2013 Chevrolet Spark Overview Change Vehicle

This 2013 Chevrolet Spark review explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2013 Chevy Spark, and includes Chevrolet Spark safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

Slotting into the Chevrolet lineup at the bottom of a towering pile, the new 2013 Spark is the least expensive – and smallest – Chevy in the land, a city car designed to be affordable and fuel efficient, and aimed at a range of similarly sized microcars including the Fiat 500, Scion iQ, and Smart Fortwo. The difference here is that the Spark is a five-door hatchback, while key competitors offer only three doors.

The new 2013 Chevy Spark is clearly aimed at young, first-time buyers. The mid-grade and top trim levels include Bluetooth and a color, seven-inch, in-dash touchscreen that pairs with the driver’s smartphone via Chevrolet MyLink technology. This allows the driver to make and take hands-free phone calls, stream music from Pandora and Stitcher, display mobile navigation from the owner’s phone, and watch video when the car is stopped.

The Chevy Spark is available in LS or two grades of LT trim. As this initial report is compiled, details about standard equipment are limited. We know all Sparks will be equipped with air conditioning, power windows, roof rails, and 15-inch aluminum wheels wearing low rolling-resistance tires.

We also know that if a buyer upgrades to 1LT trim, the Spark is equipped with Bluetooth and Chevrolet MyLink connectivity. Chevrolet MyLink includes a color, seven-inch in-dash touchscreen that allows for music streaming, mobile navigation display, video and image viewing, and even remote locking and unlocking through a RemoteLink smartphone app. Additionally, the Spark 1LT includes a free three-month satellite radio subscription and a USB port.

Chevrolet is also offering the Spark in 2LT trim. This model comes with leatherette seats that are heated in front, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Options for the Spark include fog lights and machined-finish alloy wheels with gray painted pockets.

As the Spark gets closer to launch, additional details will become available.

Before we tell you what gives this Chevy its Spark, we’ll remind you that the Spark is very light, weighing 2,269 pounds in base format. That’s still a bit challenging for a 1.2-liter, four-cylinder engine making 85 horsepower, but helps to put the double-digit power output into perspective. The tiny motor drives the Spark’s front wheels through a standard five-speed manual or an optional four-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy numbers are not finalized as this initial report is published.

The Chevy Spark’s engine and transmission are covered by a standard five-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. A three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty is also standard, and comes with roadside assistance for that period of time.

Given how small and light the Spark is, you’ll be glad to know that it comes with 10 standard airbags. Additionally, antilock brakes with brake assist, traction and stability control, and hill start assist are standard, along with six free months of OnStar telematics service. OnStar includes Automatic Crash Notification, which puts the Spark’s occupants in touch with a live operator if the airbags deploy, and allows the operator to send rescue personnel to the Spark’s exact location even if nobody inside the car can respond or communicate with the OnStar operator.

The 2013 Chevy Spark has not been crash-tested as we publish this review. Reliability predictions are also unavailable at this time.

You a few friends could probably lift the Chevy Spark. It weighs 2,269 pounds with the manual gearbox and 2,337 lbs. with the automatic transmission.

The Spark might be small, but it offers 11.4 cubic-feet of space behind the rear seat. Fold it down and there’s 31.2 cu-ft of volume for your stuff.

Fun color names include Jalapeno, Denim, Lemonade, and Techno Pink. Seems like the Spark’s marketers are spending too much time with the J. Crew catalog.

The new Chevy Spark is built in South Korea and goes on sale in the summer of 2012.

There are a couple of things driving the launch of microcars like the 2013 Chevy Spark. First, the federal government has mandated big increases in corporate average fuel economy standards, and auto manufacturers are scrambling to meet the new rules. Second, automakers are going global in a big way, taking advantage of the economies of scale inherent in selling the same car everywhere in the world. Third, young Americans just cannot afford nicer sets of wheels. Taken together, the result is new models like the Spark. Until we drive the Spark, or until more information becomes available, we can’t say whether or not this Chevy is worth investigation.

-- By Christian Wardlaw