![]() Outward vision is good, including decent rear three-quarter visibility over the driver's shoulder for reversing (no rear-vision camera is offered). The Spark has not only electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes, but also front seat-belt pre-tensioners and standard Hill Start Assist-a nice feature for young drivers. ![]() It has not yet been rated for crash safety by either the NHTSA or IIHS. ![]() safety requirements, and comes standard with no fewer than 10 airbags. The 2013 Spark has been designed to meet all current and future U.S. A cargo net is available as part of the higher trim levels, as are rails to mount luggage carriers on the roof. With the rear seat up, the Spark has 11.4 cubic feet of cargo space-enough to hold 10 to 12 full paper grocery bags with ease-which expands to 31.2 cubic feet when the 60/40 split rear seat is flipped and folded down. That's more than can be said for the MINI Cooper or Fiat 500, although the Mitsubishi i electric car-the only other five-door hatchback in this class-offers similarly unexpected rear-seat space as well. The rear seatback is upright, but with a little negotiation between front- and back-seat riders, four adult male humans can occupy the Spark and travel in reasonable space. Inside, the Spark's seats are manually adjustable but comfortable-if a little narrow for broad-beamed American passengers. Our initial drive gave us no chance to test the Spark at 75-mph freeway speeds. The electric power steering offers some road feel, and while it's hardly as fun to toss around as the MINI Cooper, the Spark can change lanes into spaces other cars couldn't fit into, and it's a joy to park. It's tall enough that passengers will feel the Spark leaning on hard corners, but its relatively small wheels and tires worked hard to hold the road. The Spark's ride is quite firm, but it handled broken New York City streets with aplomb-even if riders were aware of every bump, pothole, ridge, and ripple. The Spark runs on regular-grade gasoline, though the Fiat 500 recommends premium fuel. The automatic version comes in lower, at a combined 32 mpg (28 mpg city, 37 mpg highway). The 2013 Spark with the manual transmission is EPA-rated at 32 mpg city, 38 mpg highway, for a combined rating of 34 mpg-as good as anything in the class, but slightly lower than various larger compact sedans, which benefit from better aerodynamics. This is one car for which the manual gearbox may be the only viable option. Its first gear is high enough that accelerating away from stoplights seems agonizingly slow, and it doesn't seem to offer much punch at any speed or in any gear. Aggressive driving with the manual can hustle the little Spark through town acceptably, but the automatic is, frankly, a dog. The Spark comes standard with a five-speed manual gearbox, and a four-speed automatic transmission can be ordered for an extra $925. There's only one engine in the Spark, an 84-horsepower 1.2-liter four-cylinder Ecotec that puts out 83 lb-ft of torque. The base Spark has a small monochrome center monitor, but all LT trim levels feature a 7-inch color touchscreen display in the center stack. It contains a speedometer and a small vehicle information display. Like its big brother the Sonic, the Spark has a "motorcycle style" instrument pod mounted on the steering column. They recall the painted interior metal found in economy cars of the Sixties, though in the Spark they're all body-color plastic added for effect. But body color inserts on the door trim, inside the door bins, and on the dashboard add a cheerful accent. Similarly, the seats are unashamedly synthetic cloth. Inside, the textured hard-plastic dash makes no attempt to disguise what it is by imitating any other material. ![]() ![]() While the rear end is all but vertical, a long roof spoiler extends to frame the rear window opening, giving depth to the rear and improving the Spark's aerodynamics as well. We don't really buy that, but visually the rear doors don't necessarily read as doors on first glance. The handles for the rear doors are hidden in the black plastic trim, which Chevy says gives the car a "coupe-like" look. It's a tall vehicle perched on small 15-inch wheels, but accent lines, black-plastic panels that continue the window line, and a large Chevy twin-opening grille help to hide the slab-sided, snub-nosed box-on-wheels look. The designers have done everything they could to disguise the Spark's proportions. Only in scale-parked next to a sport-utility vehicle, for instance-is its true size obvious. Although its 12-foot-1-inch length is exactly 3 feet shorter than a Chevrolet Cruze compact four-door sedan, the Spark doesn't necessarily look as small as it is. ![]()
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