Chevrolet Sonic thoughts?

aussiesmg wrote: Go look at the Elantra, less money, more room, manual available on base model, more hp, similar mpg

^^^That too.

My MIL has a 2013 elantra GT. My FIL has a 2011 Honda fit. The fit will swallow the car seats and kiddos nearly as well as the WRX. It Truley is massive inside. Its interior has not worn to well but it has been quite reliable.

Her elantra really doesn't handle the car seats well. The seat shape is a bit weird for them and there isn't as much space as the fit. It is bigger than the fiesta but smaller than the sonic which seems very comparable to the fit. Car seats are very strange in that cars that have good space for real live humans may suck for car seats. I am not sure if the normal elantra sedan has more room than the elantra GT. It , the Mazda 3, the focus, and the regular impreza are on the list to cross shop. We love our outback and the new impreza has AWD which is a benefit for my job as I have on call that not coming in is not an option but I suspect FWD with snows would work fine.

Datsun310Guy wrote: 2014 Sonic, 5dr HB, RS Red Hot, Jet Black, Leather-appointed with sueded microfiber inserts base msrp* $20,325, delivery & handling $825, total msrp $21,150 employee price $19,511, current offers -$500, Net Price $19,011

I work at Jim Ellis in Atlanta. We are selling these this month for $4,000 off of MSRP. Makes the RS manual that I like $15,100.

In reply to ls1fiero:

In reply to nocones:

The GT must be different, I haul people everyday, from one handicapped male who is 6'8" 500lbs to three toddlers in car seats, nobody ever has problems with room, trunk easily carries a wheelchair and the car was rated by the EPA as a mid size due to the interior space.

150K on it and so far it has had 4 spark plugs, and air filter and a cabin filter.

Even has the original brake pads to this day.

My wife's Elantra got backed into last week. She picked up her rental car today, a Cruze. I asked how she likes it and she said she hates it. Her biggest gripe is how much smaller the interior is compared to the Elantra.

It appears the GT has a 3" shorter wheelbase. That is good news because I liked the car other than the cramped backseat which it stands to reason may not be a sedan feature. That's why I said its on the list as I knew they are well likes around here.

Between the warrantee and the competitive cost it may be the way to go. What's your real world MPG?

I only drive it on trips and I never have manually checked it. But according to the display we averaged 37.8 from Knoxville to Jacksonville through Atlanta and back to Knoxville over the mountains in N.C. at 80 M.P.H.

My wife only drives in city traffic and she has no concept of efficient driving. When I reset it before the trip it was showing 24 mpg avg. To illustrate how bad she is I averaged 23 in her 99 Grand prix in mixed driving while she averaged 16.

While it might not be enough to make a difference for you, just as an FYI since you mentioned it, the Sonic definitely does not have as much usable interior/cargo space as a Fit.

I get an average of 40 mpg, but my wife's car does get less, say 35 and hers is an auto with all the luxury extras. The auto has different gearing, it is quite obvious driven back to back.

Considering it weighs the same as an FB RX7 and has 35 more hp it really has adequate performance but not sporty levels of power. Brakes, gearshift and steering are excellent.

In reply to nocones: I didn't know the GT was shorter, I wonder if it weighs less, mine is 2660lbs

Probably not significantly as the missing part is the rear door area I would imagine. I'd guess 60-70lbs. Will deff. Look at the elantra. I don't like that you can't get heated seats in a base model but it ends up around $18k for the base and I guess I could add them.

I did some more spreadsheet work. A Sonic RS would save $11k over 5 years. The Elantra is about $500 more but i will update once i get better pricing info. With the Sonic LTZ about $2000 more than the sonic RS. Any of them is about a challenge car a year over the wrx.

Ours is auto as well.

what about that sonic? that weight and 84hp?

Dimensions LS Manual
Base Curb Weight 2269 lbs

The sonic 1.4 turbo is a surprisingly not-crappy car, and with a tune the performance becomes entertaining. I like the interior but the exterior is pretty polarizing, you either like it or you hate it, seems like.

Sounds like you're to the point of cross-shopping on actual tangible aspects and facts so you're probably well past "does it suck too much to consider", but imo it does not suck and should be considered.

Anecdotal evidence only, but FWIW: my wife works with a woman who has a Sonic hatch. This woman is, um, not very petite. I asked how she liked the car, and she raved about it. She said that she and her husband, who is "6-4 or 6-5, I forget" had driven to the east coast and back (from central Ontario) and had had all the room they wanted for themselves and all their stuff.

Can you get the RS in the sedan ? I hate the hatch .

In reply to scottdownsouth:

Yes, and me too.

Storz wrote:

theenico wrote: Sparks are assembled in Korea by GM Korea (formerly known as Daewoo). The Sonic is assembled in Michigan. Its engineering "homeroom" is GMK, but the US team made many changes to what we get here. I've had my 2012 Sonic 1.4t 6M since October of 2011. So far it's been extremely reliable. With just a software flash, it is very entertaining.

What kind of power do they make with flash and basic bolts ons?

Below is a scan of my dyno sheet. My car has nothing but a standard Trifecta tune on it. The rest of the car (exhaust, intake, etc.) is bone stock.

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theenico/media/05-16-13DynoTrifectaTuneOnly_zpse4532cc3.jpg.html][/URL]

If it's not totally legible at the bottom of the scan, the peak numbers at the tires were 176 ft/lbs and 140hp.