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Maintaining it fresh.
Chevrolet delivers the Sonic with the optional 138-hp 1.4-liter turbo 4 on LT and LTZ trims but tends to make the little huffer standard in the sporty RS package. Midway via the 2014 model year, Chevrolet added the RS package to the sedan it had been hatchback-only when it arrived for 2013. This demonstrates that, apart from figuring out at extended final how to develop a decent small car and even assemble it in the United States, GM has also discovered a way to give the marketplace something fresh for a third model year.
Also new for mid-2014, is the Advanced Security package of forward-collision alert and lane-departure warnings, which added $ 395 to the $ 20,530 MSRP on the Sonic RS sedan tested right here. It was the only extracost choice, so the sticker price still came in at below $ 21,000.
The RS common equipment list is fairly powerful, with A/C, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with a tilting and telescoping column, remote keyless entry, a rearview camera, and the Chevy MyLink infotainment system with voice recognition. Utilizing apps on your smartphone accessed via the Bluetooth hyperlink, the MyLink touch screen offers you access to navigation, Pandora, and other features—this auto didn’t have the 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot hyperlink to the net, but the Sonic will consist of that with 2015 models. So the “keep it fresh” mentality is continuing into a 4th year.
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We have been impressed with the Sonic when it first appeared for 2012—it finished second that year in a 6-way subcompact shootout with the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, and Kia Rio—and it nonetheless rides higher with shoppers as 1 of the sales leaders in the subcompact segment. Count on revisions as the 2015 models roll out, but a small Chevy that ranks higher in its segment and gains marketplace share year right after year is emphatically not what critics anticipated in 2010.
Great Expectations
The sporty RS draws fewer raves than the Sonic in general, mainly due to the fact the badge raises expectations beyond the car’s actual attain. Clearly, the RS does not aim to combat the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST or even the Kia Forte Koup turbo in efficiency, specification or, to be fair, value.
As with the hatchback, the RS sedan employs the 1.4-liter Ecotec turbo 4-banger but gets no far more thrust: 138 horsepower is the Sonic ceiling, no matter whether from the base 1.8-liter naturally aspirated 4 or the turbo 1.4. The latter has a broader torque band with a stronger peak (148 lb-ft at 2500 rpm versus only 125 at 3800 rpm) and identical general EPA mileage ratings, so we believe it is worth the $ 700 uptick.
Coupled right here to a 6-speed manual transmission, the 1.4-liter is strong adequate to outrun the non-functionality-grade versions of all the aforementioned competitors to 60 mph. The RS sedan clocked in at 72 seconds, 1-tenth behind the 2013 hatchback RS and identical to the time we got in a 2012 LTZ with the turbo/manual combination. This parity is in spite of what, in theory, must be a a lot more accelerative combination of final drive and closer spacing among the gear ratios. Whereas most turbo Sonics run a 3.65:1 final drive with the manual (3.23:1 with the 6-speed automatic), the RS gets a shorter 4.18:1 differential ratio (3.53:1 with the automatic). The manual also uses a shorter initial-gear, but aside from creating it simpler to squeal the tires from a standstill, it signifies really little: At the drag strip, the LTZ turbo/manual hatchback did a 16.5-second quarter-mile at 85 mph and the RS sedan got there a tenth faster going 1 mph quicker. Even the zero-to-30 time doesn’t improve—perhaps Chevy could save some bucks and just use one setup? Regardless, the most measurable impact of the gearing alterations may possibly be fuel economy: sixth gear isn’t fairly as tall as in other models (.74:1 versus .61), and with the shorter final drive we saw 29 mpg in the RS although the LTZ returned 31 mpg.
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We’ve grown a small far more jaded about the Sonic as the B-segment exciting-to-drive quotient expands with new entries featuring sharper, more responsive driving dynamics. The Sonic’s manual shifter is not the ideal tool in the subcompact shed any longer, the car’s steering is fast but short on feedback, and handling is predictable but not sprightly.
Hitting the Scales
Newer, far more expressive styles also cast a distinct Elmer Fudd-ish shadow over Sonic’s micro-Cruze styling. The resemblance to its larger stablemates is more than skin-deep: at 2846 pounds on our scale, this RS sedan weighs some 220 pounds a lot more than a similarly sized Ford Fiesta SFE sedan. Steering clear of the far more serious overall performance end of the B-segment spectrum appears wise. In that context the weight penalty would loom bigger and the benefits of size (a trunk much more spacious than the a single in the Honda Civic, for starters, and habitable rear seats) would matter much less. As it is, the 168-foot stopping distance from 70 mph and .85 g cornering could be better have been the chassis lighter.
Putting the RS trimmings on the sedan, then, is rather like that string of pearls granny utilised to wear with a housedress. It classes things up a bit without actually fooling anyone into thinking that you are headed to town in a ball gown. In a segment where the lowly Aveo once roamed the land in its Kmart wardrobe, the Sonic RS provides decent look upgrades. With 17-inch wheels, a decklid spoiler, front fog lamps, a far more aggressive front fascia with an air dam and body-side moldings, it appears a tad sportier on its lowered, stiffened suspension. The RS interior upgrades include a set of leather-trimmed heated bucket seats with suede-like microfiber inserts up front and red stitching, plus a leather-dressed shift knob. Add these collision and lane-departure warning systems and drop a couple of much more bucks on telephone apps and the Sonic RS driver needn’t really feel deprived. That is much more than you could say for generations of preceding tiny Chevys. Let’s hope the subsequent step—making the driver feel specific when the gas pedal is pressed—comes quickly.
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