The Optra 1.8 AT is powered by the 1.8-litre DOHC 16-valve unit sourced from GM’s Australian subsidiary Holden. With 116.6PS of power on tap, the Optra is the more powerful car of the duo but at the same time it’s also 230kg heavier, in effect blunting her performance advantage.

The transmission employed is a four-speed automatic sourced from acclaimed German transmission specialists ZF. This is a conventional four-speed torque convertor with ‘fuzzy-logic’ that uses electronics to adapt the shift pattern to driving style. In international markets this transmission comes with the option of being able to change gears manually like in the Mercedes and Sonata V6 ‘boxes, which India does not get. What we do get is a hold function which when activated holds on to a gear, be it high or low gear, till the button is released. One can also manually select first, second and third gears in which the transmission holds on to the gear and up shifts take place right at the rev limit unlike in D mode where up shifts happen 1000rpm shy of the rev limit. A digital read-out is provided on the speedo to indicate the gear selection mode.

Select drive and the Optra take off smoothly and on sedate acceleration shifts into a higher gear seamlessly without lurching. Refinement is a strong point with whine from the auto ‘box being well contained. As with any auto however performance does get blunted and in the Optra’s case it is quite a bit, though we’ll come to that later. Kick downs happen a little lazily requiring forward planning while executing overtaking manoeuvres on the highway.

The Optra’s performance to a large degree. Where the manual transmission Optra took 4.90s far the 0-60kmph sprint, the AT took 6.24s for the same sprint. For the 100kmph dash the AT took 14.8s, 3.7s slower than the manual. The drop in performance is also evident in the top speed figures, 175.6kmph of the AT to the 190.8kmph of the manual. Remember the AT also weighs 35kg more than the manual. Inside there is considerably more leg, knee and shoulder space, the dashboard is classier and better finished while the equipment levels are higher. The chassis and suspension combination on the Optra gives her an excellent ride quality and superb handling characteristics.

The Optra gives an in-town mileage figure of 5.2kmpl and a highway figure of 11.5kmpl. The 1.8 feels best once at highway cruising speeds. The manual gearbox isn’t very impressive, and feels quite clunky. The automatic is better, seamless and quite responsive. However performance is blunted considerably and it doesn’t kick down quick enough to facilitate easy overtaking. The LT trim version of the Optra that we tested comes loaded to the sills boasting everything from full leather upholstery, alloy wheels (though not the same as our test car), sun roof, .5-CD 6-speaker Blaupunkt sound system, a driver’s side airbag and disc brakes front and rear (unlike the manual 1.8 that has drums at the rear) as standard. It also offer features like 4-speed Automatic Transmission, Driver Seat Height Adjuster, Tilt Steering, Driver and Co-Driver Seat Lumbar Support, Remote Keyless Entry with Chirp and Trunk Opening, Front Fog lamps, Leather upholstery

Chrome outside Door Handles and Tailgate Handle, 14″ Alloy wheels, electrically operated sun roof, Audio Remote Control on Steering Wheel, Dual airbag, Automatic Climate Control System

Rear Disc Brakes, All-around wood finish including Centre Panel.

Filed under: Chevrolet Cars in India