The new Chevy UVA 1.2 LS - test driven !!

[GeekSrik]

Well well well, what more can i ask for? A HATRICK for today! i some how managed to squeeze in a test drive of the aveo UVA 1.4 LS today at Sundaram motors, Kasturba road. The friendly neighbour hood salesman was ever ready to offer me a test drive. The test drive car had done 2000+ kms which means to say test drive cars are not sold to us unknowing customers! hurray chevy, you scored on that one! i went to my wife's office to pick her up and on my way back since other work was over, and i had time to kill, asked the guy whether i could come for a test drive today itself instead of tomorrow and he told me to come there immediately. what more could i ask for? took my wife and landed at the chevy showroom to drool at the UVA.

when i write reviews, i want to make it as unrelated as possible to any other car and i see each new car in its own natural perspective and enjoy it before making comparisions. Enough of talk now, to the features: The one i saw was a 1.2 LT and the one i drove a 1.2 LS, only marginal features differences which i ll point out later on.

The car itself:

1. SPACIOUS!! really spacious. well its more or less like the getz or palio in space, but you really feel different here! you feel at home.
2. integrated power window switches onto door panels, nice looking good job chevy
3. tilt steering - when people cant provide height adjustible seats, atleast they must provide tilt steering which might compensate for that for short people or tall people alike. and to my expectation i found it, good addition chevy! my wife was also comfy sitting in the car.
4. loads of space for rear passengers. quite asthetic. in terms of practical space usage, sorry chevy, you stand second w.r.t getz. no proper cup holders, only one bottle holder near console box, and no intuitive coin storage etc etc. i can excuse that though.
5. glove box is good too and dashboard is pretty usable here too. while the LT version includes digital clock and other things the LS doesnt but only has space for the same. cost cutting chevy, perhaps to sustain the organization!!
6. digital ODO, chevy here ties with getz for first place. good. damn FIAT
7. i did not notice a tacho on the ls, maybe in the lt it was there (again forgetful)
8. remote boot release and fuel cap release - available, good again
9. boot, comparable to both fiat and getz, good job chevy.
10. rainforest colour - great, plus six other colours.
11. gearshift is smooth when seen in showroom.
12. i must say chevy has got one of the most beautiful and fresh looking cars in the UVA - rear light assembly is simply too good and the front is also acceptable!

now to the matter - test drive .....

the route: from kasturba road, onto vijaya mallya hospital road, then right, around kanteerva, back to kasturba road ~ about 1km with varying traffic, sometimes bumper to bumper, sometimes rip, some even sized humps and a full u turn!

1. the first thing i noticed when i started the car is its silence. just like getz. full marks to chevy on this count
2. the headlights dont go on until the engine is started. its kind of funny to think of as i may require them sometimes when the car maybe off, a silly mitake maybe from chevy, excusable.
3. wipers and indicators swapped, i hated this initially, but got used to it in 2 mins.
4. the clutch is amazingly easy to operate and i found this to be the biggest benefit of city driving. some cars that are in this segment of easy clutches - santro. getz, and uva until what i drove till now, maybe ford ikon too. damn fiat, i hated that clutch and if i dump that car, it will surely be becuase of the clutch and tilt steering non availability.
5. the gear shift is definitely notchy, but nothing as bad as xeta, looks like i ve got a TD vehicle where the gear shift has been worked upon. i find the gear shifts in getz and uva easier to operate than palio. though palio has got a disticnt feedback as to which gear you slotted into.
6. the power windows did their job well. the a/c wasnt exactly chilling like palio, but initially he kept it at full blast and then i reduced it to level 1 since i was frozen. so good a/c overall. now when he kept the a/c at highest, it was my turn to challenge the car to perform under that condition and 3 huge adults in the car.
7. i was skeptic about the torque (though not about bhp) as it was 110Nm at 4400 rpm, almost 1k rpm more than palio and getz. i was wondering that it wont pull with the a/c and 3 people, but how wrong I was!! first gear gives little more freedom than the other two cars i reviewed, after which i slotted into second. at this stage with full blowing a/c and 3 people i hit the gas pedal real hard and it took a few seconds to understand that input and translate it to surging forward. i guess this was becuase of the a/c. then for the next distance i put the a.c in level 1 and tried the same trick of 2nd gear, this time it pulled mighty well (and the sound is like a super smooth mixie grinding its contents - so sweet! its like a cat purring), 2nd gear i went upto 60 with ease and then decided the car has given me the confidence to go to third. so i went on further 3rd, 4th and finally a notchy 5th. the fifth gear i feel is difficult to engage with the same ease, and it might just be my misfortune that i drive a 4 gear maruti, and i need to always remember that dude, there is another gear!!
8. when in fifth this time without a/c i pushed the car hard and its response was encouraging. moved forward with a smooth glide. up ahead i faced bumper to bumper stop-move-stop-move traffic. in this section i first tried with a.c at level 1 and second gear, i had to revv the car a bit for it to keep up. then i decided the first gear is the best and i tried with first, it was good at first as expected. of course i am the 2nd gear kind of guy if you know what i mean - like some people drive their erstwhile bajaj chetak scooters directly into 2nd gear!! the bumper to bumper driving one may need getting used to with UVA but the car simply doesnt let you down. very good job chevy. now if you would kindly reduce the price. damn and thou shalt enocourage half of india to buy thy car!
9. last step, u-turn on kasturba-mg road junction back to showroom. quite a wide road, and with 4.95m it was smooth and nice, personally i felt the u-turn i took on uva is better than the one on getz for some reason. the power steering was just superb! silky smooth.
10. and then the brakes, quite sensitive as the palio, but werent like getz.

and with this i handed back the keys to the guy and bade him a tired goodbye. and with this review i need to do that to you all once again, a tired goodbye!

so whether i will suggest this car to someone? : well heck definitely yes!! forget the safety ratings for once and enjoy a well made car. that ways all our cars are unsafe. all depends on how you drive. and in the morning hour rush, definitely you cant get killed.

prices OTR:

base 4.58, LS 5.03, LT - 5.48, LT with option pack (sick option pack of abs and leather gear knob! holy cow! whats wrong with chevy) - 5.83

for arizona amber, rain forest ( a beautiful color) and velocity

LS - 5.08, LT - 5.54, LT with option pack - 5.94 (6 lacs for a hatch? skoda, learn from these guys, you can also mint money .... grrr)

adieu. retired hurt.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thats a nice review... Again!!!

Personally, i think the U-VA is a good car, but i wont be buying it... Its good on space, but thats about it...

I could be wrong, cause i didnt take the test drive, even though i checked out the car twice... Somehow, the car didnt make me feel like trying it out...

[ravibhat]

Thats good detailed report Man, well written.

UVA is spacious and silky smooth car for sure,

Ravi.

[Jaggu]

so you just had to do it eh!! good show and good review!! do let us know which one you decide on

[hydrashok]

Nice review, GeekSrik. Today's 3 reviews are among the best to-be-buyer's-POV reviews I've read here. All very unbiased, and very detailed. Do let us know which car you choose. From the way you've written the 3 reviews, I have a feeling you're going for the U-VA

[jkdas]

Read all teh 3 reviews by you! Phew! It was good. I could almost visualize how you drove the cars in my mind

ok, wasnt the chevy launched 2 months back? I havent seen one in Bangy!

and you drove a car with 2000Km on the odo? and its not teh proper TDF car?

[esteem_lover]

I am seeing a few U-VAs around my place & i must admit it looks pretty good in red. It is very very similar looking to Getz, but has a better road presence & turns your head. I dont know about the interiors though.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by jkdas

ok, wasnt the chevy launched 2 months back? I havent seen one in Bangy!

I have just seen 2 in Pune.

Last week i saw a White Spark.
Believe you me, it looked very
cute and spectacular.

[dcetech]

interiors are also better than Getz 1.1
+ pickup is also better than Getz 1.1 (getz 1.1 is sluggish)

[GeekSrik]

yes you are right, its quite peppy no doubts on that! on interiors i prefer getz for its looks and practicality though! to each his own

[amdefacto]

Please advise - Which Car to Buy : Getz 1.3 GLS or Chevy UVA. Which is better on mileage. Does UVA has problems on highways and while overtaking esp on overbridge????

[sithon]

amdefacto,
there was a comparison of the palio, the prime and the uva in overdrive. i believe that may be a good read - though i too tend to think the mags cant always be believed. let me know if u dont have them andi'll look up the values and let you know when i get a hold of the mag later.
Btw, which variant of the UVA are you looking at?

[amdefacto]

Thanks Sithon. I do not have the overdrive mag. I am looking at UVA - LS and Getz Prime 1.3 GLS. Can you summarize overdrive review.

[GeekSrik]

i ve been seeing many uva's in bangalore lately. looks like sales are finally catching up.

[kpzen]

GeekSrik.!
Very Nicely put up...!!No biasing & comparison !!
Made it a lovely read...
Looking forward to have more TD reports from your side....