The Daewoo company has been producing the Espero model since 1991, in 1994 this three-box underwent restyling, and in 1999 its assembly was discontinued. The nine-year history of production is a significant period for the production of a car in one generation, especially considering that Daewoo Espero, as a used car, was highly popular even ten years after the end of its production.
Daewoo Espero owes its appearance to the Opel Ascona (GM II platform), from which the chassis and engines were borrowed. The design of the body was carried out by the Italian body shop "Bertone" - which means that without any attempts to copy the design.
In terms of technical characteristics, three variants of gasoline engines were installed on Daewoo Espero:
- 1.5 L 90 HP (not the best option for such a large sedan as Daewoo Espero),
- 1.8 l with a capacity of 95 hp (this one is more high-torque, but it is not widespread here - as it was intended mainly for the domestic Korean market),
- 2.0 l with 105 hp (the most common on the Russian market and the most preferred option).
The resource of these engines, with regular oil and filter changes (that is, with proper handling), is 250-300 thousand km.
By default, this car is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission. But 4-speed "automatic machines" were offered on the Korean market and are rare in our country.
The fuel consumption of the Daewoo Espero on the highway is about 6 liters, in urban conditions (with the air conditioner working) up to 11 liters per 100 km. Cars built for Russia are tuned to consume 92nd gasoline (and if absolutely necessary, it is possible to work on low-octane A-76th gasoline).
The obvious "pluses" of this car include the rich (for its time and price category) equipment. Almost all cars are equipped with central locking, air conditioning, electric windows, a head unit with a retractable antenna and four speakers, and electric side mirrors.
The steering is equipped with a hydraulic booster, and also has the ability to change the height of the steering column and a large number of adjustments in the driver's seat.
The boot capacity is 560 liters of usable volume.
The suspension does not pose any particular problems (with reasonable handling) and fits well on our roads.
Daewoo Espero is distinguished by neutral tones of quite high-quality interior trim (especially in comparison with domestic cars), ease of maintenance in our conditions, cheap spare parts, rich equipment, as well as an affordable price for used copies.
Among the operational "minuses", the owners of Daewoo Espero note: the need to put additional protection on the engine compartment, frequent breakdowns of the rear suspension springs (withstand up to 40 thousand km), the resource of ball joints - up to 30 thousand km, the unreliability of an automatic transmission ... Tie rod ends usually they do not take care of more than 50 thousand km, the bearings of the hubs on all four wheels are prone to breakage.
Active safety is poorly represented - the ABS and airbags provided in the design are rarely found in practice.
Practically no unpleasant surprises await the attentive buyer of a used Daewoo Espero, since we can say everything about this car, its strengths and weaknesses, operational and driving characteristics.
Unusual appearance, comfortable suspension, prevalence, ease of use and low price continue to make it popular in the secondary car market.
