Holden Viva Hatch 2005 Review

What we liked
>> Good looks, good finish, seemingly
      good quality
>> High feature levels
>> Attractively low prices

Not so much
>> Soft performance
>> Undistinguished handling
>> Submissive Korean tyres

OVERVIEW
The Viva and Barina couldn't have come at a better time for Holden. The road ahead is looking increasingly bumpy for large cars while small-car sales are running hot.

2005's new-car market is tipped to reach a million units, a five per cent rise over '04. So what does that do for Viva and Barina? Well, last year small and large cars each accounted for about 30 per cent of the total. This year their combined tally will again be about 60 per cent, but the split changes to 40:20 in small models' favour.

Include the ever-popular medium segment and it's easy to see where the real action is. And that's exactly where Holden's determined to be, with more small and medium models than any other company.

From the top, there's Astra hatch, coupe and wagon plus the two-seat Tigra coupe-cabrio. Slotting in below those European sourced models, Viva replaces the prior-generation Astra Classic, while the new (TK series) Barina supersedes its departing namesake.

Of course, Barina is not only the longest established name in its class, but also the most widely travelled. The original (MB) Barina, a re-badged Suzuki Swift, arrived from Japan in 1985. That connection lasted until 1994 when the all-different SB Barina (nee Opel Corsa) landed from Spain, subsequently evolving into the model crowned Wheels 2001 Car Of The Year.

The latest switch is to Korea, where Daewoo is now part of the GM empire. Known as Kalos in an earlier life, this Barina has undergone some re-development specifically for Australia to launch as 1.6-litre three- and five-door hatchbacks, with a four-door sedan due in 2006.

If Holden's other new model weren't called Viva, it might be the Daewoo Lacetti. It, too, has been updated and upgraded for Australia where it will be the only under-$20K brand offering hatchback, sedan and wagon versions. The choice of the Viva name is interesting. Perhaps Holden figures the generation-whatever target market isn't old enough to remember the widely derided 1960s ex-Vauxhall namesake. Or it may be a show of faith in the premise that time heals all wounds.

FEATURES
Price-wise, Holden is not only throwing down a gauntlet to small-car rivals, but beating them around the ears with it. At $12,990 and $14,490 for three- and five-door respectively, the Barina packs 15-inch wheels (steel), air conditioning, front airbags, power windows, driver's seat height adjustment, MP3-compatible single CD player, remote central locking, body-colour mirrors and steering wheel audio controls.

For perspective, the 1990 Barina cost $13,990 without standard air conditioning, airbags and remote central locking, and had a carburetted engine offering about 50 per cent less power than the newcomer.

The latest model lists automatic transmission for $2000 extra, metallic paint for $250 and an $1190 combo of anti-lock brakes (ABS) plus (four) 15-inch alloy wheels.

Viva means business too. The sedan and hatch open at $17,990, while the wagon asks $19,490. Budget two grand for automatic transmission and $300 for metallic finish. Alloys and ABS cost $1190 extra for the wagon while inclusion of power rear windows for the sedan and hatch lifts their ante to $1290.

Like Barina, Viva offers only one equipment level, but its list is lengthened with side airbags, two-way steering wheel adjustment, and driver's lumbar and cushion tilt adjustments, plus roof bars for the wagon.

COMFORT
Being a bit larger overall than its predecessor, the new Barina is roomier on the inside too, with more legroom and shoulder width and a tad more head space up front, a little less in the rear. Similarly, Viva is slightly larger and roomier than the departing Astra Classic.

On first encounter (and hopefully in the long run also) the Korean pair are more comfortable than the displaced Europeans, thanks to the extra leg length and elbow space combined with softer, shapelier seats and more bump-blotting ride quality.

Thanks to its tilt-and-telescope wheel and height/tilt cushion adjustability, the Viva's driving position is more adaptable, and potentially more comfortable, than most in this class.

Barina and Viva rate pretty well for cabin habitability too. Importantly, they score reasonably low NVH levels (noise, vibration, harshness). Drivetrain noise is generally well subdued, the bodies feel tight and quiet, while reasonably little is heard from the suspension and tyres.

SAFETY
Although neither Barina nor Viva brings any safety initiatives, each is competitively endowed with safety features. The main difference between them is Viva's inclusion of front side-airbags in addition to dual front airbags which Barina shares.

