Chevy Provides a Glimpse of the New Mini Spark
At Apple Chevrolet, your Chicagoland Chevy dealer, we were excited to get a glimpse of the newly redesigned 2016 minicar, the Chevy Spark. We saw a teaser photo released ahead of its recent debut, and we sure thought it looked familiar. In fact, it looked to us to be a nearly identical twin of the Karl manufactured for the European market by German car company Opel (in the United Kingdom the car is known a the Vauxhall Viva). They’re pretty much cousins under the GM umbrella and both will be produced in South Korea.
Chevrolet revealed that teaser of its newly redesigned 2016 minicar at the New York Auto Show in April. By taking a closer look at Opel’s minicar, we were able to get a pretty good idea of what was going to be in store for the Chevy Spark as the exterior look and feel of the two cars is strikingly similar. Only in profile is it a little easier to make the distinction between the two. The interior of the Chevy Spark will also mirror that of the Karl.
Under the hood, the Karl is powered by a 1.0-liter turbocharged Ecotec three-cylinder engine that delivers 74 horse power, but the Spark will improve on that with a 1.4 liter four-cylinder engine capable of generating 98 horsepower that can achieve an estimated 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Compared to the previous model, the 2016 Spark features an ever-so-slight increase to the wheel base of less than half an inch, and an overall increase in length of just 0.2 inch. The roof is three inches lower, which means the Spark is roughly 200 pounds lighter than Opel’s Karl which has a curb weight sitting just under 2,100 pounds. These are small and light minis for sure, and while it may be hard to believe looking from the outside, the Spark sits four adults and comes fitted with ten airbags.
The 2016 Spark comes standard with a five-speed manual transmission with the option for a Continuous Variable Transmission that adjusts to the driver’s throttle input as well as the speed of the vehicle. A turbocharged engine could likely be introduced in the future as well.
If a minicar is more than enough car for you, or you’d if like to check out any great model of Chevrolet car or truck, come visit us at Apple Chevy. We are located at 8585 West 159th Street in Tinley Park, IL.
