Barina’s fuel consumption miserly?

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 28

Barina’s fuel consumption miserly?

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

When Trentham-based General Motors launched the badge-engineered Holden Barina a couple of years ago the company made much of its miserly petrol consumption.

One had been driven from Auckland to Wellington — a distance of 657 kilometres on State highway 1 — and used less than a tank of petrol.

A Barina tank holds 33 litres, so that was not bad going.

The claim is still quoted by GMNZ, but to my knowledge the time taken to do the trip has never been quoted.

1 While I have no doubt that the fuel-consumption figure can be substantiated, I can’t help wondering how long the journey took and how many other road-users, going about their business in a lawabiding manner, were -forced to sit behind the ; Barina as its infinitely patient driver trickled along towards the country’s capital. My recollection of the Barina press launch, which was conducted with an Auckland-Wellington drive, is of at least one refuelling stop for each car.

Maybe the motoring press corps is uncompromisingly lead-footed. In any event, on such

occasions petrol, like so many other things, is paid for by the host company. To be fair, GMNZ states in its latest sales brochure, after quoting Economic Commission for Europe test consumption figures, that the actual fuel consumption figures an individual will achieve will depend on many factors, including speed, weather, trip length, road conditions, loading, the vehicle’s equipment, condition and driving habits. From the foregoing it should be obvious why I do not quote other than

general petrol consumption figures, if I happen to quote any at all. From a working day week of driving an automatic gearbox four-door Barina hatchback I would estimate that anyone who achieved an average figure over a year of between 7 and 8 litres per 100 kilometres would be doing well.

As far as I have been able to make out, the major modification that the Barina has undergone since the original launch date is the replacement of leaf springs by coils at the rear end.

Struts and coil springs are used at the front end of the car, while a pair of trailing arms and an antiroll bar are employed in conjunction with coils at the rear. There is a torsion beam rear , axle, designed to twist to absorb road irregularities. and keep the rear wheels on the road. This arrangement works well and provides a commendably smooth ride, taking into account the Barina’s short wheelbase of 234.5 cm and kerb weight of 730 kg. , While the road-holding qualities are by no means perfect, considering the price, size and weight of the package, they are commendable.

In appearance, there is very little to distinguish the Barina from any other Japanese hatchback. However, like all Suzukis, it looks lighter than a 1.3litre Laser or Corolla. In that regard it could be likened to a Daihatsu Charade or Subaru Justy, cars that can at least hold their heads up in popular 1000 to 1300 cu cm company.

The Barina has quite a spacious cabin, there being reasonable leg, shoulder, hip and head room for four fully grown occupants.

The individual front seats are quite supportive and while the cloth upholstery and trim looks cheaper than that found in $30,000 saloons, it is cheery and appears to be durable.

Although the Barina has, metaphorically, acres of tinted glass to provide a good all-round field of vision,' a low-mounted, interior, rear-vision mirror obstructs the driver’s view

to some extent. There are two door-mounted exterior mirrors that have to be adjusted manually. The clearly discernible instruments are located in a binnacle, on the borders of which are the various push-buttons for lights, windscreen wipers and so on. These controls are within finger length of the steering wheel, so are handily placed. Less adaptable drivers might take some time to come to terms with the automatic Barina’s pedal layout. The brake pedal is located almost directly below the steering column and the accelerator pedal is uncommonly close to it on the immediate right. I found myself using my left foot for braking and the right foot for the accelerator. Left-foot braking is a rallying technique and usually one must make a conscious effort to accomplish it, but I found it quite natural in the Barina, although I am sure the Japanese designers laid out the pedals with the right foot firmly in mind.

Most small cars with automatic transmission are intolerably lethargic, because automatics drain off so much power. The Barina is slightly lower-geared than the manual version and, taking everything into consideration, is surprisingly lively, although there are occasions, such as climbing moderate to steeper hills, when a driver will

find it advantageous to manually select the second ratio to maintain steady progress. This three-speed automatic box is prone to “hunt” between second and top (or Drive) in hilly country. All the same, for town driving or open road touring one can comfortably forget about the selector lever.

One must be careful when manually selecting a ratio. It is easy to select neutral rather than Drive when moving up from the Intermediate ratio.

On the open road, 100 km/h is a comfortable cruising gait, although one is conscious that the 1324 cu cm, four-cylinder camshaft engine is really working, because there is quite an appreciable increase in mechanical noise level. This all-aluminium engine develops 49.5 kW at 5300 rpm and its maximum torque of 103.5 Nm at 3700 rpm. Understeer gently makes it presence felt and a good percentage of it is .probably attributable to the smallness of the contact patches of the front tyres with the road, combined with the inertia and speed of the vehicle. Although the tyres fitted as original equipment are adequate, if one is in the habit of driving fairly hard, I would imagine oversized tyres would make the Barina more pleasant.

The rack-and-pinion steering has none of the vagueness that is sometimes a characteristic of cheaper Japanese cars, although it does feel rather heavy on occasions. I found the car surprisingly agile on the regular test circuit. It turned in a relatively good time over the 100 kilometres, although that was partly attributable to the lack of -traffic encountered. I thought this Barina was more tidily assembled than others I have encountered and would hope for GMNZ’s sake that it was the norm for the new model.

Apart from the rear suspension, the turrets of which do impinge upon the very small luggage compartment, there are few cosmetic changes, including a Holden-style radiator grille that distinguishes it from the older model. The Holden Barina is, except for its name, a Suzuki Swift. However, the four-door automatic Barina sells for $22,195, whereas the equivalent Swift, assembled for Wan-ganui-based Suzuki New Zealand, Ltd, by GMNZ, costs an additional $655. Although the Barina is not going to set the motoring world alight, it is, in automatic form at least, a well-founded small car that should more than adequately meet the needs of many New Zealanders.