Live & Direct from Nowhere in Particular...

While my car was having a sensor replaced I ended up with a Chevrolet Aveo LT rental. I was a bit surprised to find out that it wasn’t actually the base model. I was also a bit surprised to find the one I had specs out to about $15,745. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a car without power windows or locks. Or ABS. Which brings me to the good. It has very responsive brakes. Of course without ABS, I’m not sure that counts as good.

The interior was bigger than I expected, but I never did find a good position for the seat & wheel. It was the 4 door & had almost useable back seats, I never got back there, but there was room for legs with the front seats in normal positions, so it might have been tolerable. It had the MP3 capable CD player, which thankfully had an Aux In jack. Though it sounded worse than my crackly 8 year old speakers in the TT. The sound was just sort of muffled and flat, no matter how it was adjusted.

The ride around town was ok. It absorbed big stuff pretty well, though I could still feel the small stuff. It was pretty floaty overall, lots of lean, lots of drift. I guess the softness is probably part of what made it seem like it had good brakes & probably also made it feel less slow than it was, since squat & dive was quite prominent. The little 1.6L Ecotec 4 cylinder sounded decent. Being paired with a 4 speed automatic didn’t help it deliver much in the way of acceleration, hence the school bus reference. I think I would have lost to one at a stoplight drag. I’m guessing that despite the 34mpg highway rating, I’m guessing I get better mileage in my TT than the Aveo, since I practically used the accelerator as an on/off switch.

This car is a product of GM’s absorption of Daewoo’s assets when they failed. Perhaps that should have been the first warning to those watching GM’s future.

Did I mention you can buy a Honda Fit for about this price? I haven’t driven one, but it can’t possibly be worse.