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First Impressions 2014 Chevy Spark LS

After three days with the spark:

Things I like:
+Gas Mileage.
Getting 38mpg average w/ ac on all the time
+Looks
I like guinea pig shaped hatchbacks
+Space
It's not cramped up front. Decent in the back. Ok storage.
+Cost
Can't beat it, really

Things I don't like:
-Slow:
Jumping out into traffic is a bit scary. Takes forever to get up to speed. It's more Geo Metro than Toyota Yaris, I suppose.
-Speakers:
Bought some kickers to install. I don't have huge needs in the speaker dept.but the stock speakers are ridiculous. No highs, nasal mids. I suspect they're intentionally nerfed to fish for upgrades because even with a $15 gift card to walmart you can do better. Placement is poor as well: two far in front, two far in back. Sounds almost mono.
-Ignition Key Angle
It's not the ergonomic up/down entry. Instead, the key enters perpendicular to the ground. It's odd because you have to turn your hand unnaturally to put the key in and then bend it even more to start the thing. Really silly.
-Doors:
Need to be slammed to shut completely which makes you seem mad every time you leave somewhere.
-Steering Wheel:
It's uniform except for the bottom where a little chunk of the like soft rubber is carved out for hard plastic. During tight turns the wheel runs under your hands smooth until that part catches with a thunk! Bad design.
-Horn Placement:
Can't reach it with both hands on the wheel.
-Interior Lighting:
On the dimmest setting it lights up my car like an xmas tree. The gas gauge cluster is the worst offender. My face is bright blue to anyone passing me. The onstar panel overhead is bad as well. It doesn't dim and is distracting at night. There's probably some way to correct this in the computer.
-Spare Tire
There is none.

Things I'm not sure of yet:
-CVT: Not sure how long my manual cars would last if I shifted as spastically. Slowing down, the car has some engine breaking related to down-shift. Enough to jolt you forward. Need to get used to it, but it's rather unpredicable.

Edited by hatchy
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First Impressions 2014 Chevy Spark LS

After three days with the spark:

Things I like:

+Gas Mileage.

Getting 38mpg average w/ ac on all the time

+Looks

I like guinea pig shaped hatchbacks

+Space

It's not cramped up front. Decent in the back. Ok storage.

+Cost

Can't beat it, really

Things I don't like:

-Slow:

Jumping out into traffic is a bit scary. Takes forever to get up to speed. It's more Geo Metro than Toyota Yaris, I suppose.

-Speakers:

Bought some kickers to install. I don't have huge needs in the speaker dept.but the stock speakers are ridiculous. No highs, nasal mids. I suspect they're intentionally nerfed to fish for upgrades because even with a $15 gift card to walmart you can do better. Placement is poor as well: two far in front, two far in back. Sounds almost mono.

-Ignition Key Angle

It's not the ergonomic up/down entry. Instead, the key enters perpendicular to the ground. It's odd because you have to turn your hand unnaturally to put the key in and then bend it even more to start the thing. Really silly.

-Doors:

Need to be slammed to shut completely which makes you seem mad every time you leave somewhere.

-Steering Wheel:

It's uniform except for the bottom where a little chunk of the like soft rubber is carved out for hard plastic. During tight turns the wheel runs under your hands smooth until that part catches with a thunk! Bad design.

-Horn Placement:

Can't reach it with both hands on the wheel.

-Interior Lighting:

On the dimmest setting it lights up my car like an xmas tree. The gas gauge cluster is the worst offender. My face is bright blue to anyone passing me. The onstar panel overhead is bad as well. It doesn't dim and is distracting at night. There's probably some way to correct this in the computer.

-Spare Tire

There is none.

Things I'm not sure of yet:

-CVT: Not sure how long my manual cars would last if I shifted as spastically. Slowing down, the car has some engine breaking related to down-shift. Enough to jolt you forward. Need to get used to it, but it's rather unpredicable.

I Especially agree with you on the instrument lighting. Even on the lowest setting, the gas gauge cluster is to bright!! In addition to that, the green light on the bottom of the speedo (that indicates headlamps are on) is SO bright green that I actually had to put some tape over it,,,,it was THAT annoying. As far as the doors though, I think they feel solid and so one does have to close them with a little more force than is expected. And Yes, the stock speakers are crap. I had better sound on my smart phone until I upgraded the stock speakers.

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Replaced the front speakers with kickers. Back speakers are coming this weekend. The stock speakers were one-way, cardboard, 8ohms. If you bought a $20 radio from walmart, you'd get about the same quality. They probably cost about $2 to chevy. I ripped the harness part off them and hot glued it to the backs of the new speakers. Soldered them up in home and then plugged them into the car. Much better. On flat settings in the eq it sounds great. Louder and clearer. With the bass at 2 it's perfect.

The CVT is working out. My long commute at 70mph is netting me an average of 40+mpg. Pretty happy with that.

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+1 for the horrible stock speakers. But, hooking them up to an amp really helps - the stock radio must be the worst piece of equipment i have ever come across. Horrible quality!

Changed all the speakers to high-end speakers and hooked them to an amp + 2x10" subs in the back. Intense and clean sound - nice!

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