On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, November 11, 2000

Small station wagon is a rare find these days

As regular readers will know, these meditations on matters automotive tend to be on the light-hearted side. Cars - and trucks and (wince) SUVs and (cringe) minivans - are fun, durn it, and any motoring scribe who doesn't realize that is in the wrong line of work.
   Every now and again, however, a serious issue will come along, demanding sober attention. So, this week, and this week alone, we'll shelve the whoopee cushion and lay aside the joy buzzer. We shall instead address a weighty question: What are we to do when bad things happen to nice cars?
   The vehicle(s) in question are those made by Daewoo, a carmaker relatively new to these shores but a bona fide industrial giant back in South Korea.
   For the last couple of years, Daewoo has been doing its level best to establish a beachhead in the United States with an attractive and driver-friendly line of bargain-priced automobiles, ranging from the diminutive Lanos to the mid-line Nubira to the top-of-the-line Leganza. The company in recent months has put together a viable network of dealers, and Americans - attracted by the bargain prices and the relatively generous standard equipment - have been visiting their Daewoo stores: not a tsunami, you understand, but a nice, steady stream.

2000 Daewoo Nubira Wagon CDX Five-passenger front-wheel-drive wagon Base price: $14,960 Price as tested: $15,455 Drivetrain: Dual-overhead-cam 16-valve fuel-injected 2-liter four, 128 hp; four-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs with standard antilock (ABS) EPA mileage: 22 city/30 highway Web site: www.daewoous.com

   So what's the bad news? Even as all this has been going on, Daewoo has been in dire financial straits. How dire? On Wednesday, the firm went bankrupt.
   But wait: It bears noting that Daewoo isn't exactly the Lone Ranger. Two other firms, Samsung Motors and Kia Motors tanked before Daewoo. Kia (subsequently swallowed by Hyundai) is still very much in this market, and the word from industry watchers is that something similar will probably happen to Daewoo: General Motors, no less, is said to be very interested in the company. And the General doesn't haul out the shopping cart unless he's serious.
   So, between that and assurances from Daewoo officials here that there's an abundant supply of vehicles and parts, it's doubtful Daewoo will go the way of Yugo.
   I'm not saying you should rush out and buy a Daewoo, understand: Your needs and wants, vehicle-wise, will of course determine that. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't cross Daewoo off your list because of the unpleasantness on the other side of the Pacific.
   Having spent a week earlier this year with the Leganza, I'm here to tell you that, for a rookie in this market, Daewoo is making a pretty impressive debut. Loaded with amenities, the Leganza stickers in at thousands below its U.S. and Japanese counterparts.
   And now here comes the mid-line Nubira (a 200 model), and in one of my favorite configurations: the small station wagon. Ever since I spent some time with a Ford Escort wagon a few years back, I have been annoying my friends and readers with my proselytizing on behalf of this all but vanished genre.
   If you need a ute, you need a ute. If you need a minivan, you need a minivan. But if what you need is a vehicle that's at once practical, with more toting capacity than any small sedan, and offering a little driving fun in the bargain, why, pardner, this is one market niche you need to visit.
   The Nubira wagon is doubly welcome because of the thinning ranks in this low-buck segment: With the whimsically zoomy Hyundai Elantra wagon's pending departure, the only low-buck little wagons left are the Daewoo, the Ford Focus (successor to the Escort), the Subaru Impreza and the S-Series Saturn. With interest in wagons picking up in the mid-sized ranks (Volvo, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and so on) a trickle-down effect may stimulate interest in small wagons, but for now it's slim pickings.
   The Nubira wagon has quite a bit to recommend it to anyone poking around the world of mini-wagons. To me, the most surprising, almost startling, thing was the amount of legroom our high-line CDX tester offered: Didn't even have to push the seat all the way back. To tall, or tallish, drivers, this can make the difference between a pleasant trip and an ordeal.
   The interior was nicely finished, too, in high-quality cloth, plastic and plasvinyl.
   The Nubira whisks you along at a right smart pace: The 2-liter four - derived from a design by Holden, GM's Australian subsidiary - is good for 128 horsepower, which is better than respectable for this segment. Even linked to an automatic transmission (a smooth-shifting four-speed), the Nubira delivers brisk, though not blistering, acceleration.
   Somebody mention fuel mileage? We were getting about 25 mpg in mostly in-town driving - on regular, let it be noted.
   The handling was about mid-range for this segment, I'd say; not quite as nimble as, say, the now-departed Escort wagon, but certainly manageable. And the small degree of sharpness you lose in the turns is more than balanced off by impressive ride comfort.
   Only a couple of sour notes intruded on our week with the Daewoo: The cruise control, standard on the CDX along with many other amenities, seemed to lose interest in taking care of business when we got into hilly country. Speed could fluctuate as much as 6 or 7 mph. (I hadn't noticed this in the Leganza, so it may have been a fluke.)
   Oh, and one other thing: Somebody back at the home office really needs to get to work on the horn. This poor little thing is one of the most ineffectual honkers I've encountered in many a moon. Its pathetic little bleat invites snickers, not respect. As I have said before, in a vehicular landscape full of hulking sport utes, not-so-minivans, and 18-wheelers, little cars need BIG horns.
   Until the factory gets around to it, I'd recommend a quick visit to the J.C. Whitney catalogue. Last time I checked, they had a really promising item that rivaled (they said) the magisterial note of an ocean liner's foghorn. Might just do the job.
  
  

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