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Brian Konoske (Photographer) / GM
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback.
By Dan Carney
Only a block from the media introduction of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art hosted an exhibit of products created for the Braun electronics company.
The exhibit demonstrated how the designs, by Dieter Rams boosted the appeal of consumer products and influenced today’s paragon of industrial design: Apple.
This is relevant to the new Sonic because if carmakers from time to time lose focus on the importance of the styling of their vehicles, they especially seem to think that people who buy low-priced subcompact cars have no taste, style or aspirations.
Subcompact cars, outside a few niche premium products like the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, have been doomed to wear dull, indifferent styling.
But Braun, and then Apple, showed that it is possible to design affordable, mainstream, high-volume products that look like they belong in a museum. I wouldn’t necessarily predict that the 2012 Sonic is museum-ready, but the car’s adventurous, expressive styling does offer small-car shoppers some redemption from the too-often invisible style of cars in the segment.
The vivid flair of sport motorcycles provided the Sonic’s inspiration inside and out. The influence is most apparent in the quad circular headlamps and in the instrument binnacle atop the steering column.
Elsewhere, well, it’s hard to find much else on a compact car that resembles the spare appearance of a sportbike. But a prominent exhaust or faux handgrips molded into the steering wheel would have been an overwrought interpretation of the theme.
Some un-motorcycle-like details: Engineers sought to make the Sonic as safe as possible with a profusion of airbags. It’s hard to imagine where they could fit 10 airbags in such a small car, but that fact certainly cultivates the mental image of the entire cabin stuffed with pillowy cushions in the event of a disaster.
Of course, those cushions are no good if the metal box around them is flimsy, so the Sonic is reinforced with high-strength steel that yields a body shell 77 percent stiffer than that of the outgoing Aveo model.
Some other upgrades? How about available sunroof, heated seats and remote start? Here is some substance to support the Sonic’s style that lets customers escape the feeling that they’ve shortchanged themselves by buying a subcompact.
One miss: the outgoing Aveo model offered a lumbar adjuster for the driver’s seat that is absent from the Sonic. We brothers of chronic lower back pain beg for its return.
Also un-motorcycle-like: sluggish, indifferent throttle response that lags disappointingly on the application and churns onward after lifting off the gas with the inertia of a temporary government program.
The tiny 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine produces an impressive 138 horsepower and a more surprising 148 pound-feet of torque thanks to a turbocharger. Once a shibboleth connoting maximum performance, turbocharging is now a tool applied to improve fuel economy because it lets small engines do the work of big ones. Seeing a torque number that’s bigger than the horsepower rating is the proof Chevy’s engineers have accomplished that feat because in small engines that order is normally reversed.
But it seems that tuning engines to sip gas like espresso rather than to gulp it like Gatorade saps them of the crisp response epitomized by the zing of sportbikes. Even the masters of small engine tuning at Honda struggle with this. Hopefully GM's tuners can continue to improve this detail.
Of course it’s a detail that matters only to us unreformed enthusiasts who insist on choosing the Sonic's superb six-speed manual transmission, with its precise shifter and smooth clutch take-up. Most Sonic buyers will choose the automatic, which masks the engine's throttle response characteristics.
Behind the wheel the driver's eye falls on a vast expanse of plastic. What did you expect in a subcompact, Terrazzo tile? But Chevy's designers wisely chose not to pretend otherwise.
"We do have a plastic dashboard," noted design manager Kathy Sirvio. "Instead of trying to make it look like something it is not, we put a nice technical grain on it."
If you have ever wondered what a reviewer means when discussing "good" vs. "cheap" plastic, this is it. Good plastic is honest enough to not pretend it is something else, without surrendering all pretense of style so that it looks like something found at the bottom of your kid's toy box.
The high-strength steel in the body shell contributes to the Sonic's solid feeling, both on the road and when closing doors. Standard aluminum wheels trim away a couple decibels of road noise, further refining the drive.
Both motorcycles and subcompact cars are supposed to get good fuel economy, and the EPA says the Sonic is superlative, with a 40 mpg highway rating for the tested manual transmission. But fuel economy depends substantially on how the car is driven, and a few days of fun driving pushed my test car's mileage down to an un-motorcycle-like 25 mpg.
