KansasCity.com's view

Daewoo is certainly not a household automotive name, but as its 42-state dealer body continues to expand, it will become more familiar. This is the second year it has sold cars in the United States.

This South Korean company sells three cars, the Lanos, Nubira and Leganza. Base prices start at $8,669 for the Lanos three-door, $10,990 for the Nubira sedan, and $13,660 for the Leganza sedan. The midrange Leganza SX that I drove started at $16,660, and that includes power windows, power door locks, AM/FM/CD player, leather seats, keyless remote, cruise control, air conditioning, automatic transmission and four-wheel, anti-lock disc brakes.

This front-wheel-drive, midsize family sedan is slightly smaller than a Honda Accord. It sits on a 105.1-inch wheelbase, is powered by a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine and easily has room for four. The body was designed by the renowned Giorgetto Guigiaro and ItalDesign, his firm. While some of Guigiaro’s designs are provocative and innovative, the Leganza is family-sedan conservative. There are nice touches, like the body-side character line that is carried through the door handles, and the tight gaps between body panels. The emphasis of this design seems to be nice lines and uncluttered function, not one that speeds up your heart with anticipation.

The 16-valve, DOHC four cranks out 131 horsepower, which is a tad shy for a car this size. If you’re generous with the accelerator it feels adequately peppy, but more guts in the 2,000-3,000 range would improve its responsiveness. Daewoo says the automatic hits 60 mph in 11.1 seconds.

The five-speed manual is almost two seconds quicker to 60 mph but it is only available on the base Leganza SE.

Leaving the automatic transmission in the Power setting improved performance because each gear was engaged sooner and held a little longer.

The engine was relatively free of noise and vibration in normal driving.

Lotus, Porsche and Daewoo’s technical center in the United Kingdom performed the engineering work. On the road, the ride is very quiet, almost on par with the best in this segment. Triple door seals and a nine-layer bulkhead between the engine and passenger compartment are responsible. The test car had a minor wind whistle around the left front corner at 70 mph.

Ride quality of the four-wheel independent suspension is slightly better than average for this class. It doesn’t handle corners like a sports car, but that’s not the point. It is smooth, yet controllable and confident, which is what you expect from a family sedan.

Inside, the instrument panel has a leatherlike texture on top and a matte-black section that surrounds the gauges and controls for audio and heating and cooling. The gauges have excellent readability and secondary controls are located close to the driver.

The stereo was located a little low in the center of the dash, but the buttons were large and easy to grasp. Sound quality was fin e.

The color and texture of the front door panels did not quite match that of the instrument panel.

The back seat has considerable legroom for a car with a 105.1-inch wheelbase, and the trunk was also spacious. The rear seats fold down, but the pass-through between the trunk and back seat is rather narrow.

In an unusual move for a car in this price segment, all scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles is performed at no charge.

Price
The base price of our test car was $16,660. Floor mats and power sunroof brought the sticker price to $17,565.

Warranty
Three years or 36,000 miles. All scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles is free.

Point: The Leganza is well-equipped at a reasonable price. It rides quietly, has a large back seat and handles confidently.

Counterpoint: More power, or at least more low-speed torque, would enhance performance.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Engine: 2.2-liter, 4-cyl.
Transmission: automatic front-wheel drive
Wheelbase: 105.1 inches
Curb weight: 3,119 lbs.
Base price: $16,660
As driven: $17,565
Mpg rating: 20 city, 28 hwy.