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Review: A Tale of Two Sonics

Mar 26 2012 11:05 PM | mudmonster in Reviews
William Maley - Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com
Drew Dowdell - Chief Editor - CheersandGears.com contributing
March 27, 2012

General Motors doesn’t have a great track record with subcompact cars. One only needs to read through a list of names of former Chevrolet subcompacts to see the trail of disappointment; Vega, Monza, Chevette, Sprint, Spectrum, Metro, and Aveo.

But, at last year’s North American International Auto Show, GM introduced a new subcompact car - one that would hopefully banish away the bad reputation GM was known for this class. The car was called the Sonic. Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet marketing said at the time, "The all-new Chevrolet Sonic blends the practicality of a small car with the passion for driving that Chevrolet vehicles like the Corvette are known for."

It sounds like a bit of a tall order; practical and driving passion on top of trying to remove the tarnish of previous models. Can the Sonic achieve all of this or will it end up like its forebears and continue the tarnishing?

Chevy sent me a Sonic LTZ with the 1.8 liter 4-cylinder and 6-speed automatic and they sent Drew a Sonic LTZ with the 1.4 liter turbo and 6-speed manual.

On to the Exterior!





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16 Comments

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daves87rs
Mar 26 2012 11:28 PM
Got a chance to go through the hatch...gotta say, I like it.

Test drive will be up next.


Major peeve of mine-wheels. I could care less if they are steel wheels with wheel covers, just make them bigger. Bigger wheels fill out the car so much better. Really don't want a LTZ, so I'd have to throw my own wheels on....
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black-knight
Mar 26 2012 11:39 PM
I had a chance to poke around a basic Sonic 5-door hatch with a decent set of rims recently. While I think it's a great, solid car and a great value for money, I realized it has a big problem, at least for me. If you removed all the badges and swapped out the Chevy grille for something a little more non-descript, you feel as if you might be sitting in something Asian. It lacks identity in my eyes, and I have a hard time overlooking that.
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Cubical-aka-Moltar
Mar 26 2012 11:45 PM

If you removed all the badges and swapped out the Chevy grille for something a little more non-descript, you feel as if you might be sitting in something Asian. It lacks identity in my eyes, and I have a hard time overlooking that.
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Given it's GMDAT origin, it makes sense that it would seem Asian...
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black-knight
Mar 27 2012 12:01 AM

Given it's GMDAT origin, it makes sense that it would seem Asian...


True, but who says a car's origins should dictate it's individuality? Staying within the GM fold, the F5 Camaro was raised by Australians and designed by a Korean and yet there's no mistaking its American. Then there's Chrysler with the new Dodge Dart that's largely of Italian origins and it still somehow comes across as distinctly American.

I mean, look at me. I'm mostly of Irish and Cherokee Indian origin and you don't see me constantly peeling potatoes outside of a teepee ... shaped Casino.

It's not just the Sonic that has this same issue. It's true of the Cruze, too.
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dfelt
Mar 27 2012 09:52 AM
Great review, nice write up folks. Question, is it possible that the tranny in the 1.8L was trashed by earlier drivers? Cars tend to learn their shift points based on how it was driven, maybe someone was a smash the pedal driver and smash the brakes rather than a smooth driver.

Did it seem to smooth out at all over the week you had it? Usually tranny's seem to adapt, but then if it has been trashed, then it might already need some attention. Would be worthwhile to go to a dealership and drive one off the lot to compare the 1,8L with auto with no real driving done to the loaner and see the difference.

Course I would have thought they would have done a check to make sure the vehicle is perfect before loaning it out again to another reporter.
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Drew Dowdell
Mar 27 2012 11:16 AM
I guess no one else thought the Tach picture was neat?
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mudmonster
Mar 27 2012 12:15 PM

I guess no one else thought the Tach picture was neat?


Well I thought it was neat..

Great review, nice write up folks. Question, is it possible that the tranny in the 1.8L was trashed by earlier drivers? Cars tend to learn their shift points based on how it was driven, maybe someone was a smash the pedal driver and smash the brakes rather than a smooth driver.