I'll take the blame for that this time, but it was surprising to see such a low number. Drivers who were born to be mild but appreciate motorcycle-influenced style can aim for the EPA's 40 mpg rating with their own Chevy Sonic.
Vital stats: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
Base price: $16,495
As tested: $17,195
EPA fuel economy (city/highway): 29/40
Pros: The only subcompact made in America, 10 standard airbags, premium options, such as seat heaters.
Cons: A sluggish, disconnected throttle response.
Verdict: Not just GM's first great subcompact; the Sonic is the first one that’s good.
Standard equipment: 138-hp, 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, aluminum wheels, tilting and telescoping steering, power windows and door locks, heated outside mirrors.
Major options: Six-speed manual transmission.
Safety equipment: Electronic stability control, 10 standard airbags, antilock brakes.
Leave a Comment:
Probably the best vehicle in it's class to be on the road. Cute , teriffic interior and affordable. Saw it and will get one. I'll buy if America can make such cars! Toyota has had too much American money. This one sips the gas instead of making you bankrupt Good Luck GM and Chrysler and Ford. You guys will win back this country! And way to go Bob King and the intelligent Labor agreements!
The article is nothing but a paid info-commercial masqueraded as jouralism. It's sneeky and dishonest.
Truth be told, the car is the same old Chevy Aveo rebadged as the Sonic, a crappy car from the Korean car company, Daewoo, which emerged out of bankruptcy and which GM has nearly 40% ownership.
Having taken billions of taxpayer dollars as bailout, GM should have manufactured this car in the states. Instead, GM and its executives stab the American workers and taxpayers in the back -- and twisted the blade. The former GM went bankrupt as a result of stupid, incompetent, and arrogant corporate managers who demanded 7 digit salary for their talent while demanding wage concession from auto workers --- even while operating on taxpayer bailout money.
Once the icon of American manufacturing might, GM is a shadow of its former size, today. Even as a new post-bankrupt corporation, GM has become a symbol of corporate greed, dishonesty, and self-deception that doomed an American car company and the decline of American economic power.
The Sonic is built in a plant outside of Detroit. The Aveo replacement is the Chevy Spark which is Korean built. However FatCat your view of GM's executives is most likely dead on target.
" sluggish, indifferent throttle response that lags disappointingly on the application and churns onward after lifting off the gas with the inertia of a temporary government program."
AND 25mpg out of a 1.4 liter turbo... jesus. Did he just put it park and sit a brick on the accelerator for a few hours?
Get yourself a Ford Focus or a Honda Fit.
Looks like crap to me, just like all the other Chevy vehicles....
I just dont know why they just can not get better designs for their vehicles....
A lot of plastic here, funny looking front grills, small tires, 80s looking rims....just plain retarded for a monster company to keep doing the same thing over and over again....
Americans are tired of the same old look American car manaufacturers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While the Japanese and Europeans are experimenting on cool ideas to attract customers, Americans are busy experimenting on plastic interiors, platics bodies, plastic everything....very annoying.
As much as I really wanna reward the American hard working car manufacturer, I just cant see myself gettin an American vehicle anytime soon; they just cannot go toe to toe with European or Japanese cars, period!
Why do we excel in everything else except cars? This I just do not understand!
I must admit, if this is the real world mileage, this car is pretty fail. I have a Scion Xa that averages 29-32mpg, and I drive it well above the posted speed limits. It is not turbo either, so I don't know why this thing would get 25mpg. We need some more data points about this...
Who did chevy pay off to get this article/advertisement posted?????
As of last year, this was on most all critics lists as "ONE OF THE 10 WORST CARS ON THE ROAD"!
This is the lowly Aveo with a new nose , right?
While I don't take issue with the Sonic, this author apparently hasn't been looking at what is driving alongside him on the road, lately. The 'stylish' compact cars hit the market circa 2005 and Chevy is playing catch up. Good catch up, maybe, but to say the mini cooper is the only stylish compact on the road is laughable. There are quite a few, albeit there are some boring as well.
Whatever. Journalist needs to impress his boss.
NoNoNO it's not a new Aveo, it's the ONLY subcompact car built in the USA. As the author stated, he drove it like he stole it, thus the 25 mpg. Fat Cat and pjam, what's with you guys? Every good thing a US company is doing you have a problem with. Does someone poop in your cereal every morning? Lets buy a Focus built in Mexico or a Fit made in Japan (they don't make those here) and screw the US worker. How you guys gonna celebrate veterans day tomorrow? I shudder to think. Sigh.
