Buying a new car creates more dilemmas than it solves. Not in running them, of course; most modern cars are far too reliable for that. There’s the problem of making those monthly payments, especially if you mortgaged your house to buy that Ferrari, but we refer here to the more pressing concerns. Like plowing your shiny new car through a flood. Wishing your date wouldn’t munch on that hamburger and leave a lasting impression on the upholstery. Leaving it all alone in the garage when you go to sleep at night. It’s difficult not getting emotionally attached to your new toy.
On the other end of the spectrum, sticking to an old clunker leaves with you with none of those concerns, but then you worry about the car stalling its engine in traffic or blowing a hose while running on the highway. Somewhere in the middle lies the perfect transport: utterly reliable yet completely emotionless. Corollas used to play that role perfectly, until they got all jazzed up in design and execution.
Car markets abhor a vacuum, so here Chevrolet steps in with its proposition, the new Optra. The car itself was co-developed with Daewoo and Pininfarina. Korean cars are getting better all the time, and the Optra does stick to the low-price, high-value formula, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. It’s difficult to pin down the car’s origins, too: the company is American, the shape Italian, and the assembly Thai.
Now, attracting buyers to a new nameplate is hard, particularly if you don’t have a face that people associate with your name. Italian design is a good place to start, and though past Italian-Korean tie-ups have culminated in mixed results, the Optra seems to redeem all that.
For one, the Optra looks pleasant and well-proportioned. It’s within a shave of today’s benchmark, the Toyota Corolla, in all dimensions, being 30 mm shorter, 25 mm wider and with an identical wheelbase. It departs from the current trend towards tall roofs, overall height being 55 mm lower than the tall-boy Altis. And that’s good for the looks, if not for top-hat wearing passengers.
While I was waiting on a stretch of highway, one bystander even approached and pronounced the car beautiful. I may not wholeheartedly agree, but at least I didn’t think him a loon. From the rear, from which the aforementioned pedestrian approached, it is at the very least distinctive and attractive. The quasi-hatchback roofline meets a high, square-cut trunk, flanked by trapezoidal taillights with circular lamps. The 15-inch wheels with 195/55 tires lend a bit of sportiness to the package. The denim blue color of our test car would not be my first choice, but it suits the styling well. Tasteful, restrained and bordering on elegant: not a bad design to begin associating with your brand.
If the Italians had a hand in the Optra’s exterior, the Germans certainly played their part inside. The interior is roomy for four, with every switch in its right place. All storage bins are lined with felt, and there’s even a pull-out drawer under the passenger seat. The only thing nasty bit is the strip of dried Vaseline surrounding the speedometer, more so at night. The dash, door trim and seats look and feel like the latest-generation Opel. Black pebble-grained plastics and silver-colored accents cover the interior. The plastics even smell German: take a whiff with your eyes closed and you can imagine you’re in a 3-series.
Until you start the engine. The 1.6 powerplant is rough and snorty, from lumpy idle to raucous redline. It acquits itself when it comes to power delivery, despite its modest 110 bhp / 150 Nm specifications. The gravelly engine note is there all the time, but keep it below 3000 rpm and it won’t be too obtrusive. The factory claims 10.7 seconds, 0 to100 km/h, and a 187 km/h top speed. Fuel mileage won’t win any Greenpeace awards; we managed 8.29 km per liter in our city crawl.
Order the five-speed manual and you’ll get a soft and easily modulated clutch pedal. The shift action is notchy and vague, with long throws. For fifth gear, a fully extended arm and a slight tilt of the entire body is needed to slot it into position. You will have to position your seat at just the right distance, or your right leg will keep banging on the center console.
The steering feels well weighted and precise, with no dead spots around the center. The handling is similarly obedient, the MacPherson strut / independent dual-link keeping up their respective ends. Raised obstacles like humps are absorbed well, but depressed ones like potholes and highway joints subject the cabin to quite a crash.
Where the Optra shines is the ownership proposition. The introductory price was quite below the competitions’, and with the new excise tax regulations, Chevy has cut them back even more. What you get is a well-equipped car. Everything necessary and then some are on board the Optra, including ABS, power everything, electric trunk release, 60/40 split rear seatback, headrests and 3-point seatbelts for all five occupants. There’s also one CD allocation for each, with the 5-CD in-dash changer. A tactile remote audio control is mounted on the steering wheel. Panel gaps are tight, and there were no squeaks, rattles or funny noises from our unit. Aside from the shrill chirping from the keyless entry system.
If the price wasn’t attractive enough, that includes all maintenance requirements for the first two years, including all consumables, such as motor oil.
So do we have the perfect four-door compact, then? For A to B motoring, the Optra is absolutely competent. If it can be faulted for anything, it’s that the approach is too serious. There’s no VTEC this, 2.0-liter that—it’s no fun at all.
By Jason Ang | Photos By Jason Ang
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