MSRP: $17,520
As Tested Price: $19,860
Just as with Ford's products of old, I was never a fan of General Motors products, with the lone exception of the Corvette. But also just like Ford, General Motors has made a marked improvement over the last few years with their vehicles. Quality and reliability, two of GM's biggest complaints, have improved to the point that the automotive press actually considers some of GM's current crop of vehicles genuine competitors to their Japanese and German counterparts.
GM, like many automotive manufacturers, have recently begun introducing subcompact cars into their vehicle line ups. Subcompacts are becoming especially popular amongst young adults and small families looking for a practical vehicle that does not drink gasoline like an SUV. The Sonic, Chevrolet's entry to United States subcompact market, replaces the aging Chevrolet Aveo as Chevrolet's subcompact entry (the Sonic is, however, still marketed as the Chevrolet Aveo in other markets). Competition in the subcompact segment has gotten much more aggressive over the past few years, especially with constantly rising gas prices. Does the Chevrolet Sonic have what it takes to be a true competitor in the subcompact market, or will it crumble under the weight of its competitors?
West Brother's Review

Once the shock of the extremely bright color wore off, I noticed that the Sonic is actually not that bad looking of a car. It certainly stands out more than the other cars I tested in this segment, with its chrome trimmed lights and giant grill opening. This car definitely falls on the more aggressive looking side of the subcompact spectrum. The small 15 inch wheels looked quite small for the car, but adding the 16 inch wheels, or upgrading to the LTZ or RS package would have taken this car well over $20,000. If there is one thing I would change, I would ease up a bit on the chrome.


While the interior of the Sonic is not exactly great, the way the car drives is an entirely different story. The Sonic LT comes standard with a 1.8 liter inline-4 making 138hp and 125lb./ft. of torque. Instead of the standard engine though, the Sonic LT we drove came equipped with the optional 1.4 liter, turbocharged inline-4, which makes the same 138hp, but makes 148lb./ft. of torque. For a small turbocharged engine, this thing pulls quite well. Turbo lag is almost unnoticeable, and power feels good across the entire rev range. The EPA estimated 27 city and 34 highway miles per gallon is pretty impressive for a turbocharged engine. Though it does raise the cost quite a bit, making this car the most expensive subcompact we tested, I would say this engine is worth it.
It is too bad that the transmission leaves something to be desired though. The Sonic's six-speed automatic, while decent, is nothing to write home about. Up shifts are reasonably smooth, just like any other automatic transmission available today. It is this transmission's down shifts that bother me. Because there seems to be no throttle blip programmed into the automatic's down shifting, the car has a tendency to jerk during down shifts. What also bothers me about the transmission is the strange way the manual shift mode is set up. Most automatic transmissions with a manual shift mode either have you put the lever into a manual gate, where you then either push up or down to shift, or have steering or column mounted paddle shifters. The Sonic has you shift the car into manual mode, which is one shift below "D," and change gears using a "+/-" button located on the left side of the shift knob. I understand the need to be different in order to stand out, but like they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Thankfully, the Sonic's handling kept my mind off the mediocre transmission. Even though we did not drive the top of the line RS model, the LT still held its own quite well. The car did exhibit some understeer during hard cornering, due largely in part to the skinny 195 mm width tires, but it was not unmanageable. Handling duties were made a lot easier thanks to this car's well weighted and surprisingly communicative steering wheel. Being able to feel what the tires were doing through the wheel certainly helped correct the Sonic's minor understeer. Braking was also quite good, with a good initial bite and a solid brake feel that carries all the way to a stop. Body roll was surprisingly minimal despite the car's height. It certainly is not the best handling subcompact on the market, but it seems like the car could definitely hold its own around twisty roads.

My Fiancee's Review

Luckily for the Sonic, it drives very well. The car seemed to have good acceleration and felt quite powerful even though it had a very small engine. Brakes on the car were very good too. It feels like the brakes grab very hard without having to use much force on the brake pedal. Handling is also very good and feels very sporty without being too rough. The steering wheel has very good response too, and does not feel too heavy.

Overall, the Sonic LT is a decent car. It has a very aggressive look and has a lot of neat touches to it, like the optional touch screen radio. While it drives and handles very well, a lot of the materials used in the car are very cheap. If Chevrolet had used better materials to build the car, I feel like this would have been a car I would have looked at when I was looking to replace my old car.
*Special thanks to Martin Chevrolet for letting us test drive their vehicle!*
**Find out how the Sonic LT fared in our Subcompact Showdown
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