Leganza is the third member of the trilogy of cars developed by Daewoo since it parted company with GM in 1992.

And, like its more compact and modest stablemates the Lanos and Nubira, the upmarket Leganza too was developed in a programme of international `guest engineers'.

For instance, the body was designed by ItalDesign and Giorgetto Giugiaro (guess where they're from), with various other contributions from around the world. Including under the hood - an Australian-made 2.0 litre twin-cam engine from General Motors Holden.

Something like 140-odd prototypes were tested around the world, including in the Northern Territory for high temperature work, before Leganza was unveiled.

In keeping with its sophisticated appearance, this car aims a bit higher than previously seen with Daewoo, and carries a more impressive list of standard equipment. Such as cruise control, air conditioning, power glass and mirrors (heated mirrors, mind you), twin vanity mirrors with lift-up covers and illumination, a reasonably impressive CD-player stereo and "deluxe" cloth trim. (Full leather trim is optional, as are alloy wheels, ABS/airbags and auto transmission.)

Maybe its sleek shape is misleading but there's more interior space than expected, particularly legroom and shoulder room.

But the biggest surprise is just how good the seats are - Daewoo claims to have done some painstaking research into these, and they offer support in literally all the required places. The front seats use ratchet lever backrest adjustment, which could be better, but are coupled with front/rear height adjustment with turnwheels.

The steering wheel is an unusual shape - slightly flat, which puts the rim at a comfortable distance from the driver, and is another that has dispensed with thumb-rests! An odd touch, however, was to find that our leather-trimmed test Leganza was controlled by a naked plastic steering wheel (no leather).

The dashboard has an organic shape that does a good job of keeping glare off the instruments, and Leganza manages yet another variation on drink-holders - moulded receptacles in the console, with a hinged flap that covers them when they're not in use.

About the strangest thing noticed in the test car was its ignition key - sharp-edged and reluctant to enter the ignition lock, it seemed unnecessarily awkward. (And we were amused to find in the glovebox a cassette explaining Daewoo's "Freecare" programme - in a car with CD player but no cassette.)

The 4-speed auto transmission (made by ZF in Germany) requires only a light squeeze on the detent button to over-ride it and select gears manually. It can be driven sportily with relative ease, or is happy to be put in Drive and left to look after itself - though around town, the engine will be more responsive if the transmission is left in third, not overdrive fourth.

Reasonably tall gearing prevents Leganza from leaping away like a startled rabbit, but once underway it lopes along in a relaxed manner. On the highway, 110kmh has the engine turning at a comfortable 2500rpm, reflected in our average fuel consumption of 10.1 L/100km (28mpg).

NVH levels, which Daewoo claims to have done major work on, are unexpectedly subdued.

Even on coarse chip bitumen, road rumble is well muted and wind rustle remains exactly that - a rustle - since Leganza is liberally insulated in pursuit of NVH levels to match its ambitions. The engine occasionally intruded on the ears with a slight coarseness, though only when made to work energetically.

Its fully independent suspension, with a slight passive rear-wheel steer effect, offers fairly responsive handling but Leganza should not be confused with a sportscar; understeer appears early in tighter corners, and is quite noticeable if pushed too hard.

Driven as the more refined sedan it aspires to be, however, Leganza has few shortcomings at its price and represents a quantum leap forward by Daewoo.