By Ewan Kennedy
HOLDEN is very serious about its new range of small-medium cars sold under the Viva nameplate.
Unlike many other makers in this hotly contested market segment, the new Holden Viva is sold in the full range of body styles, coming to us as a four-door sedan, five-door hatchback and four-door station wagon.
We’ve just come off a full week’s test of a Viva wagon and are generally impressed with the way it works.
The number one priority with most station wagon buyers is practicality and the new Holden Viva wagon does it all pretty well.
There’s seating for four full-sized adults as well as a good-sized load area.
All four adults have plenty of headroom and enough space to stretch their legs to a comfortable area.
A clever feature is the soft design of the lower-rear area of the front seats which means those in the back aren’t in danger of hurting their feet should they extend them all the way under the seats.
It’s surprising how few designers get this important area right so full marks to GM-Daewoo for doing so.
The neat rear-end shape of the Viva wagon looks good but perhaps has too much slope in the tailgate thus taking away some of the load carrying ability.
This is always a difficult area in which to decide which compromises to make but Australians generally favour a more upright rear-end even if that does take away some of the visual sportiness.
Under the floor of the Viva wagon there are several out-of-sight spots to store valuable items, yet there’s also space for a full-size spare tyre.
Refinement and comfort are surprisingly good for a car of this size and price and are almost up with Japanese cars of similar size but carrying a significantly higher price tag.
Handling is also good with a decent feel through the steering and a willingness to respond to driver input.
Viva has good balance for a front-wheel drive and road grip is strong throughout the range.
There’s no way it can be described as a sports sedan, and Holden is willing to admit the car could be better.
Holden’s engineers have been working hard at combinations of springs, dampers and bushes but say the basic structure of the car lets it down.
You can sense that the guys are just itching to get stuck into the next model and will really lift it from its present format.
While the Viva’s designers have still to learn something about vehicle dynamics, their ability to pen a well-built car is most impressive.
The body panels are fitted to the sort of tight margins only seen in upmarket Japanese cars of a decade or so back and the paint finish is near flawless.
The quality carries through to the interior with well-selected colours and materials.
The exception to our eyes and backsides are that the seats are slightly on the plastiky side and get rather hot when the car’s been standing in the sun.
All versions of the Viva are powered by a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine that uses a twin-cam cylinder head and four valves per cylinder.
Maximum power is 89 kW and torque peaks at 169 Nm. Both figures are about average for this class but in the automatic station wagon we tested performance can best be described as adequate.
The engine is further hampered by an automatic that doesn’t seem to pay a lot of attention to throttle position or engine revs.
Its biggest problem is that it often holds onto high gears when lower ones are needed for decent acceleration.
The wiggly-gate automatic shift pattern is as frustrating in the Viva as in any car and is particularly awkward if you want to use the semi-manual Holden feature.
At only $19,490 this new Viva station wagon provides excellent value.
It has standard air conditioning, audio that can handle an MP3 player, remote central locking and four-wheel disc brakes.
As it’s supported by the strong Holden dealer network it’s hard to see Viva being anything other than a success on the Australian market.
