Dear young adults: Time’s up. The Back to School season is upon us and many will be wrestled from the teat of living at home and sent packing to the independent living of college. There are many important decisions to be made as you outfit yourself before the journey into higher education, and while your youthful impetuousness will drive you to what you think will be the most “fly” or “jiggy,” what will really make you stand out among your peers is demonstrating how practical and forward thinking you can be. You’ll need a sensible laptop over an overclocked gaming rig, for example. When it comes to vehicles, I’m sure you’d think a V8 powerhouse will get you to class faster, but why think so 2-dimensionally? Don’t settle for just fast. Go Sonic.
Chevrolet’s Sonic has had a graduation of sorts of its own. Starting in 2002 as the Daewoo Kalos and finding itself known as the Pontiac G3 or Aveo5 in more recent incarnations, it’s been revamped and given the Sonic moniker for its new beginning this year. The Sonic had one hell of a summer off, too, traveling the country to do the sort of character building stuff you do with new-found freedom: bungee-jump, go skydiving, and even get up to urban mischief with skateboarders and graffiti artists.
From the outset, you’re bound to be attracted to the motorcycle-inspired exposed headlamps that give the Sonic’s fascia just enough aggressiveness that it conveys sportiness without going overboard with the design. The body looks a little meatier than other subcompact hatchbacks, with an especially tall stance and 17″ wheels on the LTZ package, but pull into a parking spot and you’ll realize the car’s presence is larger than its actual physical footprint. Six standard colors are available for the Sonic, as are two premium paint jobs; Inferno Orange, and Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat. These premium colors set the Sonic apart from the pack and the Crystal Red in particular seems to have a richness to it that makes the body contours pop as it plays with the light.
Getting you to from class to class is the Sonic’s 1.8L DOHC i4 engine, netting you 138 hp. Opting for the turbocharged 1.4L instead gives you a significant boost in torque at 148 ft. lbs @1850 RPMs. Let’s break this down in classic collegiate style: A Chevrolet Sonic Turbo and a Ford Fiesta have to climb the inclined bend on the main street leading out of my town. Which one makes it to the top first? Take a guess.
For the sake of showing my work, I had to drop off a friend’s Fiesta and the climb up this particular hill was memorable since I had the pedal flat on the floor as the lil’ Fiesta, which I think highly of, struggled to gain speed. The Sonic, with a little turbo lag, climbed the hill without breaking a sweat and even overtook other commuters. With the 1.4L turbo engine comes with a bump from the standard 5-speed manual to a 6-speed, while the 6-speed automatic remains available throughout. That extra gear paired with the turbocharger gives you the potential for 40 mpg highway fuel economy, and while we scored the auto on our test vehicle, we only fueled up once after a week of regular commuting.
The 5-door hatch offers passenger space and cargo with little compromise. The driver and front passengers can take as much legroom as needed without encroaching on anyone traveling with you in the rear. Plenty of headroom makes the capacity of this subcompact even more surprising. Up front in the LTZ is everything you could possibly need for the busy and the mobile, such as the connectivity package for Bluetooth pairing of phone functions, including audio. Above the glove box is a separate storage compartment we took to referring to as “the media center” as it’s a place to tuck away music players while they are connected. It’s a good place for your friends to charge/share their own devices without fidgeting in the driver’s areas of operation. You’ll also find about 20 cubic feet of storage behind the seats as well, and 47 cu.ft. if you and a pal decide to pick up boxes of furniture to assemble.
There are several shelves and compartments to be found up front, two of which bookend the center console and fit phones well if you don’t have a mount and wish to use them for navigation. Large water bottles will fit with room to spare in the door-side cupholders and there are plenty of item consuming nooks within arms reach. Soft touch surfaces are devided into surfaces that feel solid and hard plastic materials, particularly anywhere you find chrome paint. One small touch we got a kick out of was the butterfly valves in the corner air vents. It’s a simple design touch that we found unique.
One of the most important features of the Sonic interior is one you (hopefully) never get to see: 10 airbags are located throughout the cabin, a class first, should put minds at ease as you set off in the world as well as the 5-star crash ratings across the board.
While the Chevrolet Sonic certainly has a fun and youthful image, the reality of the driving experience is more run of the mill. There are certainly worse handling vehicles in it’s class, but there have been better. You’ll find MacPherson struts in the front and a semi-independent torsion beam axle in the back. The whole platform rides comfortably in town and on the highway, but the Sonic negotiates bends nervously at any spirited speeds. The throttle also lags a full beat when pressing down on the throttle which is exasperated by how long gear changes are in the automatic. Choosing the 6-speed manual would mitigate the responsiveness issue and the upcoming RS version, with a lowered stance and modified suspension, should add a sporty spring in the Sonic’s step.
You don’t choose the Sonic because you want a sports car, you choose it for its versatility, and it shines in that regard. As a daily driver, it performs dutifully, taking you to wherever you need to go with little effort and doing so comfortably. After spending quite a bit of time sitting in traffic with the car, I never felt fatigued by the car itself; I had my satellite radio, a water bottle handy if I brought one, and hands-free calling when I needed to get some quick work done. I also didn’t feel that nagging uncomfortableness that people are passing me because the car I’m in is slow and in their way. The Sonic never needed a wide open throttle to do anything basic.
When looking at the playing field the Sonic makes a good all-rounder that may not dominate the table with its numbers, but where it doesn’t win, it holds a solid defense. The Sonic surpasses the Ford Fiesta in horsepower, but matches the Hyundai accent in power, though walks away with much more torque with the 1.4L turbo. Fuel economy is par for the course and, again improves with the manual/turbo combo while cargo space trounces everyone else’s numbers, including the boxy Versa. Objectively speaking, the Sonic will be on anyone’s short list for the most stylish subcompact, going toe-to-toe really with just the Fiesta and Accent; all looking solid and well manufactured. the base model MSRP comes in at $15,395, but going full LTZ will start you off at $17,995. Our test vehicle, with the spiffy paint and loaded with options topped off at $20,445. You get what you pay for, and by that I mean getting a fully loaded and versatile car like the Sonic for 20 large is not a bad deal at all.
With the RS version on the horizon, I feel like anyone wishing to scratch a performance itch will be feeling a small pang of regret if they picked this up now, but this is the only case in which I wouldn’t recommend the Sonic. Many young people are eying hatchbacks because it’s a no-brainer for new beginnings, be it school or a new family. I wouldn’t be surprised if a good generation of Instagrammed shots crop up in ten years time with folks proudly saying “this was the car I got in college” as the memories of all the stuff they got up to waft through their minds. I’ll be old(er) then, and if I come across any such individual, my curmudgeony, half cyborg self won’t be surprised one bit.
– Promiscuous Data-
Accolades – a good handful of double-takes parking in storefronts, loads of questions from friends, and even more from acquaintances shopping in the Sonic’s segment
Notable Rival Of The Week – A very strange middle-aged man in a red Pontiac Vibe made an effort to shout ” Take it back to Detroit, we don’t want it here!” at me while driving through my town, leaving me with many questions.
Price & Availability – On sale now, with an MSRP of $15,395 for the base LS, and $17,995 for the LTZ. Our test car’s total vehicle price was $20,445
Fuel Eco – 29/40 City/Highway for the turbo engine & Manual. 27/37 for our turbo with automatic. spent $43.01 for 10.5 gallons during our test.
Bottom Line – A very good car, but if you want great, that RS could have it.
Words By – Alex Kalogiannis
Photos By – Sean Spencer
