- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
1.6i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
85kW, 155Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 7.5L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2011)
Small on price, big on quality
For: Perky engine, low price, good equipment levels, solid road manners.
Against: Cheap-looking interior plastics, air-con not included in price.
How it rates: 4 stars (out of 5).
Holden's continuing quest to gain a foothold in the four-cylinder market has taken another step forward with the release of the new Barina, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Arch-rival Ford has virtually vacated the category now it has no Festiva, and is relying on a single Ka model to woo buyers. The traditional leader in the cheap-and-cheerful stakes, Hyundai, has moved from the all-conquering Excel to the Accent, which is bigger and more expensive. On top of all that, escalating fuel prices are surely making many motorists think small when it comes to buying a new car.
If ever a car had the task of proving Holden is more than just a Commodore company, this is it, and even at first glance the Barina seems to deliver. It is priced at just $13,990 for the bog-standard three-door model, and while the price doesn't include air-conditioning (an $1,870 option), that doesn't make it a bargain-basement stripper.
It comes with remote central locking, a CD player, tachometer, driver's airbag and four-wheel disc brakes, features perhaps taken for granted by many, but not supplied by all of Barina's main rivals.
Not surprisingly, you still have to wind your own windows, there are no usefully deep cup holders to be seen and a pair of rear doors - the five-door arrives next month - costs another $2,000. But for a European import - over there it's known as the Opel Corsa - the Barina definitely serves it up to Korean, Malaysian and Japanese competitors in the value-for-money stakes.
Like its predecessor, the new Barina is quite small and, while it no longer necessarily corners the market in cute styling with its more angular and somewhat blander front-end, it has enough presence to perhaps appeal to the higher numbers of male buyers Holden is hoping it will attract.
Also like the old model, there's a 1.4-litre engine under the bonnet, but this 16-valve, double overhead cam unit owes little to its forebear, either in engineering or character. Instead of somewhat sluggish and coarse performance, the new Barina delivers plenty of zip off the mark and remains nice and smooth as revs rise, even to its surprisingly high 6,500rpm limit.
The only time extra oomph is needed is when touring on country roads, because the combination of relatively tall gearing - an indicator, no doubt, of its European origins - and added kilograms can drag it back on uphill gradients. At 1,062kg, it is not a heavy car by absolute standards, but does weigh 190kg more than the old Barina City.
The engine is more powerful with 66 kilowatts, and there's 120 Newton-metres of torque, but it is not quite enough to overcome the extra kilograms in all driving conditions. Average fuel consumption of 8.3L/100km is good by V8 standards, but not remarkable in the world of pint-sized econo-cars.
Many of the old Barina's annoying bugs have been ironed out, most noticeably the pedal placement. Once they were too close together and of varying heights; now, your road-tester's size nines have no problem finding a home. And Holden assures that the air-conditioning has been re-engineered to Australian standards.
For such a small car, the Barina has a very solid feel, perhaps indicating that the extra weight has gone into a stronger body. There's none of the flimsy character of many light cars and it all seems to have been screwed together rather well.
Like its bigger Astra hatchback brother, there are also ride and handling characteristics well above class standards, which in this very cheap category are all too often woeful. The suspension almost borders on being soft and, indeed, the ride quality is very good. The power-assisted steering is very light but has great precision turning in and is matched by reasonable amounts of front-end grip.
With all that in mind, the signs are good that the much more powerful and stiffer-suspended SRi Barina due for launch later this year could be a pretty good hot hatch.
On the whole, the Barina's cabin is a pleasant place to be given its bargain-basement pricetag. The driving position, pedal placement and gimmick-free instrument panel make for a functional working environment, but there's also a couple of unexpected touches.
These include a nice, thick-rimmed steering wheel complete with toggle switches for stereo control, and on top of the dash panel is a digital readout with date, time, outside temperature and radio frequency. The stereo is made by Blaupunkt and is remarkable in the Barina's category for being easy to use and with high-quality audio.
About the only cheapening effects are the vast swathes of hard, grey plastic finished in a peculiar lizard-skin grain.
Because it is a three-door, the Barina's rear seat probably isn't expected to get much use and access shouldn't be attempted by anyone with a crook back. Once in place, though, the back seat has quite reasonable amounts of room.
The hatch has a European-style external latch (it takes two bursts of the remote to unlock it) and opens to reveal a boot that's about on par with class average, but is by no means commodious.
Overall, it is solid for its size, refined and smooth in its nature, well-equipped and affordable (other than the optional air-con). This Barina is far from being the tinny, wonky-handling buzz-box many would expect from a sub-$14,000 hatchback and deserves to win many admirers among buyers looking for bargain-basement motoring.
All the details
Price: $13,990 (manual), $15,940 (auto)
Engine: 1.4-litre, 16-valve, DOHC, four-cylinder. 66kW at 6,000rpm and 120Nm at 4,000rpm.
Transmission: Five-speed manual or four-speed auto. Front-wheel-drive.
Steering: Rack and pinion, 2.9 turns lock to lock. Turning circle 9.9m.
Brakes: Ventilated discs front, discs rear. ABS not available.
Suspension: Front - Independent by MacPherson struts with stabiliser bar. Rear - Torsion beam axle with coil springs and stabiliser bar.
Wheels/tyres: 14 x 5.5-inch steel wheels, tyres 175/65.
How big? Length - 3,816mm, width - 1,642mm, height - 1,443mm, wheelbase - 2,491mm.
How heavy? 1,062kg (manual).
How thirsty? 8.3L/100km. Fuel tank 44 litres
Rivals
Hyundai Accent - $14,990
Toyota Echo - $15,700
Daewoo Lanos SE - $13,990
Kia Rio - $14,990
Mitsubishi Mirage - $15,490