12th Apr 2003, 17:44

I am sorry, but I don't believe that your Daewoo will do 80mph uphill in 3rd year. These are rubbishly built cars that cannot match German/Japanese for build quality. The Daewoo image is also a pretty rough one.

10th Jun 2003, 14:32

Yes, the Espero will do 80mph uphill, I can vouch for that, having owned one for 5 years!!!

The only things I have had to buy are a new exhaust, tyres, and the usual oil and filter for a service.

The radio leaves a lot to be desired, and is the poorest built unit on the car.

As far as I am aware, the rest of the car is made from GM components...Aren't they the same people who build Vauxhalls???

Mike.

24th Jun 2003, 18:03

A reading of 135mph when doing a true 120mph means a speedometer error of only 12.5%. That is actually quite a reasonable figure. Most manufacturers calibrate speedo's to over-read. Whether that is to help us keep our licences, or to flatter our egos (hey - it worked for you!) is unclear.

Either way, your Despairo does NOT do 135mph. Just get a copy of your favourite car mag and check out the kind of claimed power output for any saloons capable of 135mph. BMW seem to need about 150bhp to get a 3-series up to that sort of speed. Ditto the (smaller) VW Golf GTi. So either Daewoo know something those fellows don't, or you're letting your enthusiasm cloud your judgement.

And remember to exercise extreme caution when aftermarket tuning cowboys are after your money. Most tuning mods actually harm performance; they may make it more peaky, and more noisy (which is extremely important in the psychology and perception of speed), but very few do any good.

23rd Dec 2003, 10:09

Why is it that people are so swift to criticize the claims of speed and acceleration above if they do not personally own a daewoo vehicle? Surely their comments are made in ignorance?

Incidentally, there is nothing wrong with the build quality of Daewoo; I have owned one for 3.5 years and found everything to work nicely as one would expect. The interior is solid, the velor upholstery tasteful (if rather subdued), the exterior metallic paintwork is of excellent standard. The Daewoo image is fairly conservative, unassuming and restrained: fine for me. There is every chance my future company car will be a Daewoo or Toyota.

17th Jul 2004, 13:28

I have owned a Daewoo Espero 2ltr CDXi for nearly four years now. In my experience they are great cars, electric everything, air con,6 CD autochanger, etc, etc.

The car has been totally reliable and I have absolutely no reason to complain. I have recently installed a performance chip and am pleased with the results (extra power).

People unfairly denigrate Daewoo cars whilst having no experience of ownership.

Previously I owned a VW Golf and all the local mechanics knew me on first name terms as the car was a disaster.

To me, the Daewoo Espero is a great car, after all it is a Vauxhall Cavalier/Calibra in disguise with the same C20 LET engine.