Just to clear up a few facts. The Chevrolet Aveo was a badge-engineered model based on the Daewoo Kalos, which used the Daewoo T250 chassis and was simply awful. The Chevrolet Sonic does not depart much from the general appearance of the previous Aveo, but is actually based on the GM Gamma II platform which is more closely related to the much better Opel Corsa.
All the same though, while I acknowledge this as a good try by GM, there is nothing here that really screams "buy me". At 25 city/40 hwy, I would much rather get a Mazda 3 for a little more money.
I read 29city and 40 highway better then the scion.
Oops, you are absolutely right. I still stand by my answer though, I would prefer a 27/39 Mazda 3 over this.
Looks like somebody took a large car and cut it in half.
Just bought a Chevy Cruze Eco. Better finished and larger interior, better mileage, over all I think the Sonic will be a hard sell with the only advantage being a little lower price. We did not look twice at the Sonic after looking at the Cruze.
Unfortunately your comparison to Apple doens't cut the muster. Yes, Apple products feature excellent designs. Yes, Apple products are very mainstream. But the main reason that drives people to buy subcompact vehicles is the price, dummy. And Apple's products are overpriced compared to other similar devices on the market.
Actually, Apple's products are more competitive than you think. True, you can buy a shelf-built PC for a few hundred bucks, but if you want it to perform like a Mac, you have to replace the video card, sound card, etc., and then the price isn't so low any more.
HankE, is that what the Apple Store told you? The only reason why Macs perform "so well" is because of their limited software options. Unless you *gasp* install Windows.
EScott - there is not point in trying to use logic and truth on Apple fans...but if you are going to try you may as well point out that a new PC with a new video card in it will be much faster than Apples offerings. For less money.
Apple makes nice stuff, but Apple does demand a hefty profit for their products that are made with what might as well be slave labor. Which is what BTCoates was saying.
I don't see why anyone would buy it when it's priced so close to their own Cruze model. And 25mpg?
I have a mazda 6 with a 3.7L and 275HP and I get 25mpg! WTF!
haha, mazda, chic vehicle!
You think Mazda is chic? I thought only chicks used that word.
and we bailed these fools out to keep producing cars at 25 mpg. wtf??? next time they need a bail out, let 'em go under. american car makers just don't get it!!!!
Why do you hate your own people?
The article stated that it got 25 mpg when he was horsing around in it. It's EPA rated at 29mpg/city and 40mpg/highway, which is damn good.
Because they failed, cost us a fortune, corrupt our politicians, and continue producing the same crap that led to their original failure.
2448: Why do you hate your own people?
First we don't hate our own people. Second, I'll tell you why our "own" people suck. Because they consistently perform below the competition in producing logical, economical, and reliable vehicles. And considering that you very rarely even get to drive past 90mph, is it really a priority to have 250 hp and do zero to 60 in 4 seconds? You peoples' priorities are so @!$%#ing out of line. Did it ever occur to you that we have more important issues to deal with here? Get with it you stupid hicks. Street cars are not race cars. And "29/40 is damn good"? Yeah, unless you compare it to a prius, or nissan leaf, or my old 1987 HONDA CIVIC, that got 45 mpg 24 years AGO!!!! DUHHHH That's exactly the point. Under performance in almost every category... that's GM and that's called complacency. They should have gone bankrupt and the money used to bail them out should have gone to a US start up car manufacturer that could actually produce some practical vehicles. And then everyone complains about gas prices. Well you can't drive inefficient cars and have low gas bills can you? Your problems and arguements are so juvenile it's pathetic. This is not rocket science.
If you have a lead foot, your MPG will be low(er) too.
Wow the comments here are simply astounding and a direct result of people who know nothing about cars/driving commenting on the very subject there clueless about.
