Chevrolet Epica - Forget the 4X4’s, SUV’s, MPV’s, and the new breed of Crossovers. Let’s go back to basics with the good old family four-door saloon. Now not every family wants to be labelled by the vehicle they drive and as the children grow older parents often revert back to traditional cars. However, they can be rather expensive priced around the twenty thousand plus which with today’s spiralling motoring costs is quite a deterrent.
Until now, for Chevrolet had stormed back into the European market with another blinding car, their first family saloon called the Epica. Chevrolet first landed in Europe back in 2005 giving us value for money cars such as the Matiz and Lacetti. Cementing their presence came the following year with the fantastic Captiva SUV that offered families a seven-seat option at a fraction of the price compared with its competitors. Now Chevrolet has done it again with the new Epica and it is raring to go at the UK showrooms as we speak.
The line up is quite simple comprising of four variants. A 2.0 litre six cylinder petrol with a five speed manual gearbox on the entry level trim LS that costs just £13,595 making it cheaper than most 1.6 litre family hatchbacks. The other engine is a 2.0 litre VCDi diesel five-speed manual on either the LS trim costing £14,595 or on the higher specification trim LT that comes with a price tag of £16,595. Finally a six-speed automatic is on offer to the LT trim that will set you back £17.695. So already all models have undercut their rivals’ quite considerable.
In case you are wondering with such low prices, equipment must be pretty basic, exterior shoddy and a plastic interior. Not so. The LS trim comes with air conditioning, cruise control, electric front and rear windows plus remote audio controls on the leather covered steering wheel. The Epica LS is a stunning looking car with 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights in the colour coded integrated bumper, along with colour coded electric door mirrors and handles. The Chevrolet bow tie logo sits proudly in the centre of a large smiley grille flanked by attractive light clusters. Inside is a really well thought out interior that sees all the instruments at hand set in high grade materials with a little essence of plastic dotted around.
The Epica LS is a stunning looking car with 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights in the colour coded integrated bumper
The LT gains electronic climate control, rear parking sensors, rain sensitive wipers, an electrochromatic rear view mirror, electronic stability control, and a six-CD interchanger with eight speakers to blast out Chevrolet latest album, Legends - The Platinum Collection. Telling it apart from its siblings are 17-inch alloy wheels, chrome door handles, a lovely chrome strip in the front grille and electrically folding door mirrors. Inside is a leather interior and the driver’s seat is electrically adjustable. Read that lot again then the price and tell me that is not exceptional value for money!
Now the first jewel in any family car has to be practicality to ferry not just the children but all their bits and pieces from one endless activity to another. It must also be able to accommodate the family holiday. Well the Epica could take you to Timbuktu and back for there are plenty of storage binnacles from door pockets to bottle holders that will stow away safely smaller objects. However it is the boot that is incredibly large offering 480 litres of space. This is created by going deep under the rear seats. Just watch your head as you lean into the area. With the rear seats splitting 60: 40 larger loads can be taken to the dump, but not too wide as the boot opening is not that large. There is so much room inside the Epica it will easily take five grown adults without having to amputate any limbs for the rear passengers, as they will relish in 960 mm of knee room. Stroppy teenagers sorted.
The second jewel has to be safety and to all you cynics out there, safety has not been compromised in the Epica. Standard across the whole range are front, side and curtain airbags, front seatbelt pre-tensioners, ISOFIX mountings and height adjustable headrests. Using high tensile steel for 40 per cent of the Erica’s structure has created a strong bodyshell. Keeping the Epica firmly on the road is ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution while ensuring a smooth ride and handling is a pretty sound suspension system. Securing the Epica is remote central locking and an electronic Immobiliser. All models fall into a low insurance group of 9D
Ticks all round so far. How about the performance? Well I first drove the 2.0 litre diesel LT with the six speed automatic gearbox. While I relished in the creature comforts on board, I was not too impressed with this gearbox. 'She doth protest too much' were the words echoing in my head especially on the uptake taking 10.6 seconds to reach 62 mph. Top speed is 127 mph and fuel consumption not too bad at 37.2 mpg on a combined cycle. CO2 emissions are 210 g/km.
