When The Car Enthusiast last tested one of the Lacetti range, the 1.4-litre saloon, it was badged as a Daewoo. Things have moved on since then; GM has relaunched the brand using its Chevrolet nameplate. So it was with the famous bow-tie badge adorning the front grille that our test car, the Lacetti 1.8 Sport Station Wagon, arrived.

Initial thoughts are that Chevrolet has some work to do in promoting the brand. Despite the appearance last season of the Lacetti race car in the World Touring Car Championship, mention Chevrolet to the average UK driver (or even non-driver) and they conjure up visions of some hulking great monster-size vehicle from the US, with big V8 engine, big noise and big fuel consumption. Although the Chevrolet Lacetti is at the large end of the range of Chevrolet cars on sale in the UK, it is still small compared to the expected refugee from some American TV show, being fairly similar in size to the Vauxhall Vectra estate.

What isn't similar in size is the price. This Chevrolet Lacetti Sport Station Wagon is priced at just £12,995. And no, the wheels, engine and interior are not optional extras! In fact, the change of brand from Daewoo has not affected one of the Daewoo's major plus points - you still get a lot of kit (and car) for not much money. The Chevrolet Lacetti comes with standard-fit leather seats, air conditioning and 16-inch alloy wheels amongst other items.

Red used to be the most popular colour for cars; everyone knows red cars go faster. But in recent years, monochrome colours (silver, black and grey) seem to have taken over in the popularity stakes to such effect that red cars are quite rare now, and stand out. And stand out our red test car certainly did; not only was our car red, it was a searing RED impossible to miss. Not for the shy and retiring, but it does suit the Lacetti's shape.

My first day out with the Lacetti Station Wagon didn't go well. Despite the Sport badging, and the 119bhp 1.8-litre engine promising a decent drive, I was not impressed. The engine was awful, there's no other way of putting it. It just wouldn't rev, was totally unwilling to go past 5,000rpm unless you had all month to wait, and it sounded like it was being tortured. I was shocked to see from the specification that the maximum power is developed at 5,800rpm. There's no way any private owner is ever going to get there; revs that high on this engine will strictly be the preserve of hire cars. It was just as well that the engine seemed quite torquey as, along with its total dislike of being revved, the gearbox was hardly exemplary, being notchy in the extreme.

But as time went on, and the miles built up, so my thoughts changed. After about 100 miles on day one I realised I hadn't given any thought to the ride. And that's how it should be; the suspension should just get on with its job. And when I started to think about it, I realised it was pretty good. I hadn't noticed it at all on the motorway, and now the roads were getting bumpier, the suspension was showing off its abilities, controlling the body in such a way that the bumps didn't really get through to the passengers, while at the same time I came to realise that the Sport badge wasn't a misnomer after all; the Chevrolet Lacetti Station Wagon handles! Handles really well in fact; turn-in is excellent at sensible speeds, understeer only raising its ugly head when really trying perhaps too hard for an estate car. Although the engine and gearbox didn't seem to have any good qualities, the 'Sport' pedals that first seemed frivolous allowed heel and toeing perfectly every time. The gearchange seemed to free up under these circumstances, and I started to make some serious cross country progress. More importantly, I started to enjoy driving the Lacetti.

Inside the car, there was good and there was bad. The two tone leather seats were a little garish for my taste, and looked wide enough to have come straight from America and their super-size me population, but the seats are comfortable, supportive round corners and conveyed an ambience more highly priced than £12,995. On the downside, it didn't take long to see where corners have been cut, screw heads being easily visible around the interior. The American influence was in attendance with bleeps for everything (seat belt, lights on, key in ignition...) and those messages "objects may be closer than they appear" etched into the door mirrors.

As the week I spent with the Lacetti went on, the more I liked it. The load space was simply enormous, although disappointingly the rear seat squab did not lift, so the backrest rested on top of the squab when folded forward. A removable cargo net stretching from the roof to the back of the rear seat ensured nothing came flying forwards under heavy braking, and there is storage space everywhere. I counted bottle holders in the door armrests along with CD storage, sunglasses holder above the driver's door and so on. Downsides were few, the most major during our tenure was that the heater took forever to warm up the car, which was not good on the sub-zero mornings we spent with the Lacetti.

But every time I came up with a criticism I reminded myself of the price. Add in the excellent 3 year/60,000 mile warranty and 3 year AA roadside cover and the Chevrolet Lacetti 1.8 Sport Station Wagon makes very good sense, and excellent value of money.

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Chevrolet Lacetti Station Wagon UK range overview

- Chevrolet Lacetti Station Wagon SX: £11,095
- Chevrolet Lacetti Station Wagon Sport: £12,995