The Daewoo Lanos is a subcompact car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Daewoo Motors from 1997 to 2002, after being car of the year it continued to be produced under license agreements to the present in various countries worldwide. It has also been marketed as the Daewoo Sens, ZAZ Sens and ZAZ Lanos in Ukraine, Doninvest Assol and ZAZ Chance in Russia, FSO Lanos in Poland, or Chevrolet Lanos in Ukraine, Russia and Egypt.
It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and initially featured three body styles: three-door and five-door hatchbacks and a four-door sedan. In 2006, a panel van version, developed in Ukraine by ZAZ, was also introduced. The Daewoo Lanos was designed to replace the Daewoo Nexia in the Daewoo line-up and was itself replaced by the Daewoo Kalos.
Development
In 1992, Daewoo dissolved its joint-venture with General Motors, and simultaneously a decision was made to independently develop replacements for the contemporary Daewoo Motors products, based on older General Motors models. The Lanos development programme was formally started in autumn 1993, with the goal to create a car to replace Daewoo Nexia as Daewoo's small family car.
The project began with a comparative study of competing models from 20 different manufacturers, with Toyota Tercel, Opel Astra and Volkswagen Golf identified as most competitive. Four design studios were commissioned to deliver clay models presenting their ideas for the new model's styling. Giorgetto Giugiaro's design was chosen, and Italdesign was commissioned to develop the car's final outside and interior styling. The technical side of the project was conducted simultaneously by Daewoo's development centre Korea, as well as suppliers and contractors who were involved in developing particular components. This included AC Rochester (engine components), Delco Chassis Division (brakes, including ABS), GM Powertrain (automatic transmission), Italdesign (body, structural analysis, electrics, prototype construction), PARS Passive Rückhaltesysteme GmbH (airbags) and Porsche (vehicle concept — research, structural analysis, suspension and brake components, and experimental production supervision).
By the end of 1995, 150 prototypes were built (providing for three body styles). The development programme involved extensive testing in a multitude of locations. Safety tests included high-speed stability and durability testing in England, and brake testing on the Großglockner in Austria. Low-temperature testing was conducted in Canada, Sweden (Arjeplog), and Russia (Moscow, Khabarovsk) while high-temperature tests took place in the USA (Death Valley), Oman (Nizwa), Australia (Alice Springs), Spain (Barcelona), and Italy (Nardò). The programme was completed in a remarkable time of only 30 months from the approval to the commencement of large-scale production of the Lanos sedan for the Korean market. European-market production began in 1997.
Technical Details
The cars were equipped with E-TEC I4 engines ranging from 1.5 L (1498 cc 86HP) SOHC to 1.6 L (1598 cc 106HP) DOHC. In the UK and many countries of Europe (like Italy, France or Austria) there are also E-TEC models 1.4 (1349 cc 75HP) and 1.6 (1598 cc 106HP). The suspension is built upon that of a Daewoo Nexia, as used in Vauxhall/Opel Astra Mk2 GTE.
On the mechanical side, all Lanos versions shared the same parts with a few exceptions. Differences between the 1.6 DOHC engine version and the other versions were:
The 1.6 DOHC versions were equipped with 256mm front brake rotors and 22mm master cylinders rather than the 236mm disks and 20mm master cylinder found on the other versions with the less power engines.
The 1.6 DOHC versions were equipped with D16 long ratio transmissions which had a slightly bigger final gear ratio compared to the D16 short ratio found on the other versions with the less power engines.
The 1.6 DOHC versions were equipped with stiffer front springs to compensate for the heavier engine in comparison to both SOHC engines found in the other versions.
The four models available were S, SE, SE Plus, SX, and later, the SPORT model. The S was the base model and did not include many standard features (like a CD player or power windows). The SE was just a small step up from the S base model. However, the SX model usually included a CD, radio, and cassette player along with power windows, a power side mirror, and fog lights. A few select SX models even came with a sun-roof, though not many did. In the Lanos's later years, the SE and SX models were dropped and replaced with a new trim line called the SPORT (2001–2002). The SPORT included several features similar to the SX, but also included red/black leather seats and a metallic silver dash trim. Also, the SPORT model had window controls located on the doors rather than the center console (like in the previous trim lines).
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