I know rental car reviews vary greatly due to the condition and wear on cars, but since this one was almost brand-new, I figure it's worth doing a review of.For my work trip the last two weeks in Hawaii, thanks to my bare-bones government rental allowance, I got "stuck" with a 500-mile, mint-condition 2014 Chevy Sonic LT sedan (in red, so I really stuck out as a tourist since nobody in Hawaii drives red cars). The LT is the 2nd model up from the base LS. I did a good bit of driving all over Oahu (including the H1 and H3 mountain highways repeatedly), so here's my take on the car coming from someone who drives a modded WRX as a daily..
Appearance: subjective, but didn't look terrible. It even had aluminum wheels vice hubcaps, so that was a nice touch I guess.
Interior: The seats were fairly supportive but almost uncomfortably firm. I really didn't like them as you kind of sat "on" them rather than "in" them. The material felt good quality though. The dash and interior fit and finish seemed pretty good with a few odd things (like the plastic trim on the steering wheel hub). The dash and door materials were much nicer than my Subaru - though that's admittedly faint praise. The radio and other controls were generally pretty ergonomic and had a decent quality feel to them, though a few oddball things like the central locking button is in the center stack and the trunk release button is down next to the e-brake. Also the rearview wasn't auto-dimming, and every time I flipped it down I accidentally hit the OnStar button, kind of annoying. Also the window switches are a bit off I think. Every time I tried to roll down the front windows I accidentally hit the rear windows. The door sills are too high to comfortably rest your elbow on them with the windows down. The side mirrors are super annoying. They're the "pointy" aero-style mirrors and had lousy visibility since they narrowed at the outer end. At least they had an integrated convex section for blind spots on both sides. Otherwise, seemed to be a roomy interior and well put-together. Doors closed with a solid thud and latched easily. The gauge cluster is half digital (for fuel and speed) but with an analog tach. I found it easy to use but couldn't figure out some functionality like how to switch to miles per gallon from the "miles remaining" setting.
Had a good amount of storage, including two gloveboxes and two void areas next to the center stack that were a good size for a phone or ipod or whatever. I think it had 7 or so cupholders, and the three in the center console accommodated different sizes of cups, cans, and bottles without them tipping over.
The trunk is huge and my large bags fit in there easily with tons of room to spare.
Drivetrain: This was the 1.8L Ecotec engine with a 6-speed automatic. There is a manual shifter button on the side of the shift selector that worked ok. I manual shifted for one day but that got old fast, though it did shift pretty crisply for an automatic, I guess. The gearing on the automatic is clearly oriented toward economy over performance and it hangs out really low in the rev range (under 2k) at any speed unless you put the pedal down hard. Which is a shame because at higher revs (the limit is 6500) the engine is pretty happy and develops decent power I thought. When in manual mode shifting at 4500 or so it was reasonably peppy, though honestly even then it felt like a dog compared to the 1.8L M42 in my e30, which on paper has almost the exact same power as the engine in the Sonic (138hp/125tq). Really, I figured that the engine in the Sonic was more like 100hp, not 140, until I looked up the specs. I returned around 30mpg but I pushed it hard, in a lot of traffic, and a lot of long uphills through central Oahu. I really couldn't spin the front tires at all even when I tried (though I didn't really try that hard).
Brakes were excellent with good feel I thought. Steering was decent but pretty dead at center and I found myself wandering into other lanes frequently, though on a car with such low miles I kind of assume the alignment is good.
The ride was very good and the chassis felt solid overall with no shimmies or NVH to speak of. When I picked up the WRX at the airport when I got back, I was amazed with how much NVH there was in comparison (granted, hardly a fair comparison but I usually don't notice it on the WRX daily driving). The Sonic was pretty quiet overall though I ran with the windows down alot (because, Hawaii....).
A/C cranked very cold in any kind of driving, much better than any of the cars I own personally for what it's worth.
Handling was direct and it cornered surprisingly flat, even on large sweeping downhill highway turns. It never felt unstable or twitchy other than the above-mentioned "dead" steering on center. It looked to be a torsion beam rear and macstruts up front. Hardly sporty, but it navigated the crowded and tight Hawaii streets fine.
All in all, it was an acceptable appliance and would probably make a good driver for anyone who just wants an economical appliance with room for 5 people comfortably and a giant trunk. I have nothing particularly bad to say about it other than the side mirrors and the somewhat gutless engine (but again, I drive a 280whp WRX daily, so it's all relative).
Anyhow, that's that. A couple pics just because pics are good...
With my buddy's SVT Lightning. I would have enjoyed having that thing for my week in Hawaii, lol..
The view from the driver's seat...
