Holden Barina 2017 Review

No beep beep here.

Holden’s latest Barina update is indicative of how much the light-class five-door hatchback has grown since the boxy MB series first appeared locally in 1985.

As is the way with most things automotive, small cars tend not to remain small cars and the latest Barina is quite a bit larger in all dimensions bar overall length (by a small margin) than the original four-cylinder LC Torana. It’s actually wider than early full-size Holdens such as the classic EH model from 1963 and virtually matches the famed 179 “Red” engine in power (if not torque) output. All quite remarkable for a car firmly ensconced as a compact car.

Barina seats four passengers with decent comfort – five at a pinch – and will propel you down the road with reasonable silence, comfort and performance, all the while using considerably less fuel and emitting way fewer harmful exhaust emissions than those early-days Holdens.

However Barina is not alone in delivering those attributes. In fact, Barina today is a pretty small player in a viciously-fought market segment dominated by the likes of Hyundai Accent, Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris.

With hopes of re-setting the sales graph onto an upward incline, Holden did a rework of its present-generation Barina at the end of 2016 to bring more technology, and more appealing looks, without really changing the basic formula.

In a nutshell, Barina picked up a locally-developed nose redesign (said to have been influenced by latest-generation Chevrolet Camaro) featuring LED daytime running lights built into the lenses plus a rear-end rework removing the goggle-lens tail lights of the previous model. Extra kit includes a rear view camera, auto headlights and rear parking sensors.

The range-topping LT added 17-inch alloy wheels and a dashboard redo to accommodate the new seven-inch colour touch screen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mobile phone mirroring), push-button start, heated front seats, a leather-trimmed steering wheel and upgraded “Sportec” seat trim.

From outside, the latest Barina looks, well, different – especially with the LT’s oversize five-spoke alloys wheels. Extra touches of chrome around the lower air intake and the front fog lights help give a slightly more upmarket effect.

From the driver’s seat, the story is pretty much the same, as you’d expect, given the naturally aspirated 1.6-litre 85kW/155Nm engine and six-speed automatic transmission both remain unchanged.

The dash, with its new centre-stack architecture and remodelled instrument display - dispensing with digital readouts and enclosing all instruments in one space - also speaks less of Holden’s sub-light, pint-size Spark.

Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functions provide satellite navigation where it isn’t ordinarily available (your phone can be secreted in a small upper-level glovebox where the USB ports reside, although we’d not recommend doing that long-term as the battery gets quite warm in the confined environment). We did find the phone functions a bit clunky: Where incoming calls could be received with Android auto switched on, it wasn’t possible to make a call without disconnecting and reactivating Bluetooth.

Overall, the interior is a pretty class act. All windows are auto-down, and the driver’s is also auto-up. About the only thing giving the Barina away is the universal use of hard-touch – albeit good-quality – vinyl. Here, our main beef was the unyielding surface on the door armrests – although, in compensation, we did like the cushy fold-down left-side armrest provided on the comfy driver’s seat.

As mentioned earlier, the back seat offers reasonable legroom and there’s ample headroom for 180cm-tall, passengers. Not so great was the flimsy ‘clang’ heard when closing the rear doors (complete with slick, high-level C-pillar handles).

The boot is reasonable, at 290 litres with all seats in place. It’s about what you’d expect of a light car with a minimal 653 litres available when the split-fold rear backrests are folded flat. A mountain bike can be loaded provided both wheels are removed.

On the move, the Barina reveals its short-wheelbase, light-car status with a firm ride (not aided by the less bump-absorbing qualities of 205/50R17 tyres), steering which is appropriately light but - once again with the help of the grippy tyres - adequately responsive. However 2.8 turns lock to lock means there is some steering wheel twirling in roundabouts and when parking.

Cabin noise is acceptably low for a light car, but coarse surfaces do create some road roar. And the sun visors aren’t big enough to shut off the glare when the sun is low in the sky.

Dynamically, the Barina’s bete noir is its aspirated 1.6-litre engine. It’s less economical and more CO2-emitting than Mazda2, Hyundai Accent or Toyota Yaris, and falls behind in the power/weight stakes as well. Even its own stablemate, the Trax SUV, is thriftier, cleaner and quicker on the road despite being a bigger and heavier car.

A plus point for our test Barina LT was it came close to the official 7.2L/100km combined consumption claim with a reading of 7.9L/100km after a week of driving in mixed conditions.

Performance was okay, and it’s reasonably smooth and subdued, but the engine does begin to intrude when revved – which it needs to do when the Barina is fully loaded or being asked to extract a bit of accelerative urge when overtaking.

The six-speed automatic transmission copes manfully in seeking the most effective ratios and the driver is given a manual-override facility - a switch-operated function located on the shift lever which is neither intuitive, nor easy to find.

More satisfactory is the cruise control which provides a digital readout of the selected speed, but doesn’t default to the off position on each engine restart.

So the Holden Barina exudes its growing maturity. The only real shortfall is the 1.6-litre engine. A characterful small-capacity three-cylinder turbo would absolutely transform the Barina and make it something to be truly reckoned with in the light car class.

2017 Holden Barina LT pricing and specifications:
Price: $20,390 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 85kW/155Nm
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 168g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP