Anyone here have a Spark??

[Ltguy]

Well my little bro who is 19 had his car die...again.... This last weekend so he finally decided to get rid of it. Traded in his Arctic White '06 Cobalt LS Auto on a Salsa Red '14 Spark LS 5 speed. Just wondering if anyone on here has one and if they like it? Have any tips or found something cool about it I could relay to him?

He's already looking at a few mods. Our dealership is installing fog lights and he is having the windows tinted at the same time before pick up. Talking about rims and doing some B&G lowering springs too...

The Spark will hopefully be delivered tomorrow from another dealership lot I'm just excited because now I don't have to worry about his car breaking down and leaving him stranded anymore and I will have my weekends freed up again lol

 

[ahtoxa]

I think some members here considered a spark or even wanted a spark but ended up going with a sonic because pricing is fairly close.

I dig the electric Sparks.

 

[Blue hedgehog]

Someone here's daughter has one. I remember seeing a pic of a red sonic and green spark. I believe they called them Mrs. Claus and the grinch

 

[attrapereves]

I think some members here considered a spark or even wanted a spark but ended up going with a sonic because pricing is fairly close.

I dig the electric Sparks.

I thought about a Spark for my wife, but they offer barely any rebates or special deals on the Spark. I think the price difference between an LT Spark and LT Sonic was about $1000-1500.

 

[ahtoxa]

Somewhere there, yes. Which is why most people bought the larger Sonic.

 

[Natesriv]

I like the look of the spark (with the largest OEM wheels)...
here's a Forza version of it..
Forza 4 CHEVY SPARK 2011 Top Gear - YouTube

 

[turbojon]

I think some members here considered a spark or even wanted a spark but ended up going with a sonic because pricing is fairly close.

I dig the electric Sparks.

I also like the electric version, not too wild about the gas version. They remind me of the Smart. Too expensive for the tradeoff of room/performance vs mpg.

The electric version, though $26k+, runs low 16's and can go over 80 miles on each charge, from what I have heard. I would like to drive one some day. That has to be an entertaining 0-60.

 

[Scot]

Actually, if I could get an opel 2.0L to swap in my Sonic, I would totally pick up a used Spark and throw the 1.4L in it.

BIG BLOCK!!!!

 

[Natesriv]

Actually, if I could get an opel 2.0L to swap in my Sonic, I would totally pick up a used Spark and throw the 1.4L in it.

BIG BLOCK!!!!

I would be VERY interested in a Sonic with enough power to have some real speed. I'm not really saying Evo or WRX territory (I drove an STI WRX and damn that thing moved, but was a bull to handle as well).. But like you said, a 2.0 liter with ~200HP a confident 5-6 second 0-60, and still 30 mpg..

 

[SuperFudd]

Consumer Reports sez it is the worst 2014 Chevy, which probably says more about the improved quality of Chevys than it does about the Spark.
They drove an automatic which, unfortunately, is a CVT.
They said it is noisy and underpowered, even for a "city" car. Handleing was ho hum as was the mpg.
Still it has a lot of room and is better than much of the competition.
If I got one I would probably go with the stick in the low end (cheap) model.

 

[Ltguy]

I hear you guys on all points. If the sonic was more in line with a fiesta ST, that would be wicked! I came from a 290whp LNF 'Balt to the Sonic, any the difference is huge. The 'Balt is by far my favorite car I've own on the fun scale but the Sonic is by far the better Dailey to have for my uses.

My bro is supposed to pick up his Spark on Monday I think. It's a base model LS with fog lights and tinted windows, brand new and he got it for 12,900. He also only drives like 8k miles a year and isn't really a car guy. It should be good for him we are thinking he mainly wants something decent on gas that he doesn't have to worry about breaking down while he finishes school. He also looked at a 2011 cruze that was the same price but liked the Spark more and it had cheaper insurance and a full warranty

 

[turbojon]

Cool. Post some pics when he gets it. That seems like a great deal!

 

[Ltguy]

Will do, I only have the one right now but I've driven it probably 30 miles in the last two days. It's a fantastic car for how cheap it is!

 

[Ltguy]

Here is another pic for you guys

Tint, fog lights, black bow ties, weathertech mats, and stripe now installed. He is currently looking at B&G lowering springs but needs to buy books for next semester before any more car parts lol

 

[ShadowRS]

Sparks are fine little cars. I wouldn't do any hwy driving in them, but I know they get killer MPG always...

For squirting around town, you can't go wrong. I drove one and seriously considered buying it. Didn't like the lack of power though.

 

[Swordsmith]

Underpowered and undersized. The Sonic feels like it has twice the space inside that either the Spark or the Cruze do; I don't know how they did it but it's like a Tardis. Back to the underpowered part, we're talking a car that weighs nearly as much as the Sonic (particularly when you include yourself and passengers) yet has just a hair over half the horsepower. It gets no better mpg than a Sonic on the highway, either, probably because the hamsters are working themselves to death trying to keep the thing up with highway speeds.

Good things about it; slightly shorter, so slightly easier to park and maneuver in tight quarters, and significantly better city gas mileage. Worth consideration then, for someone who is not very large and has no large friends, and who spends almost all their time in city driving. Oh, and it's a little cheaper than the Sonic. Oh, and some fun colors that the Sonic lacks.

IF you live in one of the few places where you can get the Electric Spark, that may be a different matter. Lots more hp, lots more economical, may really be a decent choice (if you have access to an ICE car for any long drives, that is). On paper it looks pretty good, but I don't live anywhere I can even hope to test drive one.

 

[pounamu]

I did a lot of research on the Spark at one time, and it's actually a sweet little car. It's not a competition for the Sonic or other subcompacts, but if you're choosing between a Fiat 500 or (gods forbid) a Smart car, then the Spark is definitely superior. Lots of stuff for the money and value compared to the Fiat. Great for the city; I personally wouldn't buy it for highway driving, but saw a good lengthy review on Youtube of two guys driving it on the highway and it looked like the car was just fine. Oh, and also the Spark got the absolute highest safety ranking this year from IIHS (better than the Sonic, even).

The electric Spark is actually a great value, especially compared to Nissan Leaf for example. With the federal tax break, you can pick one up for about $20K, and it's very well equipped and has 400 pound-feet of torque, again, way superior to the Leaf, making the EV Sonic pretty sprightly. It's the most affordable electric car on the market today (and totally makes sense for a place like California where gas prices are terrifying)

 

[ShadowRS]

To be honest, I see more sparks than sonics where I live

 

[Z71]

With meager discounts and incentives offered, I could not buy even the cheapest Spark for the price I paid for my Sonic LT. Also, I test drove one with a manual transmission and it felt underpowered and was slow to accelerate. And besides, it it way too small for my liking.

 

[Ltguy]

Well he's loving it so far the car is only 2200 lbs and is like a 10x nicer Geo Metro. My bro rarely has passengers, and if he does it's usually me or his girl friend. Plus he rarely drives somewhere that the speed limit is more than 55 all in all it is a great car for only $12k brand new!