Montreal, Quebec – Canadians looking for a new subcompact are going to have a lot of choices this Fall. Small cars that have recently arrived, such as the Ford Fiesta, Mazda2, Scion iQ, Fiat 500, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio5 and Nissan Versa Sedan have upped the ante for small car fun, functionality and features, laying down the challenge for some of the more popular brands in this class.
No longer is the small car just basic transportation. No longer is it necessary to give up luxury touches, sporty driving or safety gear to get a car that is right-sized and fuel efficient (although roll-up windows and roll-down air conditioning are still available if you really want them).
The most recent addition to this list of subcompacts that are rewriting the meaning of “new and improved” is the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic.
Replacing the Aveo in Chevrolet’s subcompact slot, the Sonic is so completely new and so vastly improved from the outgoing Aveo that a name change seems absolutely necessary (although the Aveo name will continue on in a few markets).
Like many of its competitors, the Sonic is a world car, built in four different locations and sold in 60 countries. North American models are built in GM’s Orion assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan.
While window cranks and roll-down air conditioning are still the norm at the entry level, features like power door locks with remote keyless entry, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, intermittent wipers, driver information centre with compass, outside temperature and fuel economy measures, automatic headlamp control, hill-hold assist and Bluetooth connectivity for your cell phone, are decidedly up-market.
Active safety technology is also standard. The Sonic, even in base trim, has StabiliTrak electronic stability control and traction control, antilock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and panic brake assist, oil life monitoring system and an engine immobilizer theft deterrent system. OnStar with a six-month “Directions and Connections Plan” is free for the first six months.
For the extra $1,000, the LS hatch adds 15-inch aluminum alloy wheels and a rear window washer and wiper.
A six-speed automatic transmission ($1,300) and air conditioning ($1,150) are optional, eliminating open window air, if not the need to crank the windows up and down.
Also optional is a Peace of Mind package ($465) which adds four airbags – driver and passenger knee and rear thorax airbags – to the Sonic’s standard six airbags (dual-stage frontal, head curtain and front seat side airbags). In recent testing by the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Sonic received a top safety pick rating, but the car tested included all 10 airbags, which are standard equipment in the U.S.
The LTZ gets the Cruze’s 1.4-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine which is coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission. Everything that is optional on the LT is standard equipment on the LTZ with the exception of the sunroof which can be ordered separately ($1,100). As well, LTZ standard equipment includes perforated leather seating surfaces, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio and telephone controls and a six-speaker sound system that has XM satellite radio, USB port, CD player, MP3 playback, auxiliary input jack and Bluetooth audio streaming. LTZ pricing starts at $20,495 for the sedan and $20,995 for the hatchback.
$21K plus freight, taxes and other charges sounds like a lot of money for a sub-compact, and it is. But General Motors, as well as many of its key competitors, are taking the subcompact upmarket, way upmarket. Subcompact and economy car are no longer synonymous; and General Motors is betting that the smaller footprint of the Sonic (both its size and its environmental impact) will appeal to young singles and couples as well as empty nesters and retirees.
While the Sonic is smaller than the Chevrolet Cruze, it uses the same engines as the larger compact model: a 1.8-litre naturally aspirated 4-cylinder in LS and LT trims and a 1.4-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder for the LTZ. Both engines produce exactly the same 138 horsepower, but the 1.4-litre has 18 per cent more torque (148 lb.-ft. vs.125). As well, maximum horsepower and torque in the 1.4-litre is reached at a much lower r.p.m. As a result, the 1.4-litre feels stronger and delivers power more readily when needed.
Available transmissions include a 5-speed manual and an optional 6-speed automatic with the 1.8-litre engine, while the 1.4-litre turbo engine is mated to a 6-speed manual only.
Fuel consumption for the 1.8-litre is rated by Energuide at 7.7 L/100 km city and 5.6 L/100 km highway for cars equipped with the manual transmission and 8.3 L/100 km city, 5.5 L/100 km highway for the automatic.
The 1.4-litre turbo engine delivers 7.3 L/100 km in the city and 5.1 L/100 km on the highway, while giving the Sonic a noticeable boost in power at the lower end of the power band. LTZ owners really do get to have their cake and eat it too. While the improved fuel economy won’t pay back the cost of moving up to the LTZ, it will pay you back a little bit every time you get behind the wheel or pull up to a gas pump. Fuel grade for the turbo engine is regular unleaded.
Sport cloth seats are standard as are 60/40 split folding rear seatbacks. LTZ models get perforated leather seats. On a long day driving from Montreal to Quebec City I found that both versions provided excellent lumbar support and helped prevent the fatigue felt in other small cars.
It is a roomy and comfortable interior with excellent head and leg room for front seat passengers belying the subcompact dimensions of the Sonic. Space for rear seat passenger is more than sufficient, particularly for children and with the 60/40 rear folding seat, cargo carrying capacity in the hatchback is quite large with 869 litres (30.7 cu. ft.) available with the rear seats folded. Trunk space in the sedan is 397 litres (14 cu. ft.).
A highlight of the Sonic interior is its motorcycle inspired gauge package that combines an analogue tachometer with a digital speedometer as well as all driver information readings. It is compact, but easy to read at a glance. The centre stack houses audio and HVAC controls, the latter being large round dials that are easy to operate. Dash materials were complementing shades of grey in the cars we drove, highlighted by brighter metallic-like borders surrounding the centre stack, gear shift and large protruding air ducts on either side. Interior door handles were also chrome.
The motorcycle theme continues on the outside with motorcycle-inspired round headlamps and rear tail lamps on the hatch. Chevrolet’s global design cues are evident in the dual element grille and round tail lamps.
The sedan and hatchback models are distinctively different. The four-door hatchback is a two-box shape that looks like a two-door hatch because the rear door handles are discreetly located in the “C”-pillar area. The sedan’s profile has a more upscale and mature presence with its long tapered roof line and larger rear overhang.
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic has distanced itself well from the distinctly down-market Aveo that it replaces. Compared to the Aveo, the Sonic truly gives new meaning to the phrase “new and improved.” But it will compete against a large collection of equally new and improved subcompacts that are coming into the market this year and next. The competition is stiff and though General Motors is counting on the Sonic to bring new customers into the GM family, ultimately consumers will decide.
