MOTORING: SPARK Time to SPARK up your driving Chevrolet’s Spark has been on the road for a year now, but is still proving to be a popular driving school car within the UK. “There’s a bright new Spark for those looking for a small car and it’s been ignited by Chevrolet. It may have an American badge, but this Chevy is burning with a desire to provide city car fun and running costs coupled to European levels of quality.” First impressions of the Spark are good. It looks neat and the rear door handles are incorporated into the window line so the Spark has the sportier appearance of a three-door car. It’s most definitely a five-door, though, and the rear seats easily accommodate a couple of adults without them feeling cramped. There’s a small boot, but this can be extended by lowering the folding rear seats to free up a decent 568-litres of space. For the driver, the Spark is equally generous with space and comfort. The entry-level models do without steering wheel adjustment, which is a shame as the rest of the range has this comfort-boosting device as standard. Some of the plastics used in the Spark are also not quite up to the standard of the Volkswagen Up or Fiat Panda. However, all Sparks share the same natty dash design that looks like it’s escaped from a high-tech motorcycle. A large speedo is as you’d expect, but the digital read-out next to it adds a dash of style missing from many of the Spark’s rivals. Despite the slick dash, the entry-point Spark is short on equipment, even if it does have a lower entry price point than much of the competition. The problems here for the Spark is the VW Up’s cousins, the Seat Mii and Skoda CityGo also have similarly affordable starting costs and are better all-round bets. The Spark 1.0+ model has air conditioning, CD stereo and central locking, while the LS adds some extra trim to look better. The LT version is only available with the larger 1.2-litre engine. Both engines on offer in the Spark are petrols. The 1.0-litre has 67bhp on tap, while the 1.2 serves up 80bhp. The two engines give the same 55.4mpg combined economy and 119g/ km carbon dioxide emissions, which means low-rate road tax. Because of this, the 1.2 is the one to opt for if you are not THE INSTRUCTOR l www.ukdic.co.uk