it would encourage everyone else to bring the 1.0 - 1.3 L engines they already have to the US.

If your target is an around car for errands and some light commuting, the 1.0l would move it well enough. Nobody would expect this car to be a performance car anyway.

It is suppose to get 'greater than 40' on the highway, but my Civic already does 36 and it is considerably more luxo than this car. Not sure if 4mpg really is worth such a small car/performance?

There is a point where you just can't squeeze more mileage out of smaller engines, I think the 2for and smart car are proof of that.

sparky

Absolutely.
I wonder if they wouldn't be better off with a different transmission and a little more power. For example... Not sure what Ford's expecting out of the Fiesta when it gets here, but I would be surprised if it's not near 40, as the focus gets 35 hwy mpg, and it's almost 400lbs heavier. Look at the Fit. It's an (almost)engineless little thing and it only gets 33.

I'm still not sure about those headlights though.
(DID THAT ONE JUST WINK AT ME?!?)

The 1.0L would get you around 50-60mpg, considerably more than your Civic.

However, I'd have to be really hurting for money to take this over my 32mpg Cooper S. 32mpg 175hp 180lbft sure beats anything this thing hands out in the same package... I'd take the Civic as well.

It just doesn't look like a very fun ride... this Chevy Spark fits the typical "small needs to be boring, slow, and simple."

We need nice small cars. The Versa is nice for what you pay for, but not fun. Hopefully this car is not what I imagine it to be.

Ugly. If this is what we can expect from GM in the future then they truly are screwed. The new Ford Fiesta is going to blow this thing out of the water

Forgot about that Fiesta.... it is going to destroy this puny attempt at a small car... the European version got swell reviews on Top Gear... hopefully they don't dumb it down too much!

I don't get what's with all these mini cars and underpowered engines. The fuel economy savings just doesn't always add up that much. Next gen prius is a good example of fixing this trend, bigger engine, better fuel economy (most likely aided by other refinements as well). The annual fuel savings between this thing and a civic si (a little overkill for a comparison) is probably only 400 a year or so....car better be exceptionally cheap if it's going to make any sense. I bet switching between between the 1.6 or 1.8 someone mentioned and the 1.0/1.2 ends up "costing" next to nothing in annual fuel savings....if it makes it a fun enough car to drive the US might actually get the bets global version.

A lot of comments here seem to be oblivious of the fact that they're DOHC engines. A finely tuned DOHC engine of that capacity can crank a lot of horsepower.

For example a 1000 cc motorcycle can crank 150HP pretty easy. If car engineers would ever follow motorcycle engineers lead they could make a REALLY fun small car.

wtf is wrong with you ? not all vehicles produced are meant for drag racing ...a very tiny small fraction of them is actually meant for A-B commuting ...and i am pretty sure spark is one of those ... where i live, most of the midsized sedans ( passat, accord, A4) come with 1.6litre base model...and most of them even drive on the road ...so i suppose 1.0 -1.2Litre should be enough for a Spark ... and these new small engines make quite a decent power these days ...1.2L renault makes a happy 100PS ....so pleaaaase ...stop bitching about these matters ...please .. :)

It NEEDS to have 5 or 6 gears. I have an older model Corolla for when gas gets to high to drive my truck, and I swear the engine noise is annoying as hell because at like 65 im nearing 3000 rpm. In my truck its about 2000 rpm for the same speed. That feature alone would lean my towards buying this nasty looking thing!

Im sorry, but it looks of poor quality both inside, and out and seems to have been thrown together in about a weeks time.

I strongly dislike the Pathfinder like rear door handels.
I pray that it wasn't built in Korea like the Aveo.
The "Spark"? Really?

4 of 10

Keep it in the city. This thing better have at LEAST 6 airbags!

What are they trying to do, give us green nightmares?

Crazy anyone would waste time defending this hideous monstrosity of a deformed egg.

My 1993 VMAX yamaha 1.2L motorcycle had 145 crank HP. But after 24K miles, it is starting to show some wear and performance issues typical for high performance engines. I expect that at 40k miles, time for an overhaul and/or a new bike.

Nothing is free, high performance small engines burn hot and are stressed. Would you buy a car that after 60k miles needs a new engine, and only after 30k miles it starts to degrade? Can you say Vega?

I am amazed that the reliability of car engines with 1L=100Hp or better performance is as good now. This 1.0/1.2L engine is tiny and stressed enough without tuning for more performance.

But, I'd like to put a hayabusa engine in it and run around the track. Or better yet, junk the engine and make it all electric.

Could they have picked a worse color?

It all comes down to fuel economy and performance. You can get plenty of power out of a 1.0L engine, but I guess you'd want to weigh the advantages over the 1.2L.

The Civic's engine / transmission combo seem to give the best compromise for my money right now. The Fit needs another gear - it is very busy @ 65mph.

That said, I'm holding onto my '93 Civic (38-42 mpg) until a plug-in hybrid comes out in a hatchback package.

Car for countries in transition former Soviet republics or eastern European countries.