Chevy Sonic the new Astra?

[fm2200]

It seems to me the latest Chevy Sonic is a replacement for the Astra. The body styling and the overall appearance is very close to the Astra. On You Tube Consumer Reports liked the Sonic. I will probably test drive the car and if it is as good as Consumer Reports says it is, I will get one, in the future.

[Sirraven]

Ill give you a heads up, the Sonic will be smaller than the Astra. The Sonic is more of a replacement for the Aveo. I have yet to drive the Sonic so I can't say anything on how well the car is. Just wanted to let you know, might be better or worse for you.

Hope you like it.

[Tom S2]

recently when very bored i compared the dimensions of the sonic, astra and cruze. the astra is bigger than the sonic, smaller than teh cruze.

[Werks11]

Sonic is the direct replacement for the Aveo. From all that I've read it's a good driver for it's size. Adding that it has the 1.4L turbo or 1.8L non turbo producing 138 hp. Guessing this car will hit the scales well under 2900 lbs the powertrain should let it puts down better performance numbers then the Astra while getting better fuel mileage ... Yet it will be in a smaller package.



Can be made to look cool
http://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...vy+sonic+specs

[Limit13ss]

I test drove one for fun the other day. I'll save you the trouble..


DOES NOT EVEN COMPARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the Astra is nice and agile. The sonic feels like your towing a boat behind you. Handling is loose. I test drove the non turbo one. I later looked at the turbo, and it same 138 HP at 6200 RPM and 148 Torque at 2500. Thus making it kinda useless. The build quality also does not even come close. That's just my opinion.

[Astra La Vista!]

Horsepower ratings for the two engines are too close to matter, but the turbo motor does produce more torque when the hairdryer kicks in. This should make it more fun to drive. However, the bigger advantage of the turbo engine is its superior fuel economy. The downside, however, is a more complicated and expensive engine to repair down the road.

As for build quality, it is leaps & bounds above the original Aveo/G3/Wave/Swift that was nothing more than a rebadged Daewoo. If you are going to buy a Sonic, however, you better be damn sure that you're going to love staring at that bizarre instrument cluster for a long time. You might think it looks cool today, but exotic looks tend to have a pretty short shelf life.

[blackastra]

Originally Posted by Limit13ss

138 HP at 6200 RPM and 148 Torque at 2500. Thus making it kinda useless.

Well, that sums it up.

[OPEL Blitz]

Stupid instrument cluster is stupid. And it didnt even save them money, they could have just tacked in one of their already existing and better looking clusters instead of developing a whole new one for just that car.

[Werks11]

The 1.8L more than summed up anything the Astra had going for it.

[marx404]

Originally Posted by OPEL Blitz

Stupid instrument cluster is stupid. And it didnt even save them money, they could have just tacked in one of their already existing and better looking clusters instead of developing a whole new one for just that car.

Not only that, what about the "cowl" over the instrument cluster? Nice sharp pointy edge there. Let's hope that airbags deploy before foreheads meet that in an accident, LOL.

That aside, yes, it is leaps and bounds beyond the Aveo, but still has rear drum brakes, ewww. Supposedly the suspension has been tuned by Corvette engineers so I wonder if it handles any better then say...a Fit Sport? Nonetheless, I am still very happy with my little Astra despite some shortcomings and all.

[Weeman]

The Aveo was a terrible car to drive, lots of rattles and a rough ride. I sure hope the Sonic is multiple leaps better than the outgoing model.

I recently test drove the new Rio5. What a great car! It has comparable handling but with better engine performance and fuel economy than the Astra. It comes loaded full of goodies (soft touch dash, reverse camera, sunroof, heated seats, bluetooth, smart phone p&p, fogs, etc. etc.) for $17,499 with a 6spd manual. It blew my mind how many options came standard for the price.. literally too much to list. And it's a looker too! I for see one for myself in the near future. I realize it is not GM but this is the closest thing I have driven performance/comfort/bang for buck as the Astra.

