All Chevrolet Lacetti reviews

"The CDX trim level entitles buyers to all manner of refinements that you'd never expect to find on a sub-£12,500 family car"

Your mental image of the typical Chevrolet buyer may well be due for an overhaul. Surely it's someone in one of those huge Yankee 4x4s, guzzling fuel and a bottle of Bud. Wrong. The 'bow tie' brand are committed to selling in Europe these days and are doing so with a range of compact Italian-styled family models like this 1.8-litre Lacetti Saloon that make a lot of sense.

The 1.8-litre CDX Lacetti saloon flagship we examine here retails at £12,395, which makes it look a better bet than products offered from other Far Eastern 'value' brands and a good deal easier on the eye. An equipment upgrade for 2006 that includes metallic trim on the doors and dash, plus passenger seat lumbar support is welcome too. Sized between a Ford Focus saloon and a Mondeo, the 1.8-litre Lacetti also comes in hatchback form (with a sporty bodykit) and as an estate. With 120bhp on tap, the 1.8-litre Lacetti Saloon feels surprisingly zippy but you will have to work the throttle hard as the 16-valve engine thrives on revs. Manufactured in Australia by GM Holden, it's the antithesis of the typical lazy Aussie lump. Its enthusiastic nature means that you'll enjoy letting it off the leash, and 60mph can be reached in 9.3 seconds ' faster than a 2.0-litre Audi A4. A top speed of over 120mph and a combined fuel economy figure of 37.7mpg are also very creditable. A four-speed automatic transmission is available as a £1,000 option. Built by ZF, it's one of the new crop that allow drivers to replicate a manual sequential shift should they so desire. A 'hold' feature enables the driver to lock the car into gear when approaching a series of fun corners, whilst the sport button moves the upshift points nearer the redline. Mind you, the fuel consumption penalty of some 6.7mpg is quite a price to pay for this sort of fun.

The CDX trim level entitles buyers to traction control, automatic climate control, rain-sensing wipers, 16-inch alloy wheels and all manner of other refinements that you'd never expect to find on a sub-£12,500 family car. The steering wheel's adjustable for reach, there are neat front fog lamps integrated into the grille and then there's the leather trimmed steering wheel, chilled glovebox, twin front and side windows and so on. We could go on, but you probably get the picture. The Lacetti Saloon 1.8 CDX isn't shy of kit. Nor is it shy when it comes to flaunting its chiselled looks. Chevrolet claim the Lacetti Saloon is 'a synthesis of Pininfarina's experience in creating dynamic yet elegant forms'. We'd call it a quietly good-looking family car. Some of the styling touches, especially around the rear three-quarter, are reminiscent of the current Vectra, although Chevrolet's traditional grille and the big headlamps give it a distinctive look. Although development cars have been tested everywhere from Alice Springs to Arjeplog in Sweden, UK cars have been set up with suspension in tune with European requirements. Heavily disguised test 'mules' bashed the UK's highways and byways for thousands of miles in order to optimise the damper, spring, bush and anti-roll bar settings as well as the steering feel. The UK set up is more suitable for high-speed motorway driving as well and body roll has been reduced when cornering. The power steering system has also been thoroughly revised for our market, with a tougher torsion bar and a beefier pump tuned to give more feedback. There's also firmer damping to cut out bounce, stiffer springs and a bigger gauge anti-roll bar. Tyres were also an integral part of the equation and the Lacetti Saloon's tyres feature a stiff sidewall to complement the sporty-ish suspension. At 4500mm long and 1725mm wide, the Lacetti Saloon is a fair bit larger than you might expect, although still someway shy of being truly Mondeo-sized. Chevrolet has been clever in the packaging department, though; the long 2600mm wheelbase improving all-round interior space and giving this model decent rear legroom. Shoulder width for three across the back is a bit tight due to the car's inherent narrowness, the flipside of which is that the Lacetti Saloon is easy to thread through gaps that would have a Vectra driver slamming on the brakes. Chevrolet know that UK buyers tend to be quite cool about compact saloons and expect the five-door hatch to outshine this car in the sales charts. Putting aside our inherent distrust of anything with four doors that's smaller than a Mondeo, the Lacetti Saloon 1.8 CDX looks a very accomplished performer. Ultimate handling and interior quality aren't class-leading but at the money, you can forgive that. If what you really want is value, and you're after a sub-£12,500 saloon, then this car needs to be on your list.