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In 2008, I packed up for my new life as a college student at Indiana University. I was excited, afraid and full of naiveté. I packed up my 2001 Volkswagen Jetta and I was on my way to a new portion of my life. I was one of the lucky students on campus. My car gave me freedom from public transportation. Having a car on campus can be as much a blessing as it is a curse, but thats where the 2013 Chevrolet Spark comes into play. Its a car that may be perfect for the unique requirements of a college student. 

Bloomington is a typical southern Indiana town with narrow streets, tight parking spaces and atrocious hills. The city is a scant 23 square miles, but over 100,000 students and 80,000 local residents make driving around Bloomington a hassle. If the Spark is going to make it as a college car it needs to check all the boxes on the short list of any millenial. These four areas are: fun to drive, easy to park, can you pack your friends and moving supplies in the car if needed and is it cool?

I havent had a chance to drive the Spark in Bloomington, but Chevrolet invited me to the windy city of Chicago for a quick drive in this pint-sized city car. If I could have fun in this car in Chicago traffic I could have fun anywhere.

The Spark I drove was eqiupped with a 5-speed manual transmission attached to a 1.25 liter (bored out from the original 1.2 liters) that makes a total of 84 horsepower and 83 pound-feet of torque. You can see from the picture about it certainly isnt the most advanced power train in the world.  The great thing about the Spark is it only weighs about 2200 pounds which means in city driving I never found my self wishing for more power. The manual transmission is a little ropey, but it was perfectly easy to use in stop and go traffic.I had a little problem with the clutch because it engages right near the top of its travel path. The only thing that hurt my fun was the fact I had no idea where I was going in Chicago. 

Does this translate to a fun car for a college student? Driving here in Bloomington I hardly go faster than 40 miles per hour. Luckily, 0-40 is where the Spark shines. Manual transmissions always make cheap cars better. Plus the Spark comes with Hill Start Assist for first-time manual drivers afraid to roll back when taking off on a hill. This is an excellent feature to save the clutch here in Bloomington. The car isnt that fast and youll need to wring everything out of that 1.25L engine to get on the highway, but that doesnt mean you cant take this car on the highway. It will do highway speeds with aplomb and be quite quiet as you do it.

Chevrolet has checked the first box for a college car. The Spark is genuinely fun to drive. Now is it easy to park? Of course its easy to park with a overall length of about 144 inches. The electric power steering is also tuned specifically for around town driving. Steering is light and easy to use for quick U-Turns and parallel parking. Visibility is excellent for parking as well because the Spark has huge windows. You wont find too many spots around campus you cant fit the Spark into.

The next question is can you fit your friends or your stuff in the Spark? 

The Spark is a four seat car. The center seat in the rear is actually a single cup holder. What is most surprising is just how well the Spark is packaged. Even larger friends will actually be able to sit for a short ride in the back seat. While you can take the Spark on the highway with no issue it is certainly not a road trip car. Unlike the Scion IQ and the Smart Fourtwo you wont have any issue fitting a dorm room full of gear in the back with the seats down. 

The real question is whether or not the Spark is cool enough for the discriminating young car buyer and his or her parents. The focus of this car isnt its engine or its chassis. Its all about the MyLink® radio. This system uses a smartphone inspired design that is sleek and very simple to use. Instead of relying on a hard drive the MyLink system relies on your smartphone for its processing power. Coming soon to the Spark is the BringGo navigation app. This app cuts the price of a navigation system from up to two thousand dollars to the price of your monthly data plan. Even in beta the system runs smoothly and is as good as any in-car navigation system. This features takes the Spark out of the penalty box and into cool car territory for millenial buyers. 

Related Posts : 2013, Chevrolet, drive, quick, spark