First off, the Sonic is NOT built on a daewoo platform - the spark is
Second, dont compare your old civic to a modern car - it carries hundreds of pounds more in safety and convenience equipment
Third, to get 40+mpg out of a car you must drive it with barely a feather on the gas pedal - clearly this sonic wasnt driven this way
and for the moron who thinks 250hp is too much - you need power to make the car safe to get on a highway and to avoid dangerous situations on the road - slow cars cant get out of their own way
I am in no way a Chevy fanboy and my preference is strictly rwd/manual but some facts need to be stated
BTW, the Sonic beat out about 4 or 5 other competitors and got 2nd place behind the excellent Fit in a Car and Driver comparison recently, so no, they are not turning out crap like the Aveo anymore.
Al718 you my friend are spot on. Why these folks post in an automotive forum when they don't know what car they are talking about, where the car is built, have never looked at the cars competition (with they're plastic cheap interiors, where the competitions cars are built, etc., they just make themselves look dumb to the people in the automotive field. Mostly they are so pissed off that Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama saved the American automotive industry they will kiss foreigners butts and spit on the Americian worker. Some are simply misinformed. The angry ones, well, it must suck to be them.
If they had used the engine/chassis from the Solstice/Sky/Opel GT which incidentally gets better fuel consumption than shown in the specs, it would have made an interesting vehicle, as is; 138-hp, 1.4-liter doesn't really cut it. ( 265 hp from a 2.0 liter GPX Solstice)
Yes, because a 2.0 liter turbo gets better fuel economy than a 1.4 liter turbo, and the 2.8 liter turbo gets even better fuel economy, and the 6.2 liter even better than that.. you know because that's how it works =)
Until an engine is broken in you won't get maximum fuel efficiency. I know that mpg on our 2009 Chevy Malibu increased after we had some miles on the engine. And we get very close to the EPA rated mileage. It is rated 33 on the highway and we get 31-32. Driving style has a lot to do with mpg. Let's read up on all of the reviews on the Chevy Sonic before denouncing it.
Plastic. Ugh. My 1989 Jeep Cherokee had padded vinyl in many places that were changed to hard plastic on my 2001 Jeep Cherokee. Within 6 years my 2001 looked worse than my 1989 did after 12 years. Padded vinyl gives. Hard plastic scratches.
Some of the throttle sluggishness is likely from the electronic throttle that is used today. Instead of your foot being connected to the engine it is now connected to a computer. The computer works to keep emissions down instead of giving you the get up and go that you really want.
Looks like a Kia Soul with a different front end. YAWN.
Bottom line - it is still a Chevy...
What a piece of...Chevy...what a joke...
Its time for this Chevy to quit its day job...yes...it belongs in a museum as a reflection of the waste of money to bail it out...this company needs to go under...
Sorry, but to be blunt...you're clueless. I own a Chevy and it is a superb vehicle.
Thats crazy you can get a Focus, Fiesta, hell even the Cruze and get better mileage and the prices are all within range of each other. I think Chevy could of done without the Sonic. Im an import guy...Love my Subarus(hatches) but lately Ive been falling for Fords since they have been taking more cues from their European market style.
Looks dangerous and scary - A pocket rocket that will probably be considered a assigned risk by the insurance companies. Wait until you are surrounded by the Ford 350's and Hummers riding your bumper at 70 mph. Perhaps a accident life insurance policy will come with the car.
My 1987 Mazda 626, fully loaded, with 350,000 miles still gets 40 mpg on the road and 30 mpg in town.
haha mazda, chic vehicle
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
My car runs to 60 in 4.2 seconds and gets 25mpg on the freeway. I'd rather be hit with a 2x4 than drive that thing.
It'll take a long time to convince me it's not just another Chevette.
Chevy never learns.
25 years ago man. Move on with your life.
Chevy Cruze is an awesome car, my daughter loves hers and that makes me happy.
Wow GM, it only took you 15 years to get with the program. Congratulations. Here's a story for you: I am 31, have excellent credit, no debt, and drive a 95 hyundai accent. Why? Because I won't drive some over priced piece of @!$%# that is too big and get's horrible gas millage. Also, because I know how to stop spending money BEFORE I'm broke. It's about time you realized that if you listen to the consumer, you'll go broke because the consumers are @!$%#ing idiots. Define the market place. Tell the consumer what they want. Lord knows they're too stupid to figure it out for themselves. God you suck overall, but this is a great step in the right direction. 10 years more of these kind of products and I may actually consider buying a car from you. My minimum interest standard for a new car purchase is 60 MPG, NGV, or electric. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. That's your reality. Get with it.
