Holden Barina manual review
Joel Helmes has filed this Holden Barina manual review.
A few weeks ago I reviewed the automatic version of the Holden Barina.
You can read that review here.
Joel Helmes has filed this Holden Barina manual review.
I was quite impressed with the car, overall the Holden Barina is a well thought out and executed little vehicle.
The only real issue I had with it was the automatic transmission, it was terrible!
So I asked the guys at Holden if I could spend some time in a manual version and they kindly obliged.
The difference is chalk and cheese.
While the auto transmission drained all the life from the Barina’s 1.6 litre engine, having complete control over the revs in the manual made all the difference.
The manual gearbox gives the whole vehicle a much more robust, zippy and spirited feeling.
It’s also not a bad little five speed either, my only complaint was that I felt third gear was probably a touch too high, in other words don’t let the revs drop down when you’re in this gear or you will be spending a few moments trying to catch up to the other traffic.
The manual version also comes with a shift light that tells you when you should change gears, having driven manual cars for years I didn’t always agree with the advice I was being given.
There is however one downside to the manual Holden Barina and that’s the brake pedal.
It’s tiny, and what’s worse is that on my test car it had fair degree of lateral wobble which was a little disappointing and disconcerting.
Beyond the engine and gearbox the Barina is a great looking little car, the interior is a good mix of practical and fun, sure there’s a mile of hard plastic around the cabin and the seats are pretty firm but it’s not a bad little car to get around in.
Most importantly it’s safe, the Holden Barina boasts a five star ANCAP safety rating.
It’s also good on fuel using just a combined 6.8 litres per 100.
And it’s also cheap, starting at just $15,990 and this gets you five doors, air-conditioning, alloy wheels, Bluetooth, aux stereo inputs, central locking, cruise control, power windows and mirrors and more.
So get along and check out the Holden Barina for yourself, as I said last time there’s never been a better one, just do yourself a favour and buy the manual version!
