Lanos is good ... and value

The Daewoo Lanos is one of two modern cars that came into our market with a metal-for-money tag attached, both of them being from the same country (the other being Hyundai’s Accent, recently revamped).

I guess I was cautious when it came first, maybe a little preprogrammed by all the tales of thinly-skinned old Opel models. Which shouldn’t have bothered me anyway, because I’ve always had respect for Opel cars.

But Lanos quickly pleased me. For itself, and not for anything ‘dubious’ in Daewoo’s heritage. The car is good, and good value. A recent run in a middle-spec SE version didn’t have me shouting from the rooftops, but neither did it leave me with any discontents. Not much, anyway.

Stylistically, we’ve now come to recognise the Daewoo trademark grille with the comfortable feel of a familiar. Lanos wears it well, with its essentially curvy shape designed by Italian master Georgetto Giugiaro, rounds that run into each other, cuddles promised. Sidewise, there’s lots of airy glass, and the long bonnet balances the cabin area nicely, in maybe a way that’s a little old-fashioned against more ‘cab-forward- designs.

If the car fails in style, it’s from the rear, which has a rather century-before-last bustle about its rump. Perhaps a vertical treatment of the lights cluster (or even larger and square?) would help. There, now we have the look of the next Lanos, maybe.

The review car was the 5-door (there’s a 3- and a saloon as well), and is easily entered from all passenger doors. The back lifts nice and high to reveal a very decent boot area. Once inside, there’s a nice brightness to the trim, with the light-coloured A-pillars particularly lifting the senses from dullness. In fact, the plastics are light all around, which is good, because there’s quite a lot of it ... the amount of fabric trim on the doors is minimal enough.

A competent and careful dashboard includes a nice run from the instrument binnacle to the central bulk for the ventilation controls, radio (didn’t like the volume control of separate push-buttons for up and down) and other odd bits such as the hazard flasher. All (except the radio) pleasantly large and chunky. A snazzy-looking stub of gearshift also sets a decent tone. The simple and very readable instruments have, as should be, the speedo in the middle (I’m getting complaints regularly from people who are bothered by twin speedo and revcounter dials, neither of which predominate, and therefore can confuse). The 4-spoke wheel feels good and is well sized.

I think they could have easily been a bit more adventurous with the fabric colours in the seating, but I suppose there is a certain conservatism at work here. The market Lanos (and most Daewoos) is aimed at is not the risktakers, or necessarily even the joie-de-vivers. Value for money and non-flash. Biggest market, isn’t it?

The engine powering this car was the basic 1.4-litre, the 75bhp of which doesn’t burn rubber on its way to the 15 seconds it takes to 62mph. But it works well enough, though an accelerative revving doesn’t actually give the kind of result that encourages risky overtaking. Not supposed to do that, anyway.

Sounds from all sources seem to be well damped. The handling, given the performance, is certainly well able for the power (and I have driven the warmer 1.6-litre and know it to be able for more), so nobody is going to be run into trouble.

All Lanoses have dual airbags, and the SE and SX versions also have ABS as standard. Central locking and an immobiliser are also standard throughout.

We still think of Korean cars as wannabees in the big game. We’re wrong, you know. They’re playing the game already. Very well.