It’s grand to see Holden really pushing into the small car, economy class with their all-new Holden Barina Spark. A bold, striking exterior sets the little Barina Spark apart, with the design brief being both appealing and very eye-catching. Get glancing at the front of the Barina Spark, and I’m sure that your eyes will be drawn to the large verticular head light design. Noticeably chunky and strong, the Bonnet lines are full and flavoursome, making the front end of the Barina Spark look very strong and grown up. A flowing roofline and a high waistline combine with the empowering front-end to provide a complete, snazzy small car package that beats the rest of the small car competition hands down for style and flair. And all this for a little over 14 Grand!

Slip into the Holden Barina’s mod interior, and very quickly one feels very at home – and not a little spoilt, either. The sporty dash and racy seats give a splash of flair that one always needs in your everyday travel about town and between cities. Your drive is very definitely brought alive with the Barina Spark being equipped with a four-speaker CD/MP3 sound system that lets you play your favourite music numbers via steering wheel controls, as well as offering a USB MP3 player input and an auxiliary input for your iPod.

The Holden Barina Spark’s instrument cluster’s Ice Blue LCD display looks marvellous and is very informative. It can tell you the digital tachometer output, fuel gauge levels, distance to empty and even the outside temperature. You’ll be able to sip coffee and tea with your friends during those longer trips by using the handy dual cupholder facility in the centre console. The front door pockets with integrated bottle storage also ensure your fluids are kept up.

Small cars need to be practical, and even the base model Holden Barina Spark boasts four-way adjustable driver and front passenger seats for added comfort. With the Holden Barina Spark there is 60/40 split-folding rear seats. This feature provides 170 litres cargo space with the seats up, or an amazing 568 litres of cargo space with the rear seats folded down flat – that’s pretty sensational, given the cars small dimensions.

If you are drawn to the few extras that the Holden Barina Spark CDX provides, then you’ll also enjoy a front passenger under seat storage tray. The CDX front passenger seat has side and rear pockets for popping nic nacs into, as well. The CDX also has electric windows in the rear, as well.

Standard seat covering is fun and colourful, while you can add extra excitement with red Sportec seats (CDX models) or rose highlighted cloth seats (CD models). This trim is combined with the red door and dash inserts. The red interior trim is standard with Chilli Red and Carbon Flash Black exterior colours. Another option for inside the Barina Spark is the funky Silver Sportec seats (CDX models) or Silver cloth seats (CD models) with nitrate silver door and dash inserts. Whatever you choose, you’ll be comfortably seated.

Trying to spying under the bonnet without looking, means that you need to drive the Barina Spark, first. This is a fun way of guessing what lies at the heart of the driving performance before looking at the specs. Punchy acceleration and quick engine response make the Barina Spark fun and entertaining to drive. On the road, the chassis holds its own on the corners – with well controlled grip and predictable steering. Back on paper, I find that the peppy, well-muted, engine is a sparky 1.2-litre, four-cylinder engine boasting 59 kW that peaks at 6400 rpm. Handy torque aids the Barina Spark’s great flexibility through the gears, and with 107 Nm available you can see why the car pulls along so well. A combined city/hwy fuel economy of just 5.6 L/100 km is superb, and really puts Holden into the fuel miser class. What a way to get around Australia and see the sights! The little five-speed manual, Holden Barina Spark is perfect for those low cost adventure getaways.

Safety is one area that Holden has worked really hard on in their small cars. Six airbags are standard, providing excellent protection in nasty accidents. Standard front driver, passenger, front side and full length curtain airbags lie waiting to combat what we never want to experience. The little Holden Barina Spark boasts ESC, ABS and TCS – and it sure shows in the way the car drives so crisply. To aid parking in tight spots, the Holden Barina Spark CDX can be fitted with parking sensors.

One or two other nice features you mike light to add to your Spark CDX model are things like Sportech trim or leather appointed seats (heatable front seats), rear parking sensors and Bluetooth communications. Sports stripe decal strips, chrome mirror covers and bold and eye-catching 15-inch, 10-spoke machine-faced alloy wheels add an even sportier edge to the Spark’s already vibrant exterior. Boot lid and bonnet protectors can also be supplied.

What a steal!

The current model series includes the:

• Barina Spark CD
• Barina Spark CDX

For any more information on the Holden Barina Spark, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Holdent dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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