Front belt pre-tensioners and sash-anchor height adjustment are also common to both. Having ABS brakes optional rather than standard is a marketing compromise of arguable merit. People mindful of safety and car costs might well wish that if ABS must be an extra, it could at least be a stand-alone item rather than packaged with other things.

There's no argument, however, about the virtue of all the seat belts being lap-sash type, nor about the rear seats having three head restraints.

MECHANICAL
The mechanical arrangements of Barina and Viva follow typical front-drive small-car practice. Thus, four-cylinder engines in the usual east-west situation, with either five-speed manual gearbox or optional four-speed automatic.

Steering is power-assisted rack and pinion while the front suspension has lower A-arms, struts, coil springs and an anti-roll bar. Strictly speaking, this is not the true MacPherson set-up that Holden would have you believe.

The front brakes have ventilated discs while Viva's rear brakes are solid discs to Barina's drums. The rear suspensions also differ with Barina using a torsion beam axle on trailing arms, where Viva has struts and lower links.

Although the respective steering, braking and suspension systems were established by the Kalos and Lacetti, the Barina and Viva bring a significant change in engines. Gone is the 1.5lt single-cam, eight-valve Family I unit used in Kalos, and likewise the 1.8lt twin-cam, 16-valve Family II from Lacetti. Instead, Barina and Viva have the latest twin-cam, 16-valve, variable intake evolution of the venerable iron-block Family I unit; a George Washington's axe if ever there was one.

They can be told apart by their respective capacities (1.6- and 1.8-litres), maximum power (77 and 89kW) and maximum torque (145 and 165Nm).

The manual Barina is officially credited with using 6.9 litres per 100km, and the automatic with 7.8L/100km. Viva's consumption wasn't ratified at time of writing, but the tip is 7.4 and 8.8L/100km for manual and auto respectively.

COMPETITORS
Welcome to the wild bunch. The Under-$20,000 segment is home to a seething maelstrom, an all-in brawl where 16 or so different makers put some 30 different models or some 50 different variants into the ring for a hard-hitting stoush that makes State Of Origin NRL look like a Teddy bears' picnic.

Since small cars indeed mean small profits, you might wonder why so many makers are so serious about this rough-house corner of the market. The reasons are that main models achieve high sales volumes, and that makers see this as a first opportunity to win people, particularly young/first-time people, to their camp. They'll hopefully build brand loyalty which subsequently leads to larger, costlier more profitable models. It's a life-cycle thing.

ON THE ROAD
Even knowing that Holden has 'localised' the new Barina and Viva significantly more, the company says, than any other imported models, it's soon clear that their driving is more about comfort than speed. More about pleasant cabin ambience than bar-lifting chassis dynamics.

To their credit, both models' accommodations are as comfortable as any in their respective classes, and noise suppression is amply effective even when pounding along patchy roads and/or levering the engine towards the tacho red-line.

No matter whether you're sitting in front or rear, there's no sense of doing penance. Rear seat access is understandably inhibited in the three-door Barina, but fine in the five-door and the Vivas.

The nicely styled instruments are averagely legible, though a larger odo/trip display would be appreciated. All the controls offer user-friendly accessibility and operation. It's good to find that the Holden-isation includes right-hand-drive column stalks, where Daewoo previously supplied the left-hand drive layout.

Less endearing to drivers who are more than mere operators, is the bland lightness of the clutch and brake pedals, the steering and even the manual gearshift. Sure they work well enough, but each feels as though it's just going through the motions without any sense of connection between man and mechanism.

Despite suggestive specifications, Barina's performance isn't spritely and Viva's lacks verve. The engines feel remarkably alike in requiring plenty of accelerator and pro-active gearshifting for modest rewards. And besides being slow to build revs when the go-pedal's pushed, pronounced electronic-flywheel effect (for reduced exhaust emissions' sake) means both engines are slow to lose revs long after the accelerator is released.

Ride quality is generally good, the handling just averagely competent. There's inevitability of the endemic understeer becoming noticeably pushy whenever moderately brisk, wheel-windingly tight corners stretch the cars' dynamic aptitude. Sporty, they're not.

So, Barina and Viva are what they are, just average: pleasantly styled, well-equipped and bargain-priced. You get what you pay for. Sparkle not included.