Thanks to GM’s quality control procedure, the new Nubira feels well built and robust. Durability tests carried out on the hot and rough-surfaced Australian roads should result in pretty good reliability, showing the company’s intention to revert the poor image of Korean cars. However, Daewoo has not learned how to lift its image to match European and Japanese cars yet, as you can see from its tasteless interior styling, coarse plastic dashboard, cheap switch gears, fake wooden or fake aluminum panels. This is actually a solidly-built car, but sadly, it does not deliver the same kind of visual build quality. 

Exterior styling is better. Pininfarina obviously saved its best for Ferrari and other clients, but the Nubira still looks prettier than a Corolla. At least its styling won’t be a factor discouraging people from purchasing it.  

Enter the cabin, you will find plenty of space. Look at the dimension data - the wheelbase is 2600mm, same as a Corolla and shorter than many new rivals. However, it actually offers near class-leading space. Rear seats have excellent legroom and headroom. Luggage space is also class-leading, because this Asian car is a sedan while its European rivals are hatchbacks.  

Ride and handling is average - neither outstanding nor bad. At first, you may be surprised by the solidity of the chassis and the resultant refinement - suspension noise is muted, road and wind noise are well suppressed. But then you start pushing and the old Holden engine (its origin traces back to early 80s) is noisy and reluctant to rev beyond 6,000rpm. There are 2 choices of engines - 109hp 1.6-litre 16V and 122hp 1.8-litre 16V - none of them can excite its driver. The 1.8 is of course stronger, but refinement is particularly poor.  

Daewoo calls the rear suspension as multi-link, but it is actually a kind of MacPherson strut. Although it differs very much from the popular torsion-beam axle, the Nubira handles and rides just like most rivals. It rolls in corners, it understeers at the limit. It steers accurately, with good weighting but not feel. It is stable, predictable and have pretty good bump absorption. It deals happily with your daily driving route.... until you push it and determine to have fun. No Daewoo is designed to be an exciting driver’s car. This one is no exception. 
 

Lacetti hatchback

The Lacetti hatchback looks very much unlike the sedan - not only they share no body panels, but their styling philosophies are completely different - the former is rectangular and conservative while the latter is organic and dynamic. The reason is very simple: the sedan was designed by Pininfarina while the hatchback was penned by Italdesign. This is very unusual. It recalls my memory that in the 60s Fiat employed Bertone to design the coupe version of Dino and Pininfarina to design the spider version. Perhaps Daewoo wants to see which styling house do the job better. If so, I would say Italdesign does not match Pininfarina this time, because the Lacetti looks neither creative nor elegant. I think it won’t withstand the test of time as good as the sedan. 

Despite of their differentiated look, both cars actually share the same mechanicals, the same tuning, hence drive very much alike. The hatchback has a much smaller boot (275 litres of volume), but the 2600mm wheelbase and 1445mm height is unchanged, so the cabin is spacious, especially for rear passengers. The quality of interior packaging is also pretty good. 

Mechanical refinement isn’t as good. The 108hp 1.6-litre 16V engine has decent power but sounds coarse at high rev. The manual gearbox is notchy to shift. Ride and handling is OK, closer to European hatchbacks than ever, but still falls behind its rivals in excitement. In fact, such character is shared with the sedan. Despite of its more dynamic look, the Lacetti hatchback is no more sporty than its sedan sister.