So I opted for the entry-level 2.0 litre petrol with the LS trim being a cost conscious mother. Still basking in the amount of specification this model comes with, the comfort of the seats, I was pleasantly reassured with this five-speed manual gearbox and superb six-cylinder engine. 'This is more like it, ' I thought as it raced away trying to reach 62 mph in just 9.9 seconds and claims a top speed of 129 mph. Yet this gearbox was far more responsive and delivered a really good ride. Fuel consumption was marginally less coming in at 34.5 mph on a combined cycle with CO2 emissions down to 205g/km compared with the automatic. Unfortunately I did not drive the 2.0 litre diesel on the manual gearbox. This has the better fuel consumption figures of 46.4 mpg on a combined and the lowest CO2 emissions of 169g/km so I suggest you do look at this option.
Thanks to the Epica, I can see a revival of the traditional family four-door saloon. For here is a car that offers unbeatable value for money without compromising on performance, safety, equipment and handling. The Legend is back.
FemaleFirst - Jacckie Violet
Chevrolet Epica - Forget the 4X4’s, SUV’s, MPV’s, and the new breed of Crossovers. Let’s go back to basics with the good old family four-door saloon. Now not every family wants to be labelled by the vehicle they drive and as the children grow older parents often revert back to traditional cars. However, they can be rather expensive priced around the twenty thousand plus which with today’s spiralling motoring costs is quite a deterrent.
Until now, for Chevrolet had stormed back into the European market with another blinding car, their first family saloon called the Epica. Chevrolet first landed in Europe back in 2005 giving us value for money cars such as the Matiz and Lacetti. Cementing their presence came the following year with the fantastic Captiva SUV that offered families a seven-seat option at a fraction of the price compared with its competitors. Now Chevrolet has done it again with the new Epica and it is raring to go at the UK showrooms as we speak.
The line up is quite simple comprising of four variants. A 2.0 litre six cylinder petrol with a five speed manual gearbox on the entry level trim LS that costs just £13,595 making it cheaper than most 1.6 litre family hatchbacks. The other engine is a 2.0 litre VCDi diesel five-speed manual on either the LS trim costing £14,595 or on the higher specification trim LT that comes with a price tag of £16,595. Finally a six-speed automatic is on offer to the LT trim that will set you back £17.695. So already all models have undercut their rivals’ quite considerable.
In case you are wondering with such low prices, equipment must be pretty basic, exterior shoddy and a plastic interior. Not so. The LS trim comes with air conditioning, cruise control, electric front and rear windows plus remote audio controls on the leather covered steering wheel. The Epica LS is a stunning looking car with 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights in the colour coded integrated bumper, along with colour coded electric door mirrors and handles. The Chevrolet bow tie logo sits proudly in the centre of a large smiley grille flanked by attractive light clusters. Inside is a really well thought out interior that sees all the instruments at hand set in high grade materials with a little essence of plastic dotted around.
The LT gains electronic climate control, rear parking sensors, rain sensitive wipers, an electrochromatic rear view mirror, electronic stability control, and a six-CD interchanger with eight speakers to blast out Chevrolet latest album, Legends - The Platinum Collection. Telling it apart from its siblings are 17-inch alloy wheels, chrome door handles, a lovely chrome strip in the front grille and electrically folding door mirrors. Inside is a leather interior and the driver’s seat is electrically adjustable. Read that lot again then the price and tell me that is not exceptional value for money!
Now the first jewel in any family car has to be practicality to ferry not just the children but all their bits and pieces from one endless activity to another. It must also be able to accommodate the family holiday. Well the Epica could take you to Timbuktu and back for there are plenty of storage binnacles from door pockets to bottle holders that will stow away safely smaller objects. However it is the boot that is incredibly large offering 480 litres of space. This is created by going deep under the rear seats. Just watch your head as you lean into the area. With the rear seats splitting 60: 40 larger loads can be taken to the dump, but not too wide as the boot opening is not that large. There is so much room inside the Epica it will easily take five grown adults without having to amputate any limbs for the rear passengers, as they will relish in 960 mm of knee room. Stroppy teenagers sorted.
The second jewel has to be safety and to all you cynics out there, safety has not been compromised in the Epica. Standard across the whole range are front, side and curtain airbags, front seatbelt pre-tensioners, ISOFIX mountings and height adjustable headrests. Using high tensile steel for 40 per cent of the Erica’s structure has created a strong bodyshell. Keeping the Epica firmly on the road is ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution while ensuring a smooth ride and handling is a pretty sound suspension system. Securing the Epica is remote central locking and an electronic Immobiliser. All models fall into a low insurance group of 9D