[OPEL Blitz]

Yes the thing that has kept me away from KIA/Hyundai/asian brands have been their inability to make nice interiors (and lack of rust protection). The japanese still don't know how to do it properly, plastics that wouldnt make the cut in a Skoda can even today be found in a Lexus for example.

But KIA/Hyundai have learned. I love the new i40 for example. One thing that bugged me about the Rio is the steering wheel, which is still of the "old" asian type (slippery). But the i40 have it nailed down, and I'm sure the changes will carry over to the rest of the range in due time.

All they need to fix then is the corrosion prevention techniques, an area where the koreans (excluding GM) yet again are ahead of the japanese, but lagging behind the likes of GM Europe, Renault and VAG.

[Astra La Vista!]

Originally Posted by OPEL Blitz

Yes the thing that has kept me away from KIA/Hyundai/asian brands have been their inability to make nice interiors (and lack of rust protection). The japanese still don't know how to do it properly, plastics that wouldnt make the cut in a Skoda can even today be found in a Lexus for example.

But KIA/Hyundai have learned. I love the new i40 for example. One thing that bugged me about the Rio is the steering wheel, which is still of the "old" asian type (slippery). But the i40 have it nailed down, and I'm sure the changes will carry over to the rest of the range in due time.

All they need to fix then is the corrosion prevention techniques, an area where the koreans (excluding GM) yet again are ahead of the japanese, but lagging behind the likes of GM Europe, Renault and VAG.

I keep telling people -- including my brother who is currently looking into a new set of wheels -- NOT to discount the Koreans. Both Kia and Hyundai still have that "still not as good as the Japanese" aura perpetuated by the ill-informed, so both companies work incredibly hard because they still have something to prove to the masses. That drive is what will keep them going, and keep their customers coming back. The Japanese companies currently risk becoming complacent like the "Big Three", and we all know how that turned out.

[OPEL Blitz]

Totally agree, I think the japanese have been complacent for a number of years already. And despite being assembled locally, in Toyotas case in France, they are consistently in the upper price brackets without offering the same comfort. They seem stuck on their reliability bandwagon, in a time when the difference in reliability is shrinking.

The one exclusion I think would be Subaru who have made big efforts to improve, altough they were coming from a worse off position than the more established japanese.

[Limit13ss]

Another thing to note from the test drive:

The Cluster... yah... looks good on a Yamaha R6... Should stay there.

Also, to me, all the user inputs, such as steering wheel, braking, and clutch, seem very disconnected. Its like everything you do, is a mere suggestion for the car, not a direct command.

[Werks11]

" I'll save you the trouble.."



Thats what I said when I test drove an ASTRA, yet GM was able to sell 1200--1300 of them. Just read the SONIC will hit the scales at around 2650 lbs so the Astra's 1.8L in the Sonic should feel a little stronger hauling less weight.

[Limit13ss]

Yes, in theory, but it doesn't.

It really does make a big difference. The astra's are built in Europe, Belgium to be exact, thus they feel like an euro car. The dealership guy told me the sonic is "the only car fully built in north america" ... and yes in theory should be better and faster... but its not... it just isn't. Feels like an Aveo, the way it handles and accelerates, and breaks.

One pro, I will say, is the manual tranny is very forgiving, and easy to drive for a new driver, ( mostly because it feels like a joystick pedal, not a real clutch ) but that's it. lol

Generally, I hate GM cars with a passion, but I made an exception for the Astra, because its different.

[OPEL Blitz]

Originally Posted by Limit13ss

Feels like an Aveo, the way it handles and accelerates, and breaks.

Good to hear it breaks like a Chevrolet usually does

[Werks11]

Astra a car I didn't buy because it didn't perform. Sonic that I'll likely not buy because it sounds as if it doesn't perform. Rack that up with the Chevy Cruze that doesn't perform and still GM can't sell me a new car.

[nicolas_p]

Originally Posted by Werks11

Astra a car I didn't buy because it didn't perform. Sonic that I'll likely not buy because it sounds as if it doesn't perform. Rack that up with the Chevy Cruze that doesn't perform and still GM can't sell me a new car.

Just saying, have a look at buick