Did it seem to smooth out at all over the week you had it? Usually tranny's seem to adapt, but then if it has been trashed, then it might already need some attention. Would be worthwhile to go to a dealership and drive one off the lot to compare the 1,8L with auto with no real driving done to the loaner and see the difference.

Course I would have thought they would have done a check to make sure the vehicle is perfect before loaning it out again to another reporter.


I'm doubting it was thrashed. The Sonic I had for the week had 1800 miles on the odometer.

It didn't seem to smooth out when I drove it for the week I had it. But then again, it has been awhile since I drove it.
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GMTruckGuy74
Mar 27 2012 12:15 PM
I have often said that I like the sedan over the hatchback model, but this shot has me rethinking that statement:

Posted Image

I really like that red, and the Sedan now looks frumpy to me :P

The wife fell in love with the upcoming 2013 Chevy Spark at the Philly Auto Show in February (it was shown in Techno Pink). She wants to consider leasing one this summer for work commuting. I am more of a fan of the Sonic and have been unsuccessful in swaying her mind. We'll be at the NYIAS in about two weeks, so we'll see what comes of that (she'll be able to sit in the Sonic, and it would be nice for her to be able to sit in the Spark for comparison).
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Drew Dowdell
Mar 27 2012 12:56 PM
I think the Sonic would be a good compromise car for you both, but get the turbo.
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dfelt
Mar 27 2012 01:04 PM

I guess no one else thought the Tach picture was neat?


I thought it was neat also, but the mechanics of the tranny caught me up more.

I wonder if the interior is the same color for all exterior colors and settings.
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Drew Dowdell
Mar 27 2012 01:11 PM
You can get an interior with tan inserts also
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black-knight
Mar 27 2012 03:14 PM
I just now thought about the LUW 1.8 Ecotec. They used that particular engine in the Opel/Vauxhall/Saturn Astra didn't they? It's interesting it doesn't seem to boast better mixed mpg in the Sonic than it did in the Astra.

It also seems they managed to bump the torque up from 125 in the Astra to 130-something for the Sonic. I wonder how?
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Drew Dowdell
Mar 28 2012 10:05 AM
I'd need to see the power curves. The Astra only had a 4-speed auto
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Turbojett
Mar 31 2012 04:26 PM
I thought the Aveo RS concept was nice, and when the Sonic came out, i thought it looked cheap. I have to say though now it's growing on me. and the shape of the hatch is challenging my conventional rhetoric that Coupe > Sedan > Hatch.
GMTG's right, the hatch makes the sedan look kinda frumpy.


and forgive the dislexyia, but I keep reading this as a "A Tale of Two Scions." :P
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ocnblu
Apr 02 2012 06:14 AM
I followed a clean, white, uplevel Sonic sedan along winding roads back to my development the other day. I thought it looked pretty good in relation to the competition in the class. The giant LTZ wheels make the car, imo, sedan or hatch... I imagine a profile shot of a metallic red LTZ sedan could elicit some oohs and aahs of its own.

When a girl I went to school with posted on Facebook that she was looking to replace her Hyundai Elantra, I spoke up and suggested she look at Fiesta and Sonic. She and her husband checked those two, plus the new Elantra and the Focus. They came away liking the Sonic 1.4t with manual transmission the most, and are now searching for one with the equipment they want. So hopefully I've helped sell at least one Sonic, even if Blackviper appears to have ignored my advice in his thread a while back.
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Drew Dowdell
Apr 02 2012 01:44 PM

I followed a clean, white, uplevel Sonic sedan along winding roads back to my development the other day. I thought it looked pretty good in relation to the competition in the class. The giant LTZ wheels make the car, imo, sedan or hatch... I imagine a profile shot of a metallic red LTZ sedan could elicit some oohs and aahs of its own.

When a girl I went to school with posted on Facebook that she was looking to replace her Hyundai Elantra, I spoke up and suggested she look at Fiesta and Sonic. She and her husband checked those two, plus the new Elantra and the Focus. They came away liking the Sonic 1.4t with manual transmission the most, and are now searching for one with the equipment they want. So hopefully I've helped sell at least one Sonic, even if Blackviper appears to have ignored my advice in his thread a while back.


Hopefully you pointed her to this review also :P
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