Vehicle: 2004 Chevy Optra LS 4-door with 5-speed stick
Price as tested: CDN$17465
Performance: The Optra is powered by only 1 engine. A 2.0L 16-valver D-Tec a.k.a Durable Technology that bumps out 119 hp and 126 lb/ft of torque. Suffice to say, this is an adequate powerplant. It has enough low-end torque for signal take off and freeway merging, however, the story is completely different at high rpm. This engine is unwilling to rev and, when you really rev it, it becomes very noisy. The overall refinement is more than acceptable in its price range. The 5-speed stick has to be one of the numbest units I have ever driven. The throws are long and ungainly, gates are poorly defined. This tranny is also easily misshift because of the vague motion. On the other hand, it got decent set of ratios and a progessive clutch.
Handling: In terms of dynamics, Optra is a pleasant surprise. The steering provides pretty good road feel, both off and on-center despite its on the light side. The suspension is firm while providing supple ride quality, just a slight bit of roughness when going through expansion joints. There are acceptable amount of body rolls and understeer when pushed.
Brakes: The Optra comes with 4-wheel discs with optional ABS. The pedal feel is better than average. It got decent pedal balance during emergency stops while the effort is easily modulated. However, GM should make ABS a standard feature across the board considered its base price starts at somewhere above 16k.
Interior: The interior is very well layout. With decent set of instrumentation that are clear and analog. The switchgears have a very high-quality tactical feel. While you still can find some hard plastic in a couple of areas, the general ambience feels pretty expensive considered this car just opted out above 17k. The velour seats are comfortable, providing decent back and thigh support. The velour material also feel more expensive than the price suggested. The biggest surprise has to be the details. There are nice carpeting in some cubbyholes that stop the stuff from sliding around when pushing through corners. However, that’s not without drawback. Thanks to Optra’s Daewoo origin, it continues Korean’s “hilarious school of stereo button design philosophy”. All the buttons are tiny and hard to see. They are simply mickey mouse design. If the buttons are mickey mouse, the knobs control the volume and “tune/seek” are barely larger then mickey mouse’s nose.
The back seat has plenty of head and legroom, you also got a large center armrest.
The trunk has a low cut off for easy luggage access. It also has 60/40 split fold down rear seats. However, it stucks with instrusive trunk hinges that have always been a “no no” in my book.
Conclusion: The Optra is an econocar that has a real potential. It has a good chassis, really good dynamics, nice interior and an acceptable powerplant. Thanks to Daewoo, Chevy finally got an econocar that is competitive with its Korean and Japanese competitors. Its also the first Chevy that match the rest of the econocar “bar” set by the stiff competitors.
OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2004 CHEVY OPTRA LS
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Performance: 2.25/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4.25/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4.25/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4.25/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 4/5
Value-for-money: 4/5
Overall rating: 3.75/5