You want 60 mpg? Buy a Volt. Want a better car than your Hyundai Accent without going broke? Buy a used 2-3 year old Chevy Impala. Big, comfortable, 33mpg on the highway. Not the greatest styling, but better than that 95 Hyundai and ten times the car.
Chevy makes junk and has since the 70's. Why can't americans buy iterations of the european chevy and opel here in the US.?
Because our overlords in DC are paid big money by the domestic manufacturers to keep the Euro versions out of our country, using BS excuses like "safety" and "emissions." I say BS, because so many of the Euro vehicles score at least as good as American vehicles. What I'd really like to see, is more American diesel powered vehicles. Today's low-sulfur diesel, with new technologies, is less polluting than gas, and each gallon contains more energy.
Of course, that's why the oil companies don't want to see them here...
Big foot or small brain; I don't care what the excuse is, if a little go-cart is capable of 25mpg it can sit on the dealer's lot til it gets smarter. I don't want a $17k mistake.
40 mpg! Thats a stretch. They put these cars in the best environment to get that 40 mpg. 70 degree days with the wind at there back going exactly 55. Slowing down WAY before you have to and starting from a stop sign really slow. Its a rackett. I have a 98 Cav with 163,000 miles on it and it gets 30 mpg. Can buy ALOT of gas with 18 grand. They can keep this car. Looks like a Chevette.
I'm "everywoman". For the last four decades I have been ahead of the curve on politics, social issues, architecture and design/technology. Let me tell you, I will not buy a new car until there is a road-quiet, flex-fuel, plug-in, hatchback, auto-transmission, four-door, steel frame, multi-airbag hybrid for less than $20,000. I don't need to accelerate at the speed of light, but I do need to be able to get out of the way of danger. I don't need to cruise faster than the speed limit, but I want good fuel economy at that limit. I don't need flashy paint colors or "luxury" interiors. I need and want utility and thrift over style, and I don't need to impress anyone with my glamorous car. I want an easy to read dashboard, without too much fiddly detail, a decent radio and an efficient heater and cooler. I want good windshield visibility. I want to see photovoltaic panels on the roof to power a fan to keep air circulating into and out of the car in hot climates. And smaller replaceable parts, like lights, so, for example, if a tail light cover gets broken, you can buy the broken part and don't need a whole new damn fender. I want sensible ergonomics, like multi-adjustable seats, included in the base price. It may seem that I want a whole lot, but most of the things I want can be addressed at the design level, so the manufacture won't cost more. Why are the US car companies not listening to the public, instead of navel-gazing, guessing or knocking off foreign design ideas, albeit badly? I have sent these thoughts to all the CEO's to let them know what women want, and I am sure my thoughts represent many consumer's wishes. It seems that auto design is geared to flatter men into thinking they will be more virile if only they will buy the cr*p they churn out. Women see cars as transportation, not as hormone replacement therapy.
Geez ....another POS from GM.
No thanks , I won't buy your crap !
I am no fan of GM as a company or any of the cars they make, but why does everyone keep comparing a car that comes out today with some random pile of crap they bought in 1976, no matter the manufacturer? Do you honestly think that nothing has changed since then? People say something is a POS and they've probably never seen it in person, never driven it, and probably no little about it other than what is written in Car and Driver or some other worthless publication. I'm not saying this is a great little car, or that I would ever consider buying it. Just saying maybe not act like children.
That being said, this article is practically a chevy commercial. I wonder if the guy bought some stock prior to writing this...
they wont be on your tail long they will run out of gas and you can just keep going. and going they will go the was of the large dinos.
I'm glad to see GM producing a car like the Sonic. For too long it's been big oversize dinosaur SUV's and gas sucking pickup trucks that you can't see over or around. When I first read this article and saw the picture of the hatchback model I thought this thing is going to be another dud. Then I looked up the car on google and saw photos of the sedan models and must say I'm impressed. Good luck with this one GM.
My 1.0 liter 3-cyl 1987 Chevy Turbo Sprint got an honest 40 mpg, and lasted for 17 years. It would also blow the doors off this mini-tank. I finally replaced it with an Aveo, which actually is a fairly decent subcompact. But this new "Sonic" - 10 airbags? They must have one in the rear bumper in case someone runs into it.