Daewoo Leganza

The Daewoo Leganza wis a mid-size sedan produced bi the Daewoo Motors in Sooth Korea atween 1997 an 2002. Its internal development name wis V100, unner which it an its platform (no directly shared wi ony ither model) are an aa kent.

Daewoo explained that the name Leganza oreeginatit frae the combination o twa Italian wirds - elegante (elegant) an forza (pouer).

Development

The Leganza wis a pairt o Daewoo's effort tae develop a lineup o proprietary vehicles tae replace previous GM-licensed models. Sister projects tae the V100 are the T100 Daewoo Lanos an J100 Daewoo Nubira. The development o "x100" caurs involved the wirk o mony subcontractors an suppliers. This involved, amang ithers, ZF wi regaird tae transmissions an Holden concernin the ingines.

Leganza wis styled bi the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro o Italdesign. It is believed that this design wis inspired bi Giugiaro's 1990 Jaguar Kensington concept caur, a pedigree Leganza's body shares wi the 1991 Toyota Aristo. In case o Leganza, housomeivver, Giugiaro haed tae deal wi a slichtly shorter vehicle wi front-wheel rather than rear-wheel drive, which, combined wi Daewoo stylin cues, resultit in a controversial appearance awtho contemporary reviews praised the stylin.

Marketin

Daewoo rapidly expandit thair distribution netwirk wi the inception o new models, which made the Leganza present in the markets o maist kintras, albeit no necessarily wi sales success. Daewoo placed special emphasis on developin markets, which involved the assembly o Leganzas in kintras lik Poland, Romanie, Roushie an Uzbekistan, in plants awned bi Daewoo or unner license agreements. Nivertheless, this concerned CKD or SKD assembly ae, as aw Leganzas wur effectively made at Daewoo's Bupyong plant in Korea.

It is wirth notin that, contrary tae mony Korean caurs sauld warldwide, the Leganza wis amaist invariably sauld unner the Daewoo Leganza name, the ae exception bein the Doninvest Kondor, a short-lived version assembled bi the Roushie Doninvest corporation on Taganrog's TagAZ.

At the time it wis launcht, the Leganza wis a bit langer than maist mid-size European or Asian caurs, which is why it wis initially marketit as an inexpensive executive caur in some markets.

Australian Marketin/improvements

The base Leganza wis affered wi a 2.0L 4-cyl ingine, 5 speed manual, hubcaps, cloth trim an aw the standard pouer options. It haed an optional 4 speed, hydraulically-operatit transmission that wis said tae be rough operatin, tendit tae hunt atween gears, an dae unnecessary dounshifts tae seicont gear. The suspension wis too saft, an handlin wis floaty an unsure. In 1999, Daewoo successfully answered its critics. The rough operatin hydraulic auto wis replaced bi an electronically controlled automatic transmission, which stopt the huntin atween gears an random dounshifts. The ingine wis upgradit tae the 2.2L, which boostit pouer frae 98Kw tae 100Kw, givin better performance, but increasin fuel consumption. The Leganza an aa gained standard 15 inch alloy wheels, anti-theft alarm, an remote central lockin. The suspension wis fixt an improved, but sacrificed the smooth ride frae the afore model an the ability tae soak up the bumps. In 2001 the Leganza gained leather upholstery, woodgrain trim, an an electric driver's seat. This wis cawed the "Limited Edition". In 2002 the Nubria gained a leather interior, woodgrain, anti-theft alarm, alloy wheels an remote lockin; this too wis considered the "Limited Edition".

Driveline

The Leganza wis a front-wheel drive caur, available wi a fower-door sedan body ae. The Leganza wis pouered bi Holden-soorced E-TEC II DOHC 16V I4 ingines (twa displacements wur made uisin the same block an bore, differin in stroke):

2.0 L (1998 cc) - 98 kW (131 HP), 184 N·m (136 lb·ft) o torque uised in models sauld in Europe
2.2 L (2198 cc) - 100 kW (134 hp), 191 N·m (141 lb·ft) o torque uised mainly for the American an Australian mercat

Baith ingines came wi aither a 5-speed manual transmission, or a 4-speed automatic.

Replacement

Contrary tae Matiz or Nubira, the Leganza wis no affordit a mid-life facelift, sae thare wis nae "V150" model (the xx50 designations are uised bi Daewoo tae indicate facelifted versions o xx00 models). Rather than that, Daewoo increast the wheelbase o the V100 platform bi 30 mm (1.2 in) tae develop a new model, cawed Daewoo Magnus (V200), which wis launched in 2000. Baith models wur sauld side bi side in Korea, an the Leganza got a smaw update (front grille) in 2001 - but the Magnus haes no been launched internaitionally till Leganza's demise in 2002, effectively replacin it. Daewoo ceased North Americann sales bi then, sae the V200 wis released as the Suzuki Verona in the Unitit States an Canadae.

Thare wis nae successor in the Unitit Kinrick or Ireland till the launch o the Daewoo Tosca unner the nameplate o "Chevrolet Epica" in 2007.

Notes an references

External links

IIHS Safety Ratings - Daewoo Leganza Archived 2010-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
Daewoo Tech forums. Online community dedicatit tae Daewoo performance Archived 2010-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
Daewoo section in Nilemotors.net - Egyp's lairgest caur forum (Arabic)

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