Test Drive Daewoo Kalos Sedan since 2002 -

Analyze it!

We do not believe that the name of this car has become a decisive factor for marketers and supply it to Russia will not. Just our market has not yet matured for Daewoo Kalos.
There was a little over 10 years, as Latvia lost the definition of Soviet. Unlike Moscow, Riga has become quite a European city during this time. For most local drivers, the Russian remains native language, but they do not go to the oncoming, do not circle traffic jams in sidewalks and do not rotate to the right of the third row. Secured residents of Riga, as opposed to Russian pijons, prefer expensive supercams more functional, but modern cars. Therefore, a few new Daewoo Kalos, specially delivered under the Riga Auto Show, were sold directly from the podium.
Stone test. Riga, frankly, small in the city's standards city. Streets there are non-screensy and 50 percent - one-sided. Therefore, sometimes you have to drive around a couple of quarters to return a hundred meters back. With parking, not that monstrous problems, but it is not easy to get up in the center.
Therefore, Daewoo Kalos has become straightforward to us with a chopstick. The engine of 1.4 liters of stars is not enough from the sky, but in the city it is enough to undermine from the traffic light or sharply overtake the hot Latvian guy who looks at the store of shops. Transmissions are long enough to reduce switching to a minimum in the sluggish city stream. They are turned on quite clearly, only the reverse rushed. A negligible movement of the Kalos gearbox is reacting painfully - the root and grinding of the box. In order for nonsense to not pinch the car, you have to do with it carefully: until the stop is squeezed, diligently and tactfully look for the transfer in the depths of the box to a characteristic click.
But to park - the very pleasure. First, thanks to small dimensions. Secondly, the designers thought out the shape of the glasses, the angles of inclination and the width of metal racks. The glazing area at first glance is small, but everything is visible and everything.
The suspension seemed unnecessarily tough and noisy, especially on the cmight bridge riga, which seemed to be cleaned even before the Soviet power. If the car is loaded - and we had to ride the four times several times - then it was still tolerant. Suspension moves are reduced, and shakes less. But when the car is only one passenger, then the old streets of Riga turn into a medieval torture chamber. It seems that the springs grabbed in the upper dead point.
Fatal front. We chased Kalos and by the freeway, as they lived not in the city, but in Jurmala. Feelings are dual. On the one hand, Kalos is quite adequately accelerated to a speed of 100--120 km / h and no less adequately holds the road. Engine works quiet even on high speed, body rolls practically do not feel. The steering is clearly and adequately reacts even for minor povelness of the steering wheel. If when overtaking, there is not enough power on the selected gear, then the transition to one step down always guarantees a rather tangible pickup. All this allows you to behave if not brazenly, then aggressively.
But it is worth overcome the fatal line of 120 km / h, as the behavior of the car is changing great. The steering wheel is immediately made by cotton, the car begins to chatting significantly. Even on perfectly straight segments, the highway has to work constantly to work to maintain straightness of the movement. Obviously, when adjusting the suspension, engineers focused on a calm ride style. Still, in most European countries, the people quite strictly observe high-speed traffic directions. In short, Kalos is not intended for racing.
Euro Korean. Daewoo created its Kalos in the calculation to conquer Western Europe. Therefore, some things are inexplicable from the point of view of our automotive mentality. On the one hand, a cheap car. On the other hand, the development of Studio ItalDesign, not the last panel in the world of automotive design. Interior finish is quite modest - plastic and synthetic fabric, but in the state - ABS, two frontal and two side airbags. In general, it is not red in the corners ... And pies in Kalos with a good filling - power windows, mirrors adjustment and even such an unprecedented option with us, like climate preparation. The power on the air conditioner (which is with a snowflake) in the cabin is, the entire fastener, the electrics and additional tubes are also available. There is no radiator and compressor - the most expensive parts in the air cooling system. They are installed at the request of the client for additional money directly in the dealer center. In the cabin, we were explained that they were thus minimized by the invasion of local mechanics in the design of the car - all complex works are performed in Korea, at the factory. And the air conditioner, in Latvia, for example, is not ordered.
Despite the rather compact dimensions, Kalos was surprisingly compatible. The rear passengers have never complained that we score them there like a herring in a barrel. Yes, and the trunk has quite decent dimensions. All our skarb, designed for several days of living, including cameras and tripods, were placed there without any problems.
Wrong America? If the appearance and equipment of Kalos do not cause complaints, then the ergonomics of the driver's seat slightly. First, the rim of the steering wheel is slightly overlaps the instrument scales. Secondly, in the bright sun glare the display in the center of the torpedo, and it is not very clear, it glows there anything or not. Serious claims can be expressed by the way the gear selector is located. We somehow got used to that mixer, that is, the gearbox, is somewhere in the area of \u200b\u200bthe knee. And on Kalos, it is strongly shifted in the direction of the rear seats, so it is quite uncomfortable to include the second and fourth transmission.
Another problem, but another kind. The fact is that on the Russian market in the afternoon with fire, you will not find a new Korean car brand Daewoo. They are almost all Uzbek. And Wezdweauto, as we managed to find out, does not plan in the foreseeable future, the Kalos assembly at its factory, therefore, in the salons, Kalos will appear hardly. Neither under his own name, nor under what other. And the big boss represented by General Motors, the owner of the Daewoo brand, is also planning to trade Daewoo through its own dealer network in Russia. Although here in the US, Kalos has already entered dealers. True, under the pseudonym Chevrolet Aveo. Americans will be offered five-door sedans and hatchbacks with a volume of 1.6 liters.
In general, I will not be a confession to this, the analysis of Kalos shows that in Russia it will be rare. It is a pity, because in the model range, Daewoo Kalos took the empty niche between Matiz and Lanos and in its characteristics (price and high-quality) quite pulls on the hit. But we have a morally obsolete Nexia.
His name maybe not too successful. But, by the way, do you know what Kalos means in Greek? Beautiful.
Text Nikolai Kachurin, photo Dmitry Gronsky

Model / Modification Daewoo Kalos
Manufacturer / Country Daewoo Motor Co., Ltd / Korea
Number of doors / seats 5/5
ENGINE
Type / Number / Cylinder Location Petrol / 4 / Angle
Working volume (cube. Cm) 1399
Power (kW (hp) at rpm. / Min.) 65 (87) at 5600
Moment (nm at rpm. / Min.) 126 at 4200
TRANSMISSION
Drive front
Gearbox mechanical, 5-speed
Brakes, security
Front / rear disc ventilated / drum
ABS, assisting electronic systems 3-channel, no
Airbags front and side for driver and passenger
Sizes / Massa
Length / Width / Height (mm) 4235/1670/1490
Wheel base / clearance (mm) 2480/180
Tires 185/60 R14.
Mass Curb / Full (kg) 1065/1445
Volume of fuel tank (L) 45
Maximum speed (km / h) 176
Acceleration up to 100 km / h (sec.) 11.1
Fuel consumption (city / highway, l / 100 km) 10.5 / 6.0
Price (without customs) $ 8600

 

A source: "Autopilot"