VAUXHALL VIVA
Vauxhall’s cheerful little city car offers a lot for a little, making it an attractive proposition to all kinds of Synergy customers.
The Viva is Vauxhall’s entry level car and it is known for its excellent value for money and impressive levels of equipment. It would be too generous to say that it stands out from the crowd with bold styling or exciting driving dynamics, but if you’re the type of Synergy customer looking for a dependable urban vehicle at a great price, the Viva might be the one for you.
Vauxhall reanimated the Viva name when it showed off the new Viva in late 2014. Originally, the Vauxhall Viva first appeared in 1963, and its 16-year production run saw over 1.5-million cars produced. This car isn’t scheduled to remain in production for quite that long, as Vauxhall has already announced that 2019 will be the Viva’s final year in production, before work begins on introducing a new electric car to this end of the market.
Power for the Viva comes from just one source – a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. It produces just 74bhp, plenty for the inner-city environments where it is mostly found. A 5-speed manual gearbox is the only transmission on offer, so if you want to drive a Viva, you’ll have to know how to operate 3 pedals. In terms of fuel efficiency, drivers of a Viva can expect to see between 40 and 45mpg, with CO2 emissions listed at 118g/km.
There are just 3 trim levels available for the Viva – SE, SE with air conditioning and ‘Rocks’. The latter adds a SUV-inspired look to the Viva which will almost certainly provoke a love or hate response from those around it, much like the Nissan Juke. The equipment levels are excellent on even the ‘SE’ though, with electric front windows, cruise control, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, daytime running lights with front fog lights and a stereo with radio and an AUX-in port. In addition to this, Vauxhall has ensured there’s also plenty of safety equipment, with a lane departure warning system, an Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), traction control, a tyre pressure monitoring system and an emergency tyre inflation kit all as standard.