On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, January 27, 2001

Daewoo's Lanos: Call it a Sport-Cute

I know: You're not interested in ancient history. But, like it or not, you're dealing

George Tuley/Caller-Times

The Lanos Sport comes with many cosmetic touches: Super Red or Granada Black Mica paint, alloy wheels, sort-of ground effects cladding, and subtly modified front fascia. A four-door sedan also is available from Daewoo.

with an ancient auto writer here, so you're just going to have to indulge me in a detour down Memory Lane . . .
   Here it is 1987, and your (relatively) young, fresh, idealistic scribe is doing his first-ever road test of . . . a Suzuki Samurai. Remember them? They were the 4x4 vehicles that represented Suzuki's initial effort to establish a beachhead in the U.S.A., the Mother of All Markets.
   Though the little squirt came in for some seriously bad p.r. about its alleged propensity for turning turtle (never flipped on me, for what it's worth), it had its points: It was rugged and it was primitive. And it was . . . well . . . cute.
   I remember climbing out of the thing at a since-departed beanery to find a really impressive young woman descending on me like a peregrine falcon swooping after a wounded hare - but she went right past me to the Samurai. "That," she enthused, "is the cutest thang I've ever seen."
   In the intervening years, I've wrung out all manner of vehicles. I guess the closest thing to that kind of reaction I've gotten has been for the New Beetle. Its arrival here, however, was attended by such fanfare that there was a certain lack of spontaneity to this particular craze.
   Just plain cute

Daewoo Lanos Sport Five-passenger, front-wheel-drive hatchback Base price: $12,999 Price as tested: $13,489 Drivetrain: 16-valve dual-overhead-cam fuel-injected 1.6-liter four, 105 hp; five-speed manual transmission Brakes: Front discs, rear drums, power-assisted EPA mileage: 26 city/36 highway Website: www.daewoous.com

   So: I would suggest to you that the littlest Daewoo, the Lanos - here in its top-o'-line Sport hatchback incarnation - bids fair to sweep the field in the New Millennium Cute Olympics.
   In a way, the economy-oriented Lanos, especially in its hatchback configuration (a more conventional-looking four-door sedan is also available) is the most distinctive entry in the whole Daewoo line, which also includes the mid-line Nubira sedan and wagon, and the relatively posh Leganza sedan.
   I mean, you look at the thing, and you just gotta smile. And the crafty cosmetic touches that come with the Sport version intensify the effect that much more: searing, lurid, almost-Italianate Super Red paint (Granada Black Mica is the other Sport hue, but trust me: you want the Super Red), alloy wheels, sort-of ground effects cladding and subtly modified front fascia (lotsa blacked-out stuff) . . .
   Here's what Daewoo says: "Lanos Sport. Hot. Hot. Hot."
   I understand; p.r. guys have to live, too. Far as I'm concerned, though, it's: Lanos Sport. Cute. Cute. Cute.
   Inside comforts

George Tuley/Caller-Times

The Lanos includes power windows, power door locks, stereo radio/CD/cassette unit and standard air conditioning.

   And the beat goes on inside: In place of the rather sober treatment on the regular Lanoses (Lanosii?), you've got your fully blacked-out interior with (say YES!) red accents - to include red leather seating surfaces. (That's a nice way of saying: You think you're gonna get all-leather at this price, pal?)
   A fairly generous helping of creature comforts awaits the sport who buys this Lanos: power windows, power door locks, stereo radio/CD/cassette unit (with decent sound quality, even), standard air conditioning . . .
   So what say we slide behind the wheel (with startling ease, considering the Lanos' petite dimensions)? Legroom is better than decent, and the height adjustment knobs on the driver's seat make it possible for even the long of leg to arrive at an accommodation with the vehicle. Head and shoulder room is no problem at all.
   Back seat room
   The back seat, not surprisingly, is another matter, but there is (I think) a bit more room back there than in some other entries in this segment. We were able to accommodate a couple of taller-than-average teen-agers back there, albeit not at the same time.
   The trunk will accommodate 8.8 cubic feet, which means you may have to transport that tuba in pieces. But - aha! - recall that we're dealing with a hatchback here: Fold down the rear seatback, and you're gazing at a gargantuan 22.1 cubic feet. (This raises again the question of why Americans have never really embraced the hatchback format. Go figure.)
   Good on the road

George Tuley/Caller-Times

The 1.6-liter dual-overhead-cam four in the Lanos delivers 105 horsepower and good fuel mileage.

   Now, as to the driving experience, you will want to know whether the Lanos Sport really is Hot. Hot. Hot. The answer is . . . it depends. If you're thinking the Corvette/Viper/Porsche brand of Hot, I must inform you that this little guy is Not. Not. Not. (Though some demented customizer could change that. No kidding: Remember the old Ford Festiva? Some mad genius took one, stuffed a Ford SHO V-6 into the space occupied by the rear seat, and dubbed it the Shogun . . . but that's another story.)
   However, if you stack up the Sport against some of its econocar predecessors - say, the old Beetle, the Renault Dauphine, the Fiat 1100 - our little tester will suck their doors off. And their paint. And, probably, their chrome trim.
   The engine is downright yeasty for a vehicle of this bulk (a whisker under 2,500 pounds): The 1.6-liter dual-overhead-cam four delivers a better than respectable 105 horsepower, along with exemplary fuel mileage. While I didn't really wring it out - the vehicle was brand new - I quickly learned that the Sport had a decent turn of speed, and that freeway entrance ramps under normal conditions hold no horrors for it or its driver.
   Highway cruising
   It's also a capable, if fairly busy, highway cruiser. (In this connection, a modest suggestion: Some of us, at least, would be happy to part with a bit of luxe - say, those power windows - in return for a tachometer, which as matters now stand is Not Available.) Out on the superslab, you'll notice crosswinds a bit more than you would in, say, a Buick Park Avenue, but the effect is nowhere near as harrowing as it was in the VWs of yesteryear.
   If you've been paying attention, you will know that Daewoo, one of South Korea's industrial giants, has experienced some hairy going of late. If my experience with these guys' cars is any indication, however, they're not letting this unpleasantness keep them from turning out vehicles that are capable, well screwed-together, and even entertaining. Not to mention, in the Lanos' case . . . cute.
  

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