Just the kind of car elements people would love to see Honda come out with in the Fit...

2012 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ First Drive

Yes its a Chevy but they did up the ante - turbo, 6-speed MT... now if only Honda will step up to the plate.

 

A few hours ago posted I posted in a different thread that Honda needed to put a turbocharger and 6 speed transmission in the upcoming Fits... I also said that an inline overdrive would be nice.

 

pretty cool stuff. i'd probably get one if i was 20yrs+ younger and wanted a zipping eco-hatch. thing looks too donky for me.

 

kinda looks like an Audi A3 and Chevy Aveo mated. And this is the love child.

 

maybe also throw in a lancer too for the front. :D

 

There may have been a little Yugo in the wood pile also. The Sonic was on my short list until I sat in one. A white LT four door. It is IMO the worst new car I,ve seen. It's off my list now.

 

I drove VW Rabbits that were German made and U.S. assembled with parts from all over and preferred those from Germany.... I have a hard time getting excited about cars built by a company that had a CEO that boasted that GM is not in the business of making cars, but making money... U.S. built trucks are okay but many of them are built across the border in Mexico and Mexicans take great pride in their work.

 

I'm pretty sure there was already a thread about this. It's still ugly.

 

Like my GF says, I wouldnt buy it. But id drive the crap out of it! And run it into the ground. Shouldnt take too long :D

 

The jury isn't even out on the reliability yet, so can't say much there but what I can say is 1.4L turbo w/138 hp (21 more than the Fit) and 148 ft/lbs of torque (like 39 more than the Fit and that's ALOT!) Oh yeah, a 6 speed too and ofcoarse the trans from the CR-Z would go into the Fit, yeah but are they going to do it....stay "tuned" I guess but that hp/torque number needs to go up by 10-15% IMO because with the Sonic out now, the Abarth coming soon and talk of the Fiesta ST, Honda will be on the sidelines with a parka on while everyone is out there having fun! Hell, I want them to make the Mugen S/C'd CR-Z making the 200 hp with its stock motor and battery pack, just adding a blower and some tuning and "bits", done deal.....BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!

 

The Sonic looks good on the website, but that doesn't say much. I was convinced that the new Mazda2 (middle of '10 it was new) was going to be my new small car until actually test drove and sat in one. Cheap interior killed it for me, so I'll wait till I see these on the road to make a judgement.

On a side note, it looks like it'd be awesome to mod. With any tune, not to mention possible manifold/turbo/exhaust upgrades, that would be a fast little GTI eater.

 

138 hp on a turbocharged engine is pretty underwhelming in my opinion.

 

148 foot pounds of torque from 83 cubic inches is pretty impressive... I am sure that there will be aftermarket manufactured parts that will enhance performance if the car proves to be fun to drive... The engine design has a lot of potential.... Judging a street driven car's performance based on horsepower with no regard for the torque output at low and mid range is disregarding the most important need of people that drive in heavy traffic on public roads...

 

Regardless of the torque figure, if you look at the 0-60 and 1/4 mile specs it's hardly faster than the Fit and it's turbo. It's a lackluster motor in a lackluster car with a turbo slapped on it.

 

i think its ugly. the dash is gross. i hate a lot of asymmetry. oh and it looks like they stole the upper glove/usb compartment from the fit.

 

148 Ft/Lbs of torque at 1850 RPM is pretty impressive in a B class car with an engine that small... I have yet to see how much boost is being pumped into it but I doubt that it is very much because of the low Revs that it develops maximum torque it has to have a tiny turbocharger... I did read that it doesn't shine as much acceleration wise at low speeds as it does at higher speeds.... GM could be doing something right for a change but maybe not so much for people that think that performance can only be judged by sprints from 0 to 60 MPH or 440 yards.... People that have driven the car are very impressed.... Personally I'll keep my 5 year old Fit since the Sonic can't do 0 to 60 in 6 seconds.

 

The 1.4 L with turbo is pretty cool, but it's waaaaay too expensive!

The 1.8 L version has a pretty small MPG.

The sedan version is prettier than the 5 doors one.

And the cargo space is ridiculously small compare to the Fit, but that statement is valid for any other hatchback except our baby.

 

The most appealing thing I have heard about the Sonic is that there will be a turbo diesel next year.... An engine like that would be a wonderful option for the Fit...

 

chevy engineer #1 "they want us to make a better B class vehicle."
chevy engineer #2 ".........."
chevy engineer #1 ".........."
chevy engineer #2 "...fuck it, lets just throw a baby turbo, and an extra gear into the aveo"
chevy engineer #1 "..but are you sure dave? the aveo's name has already been tarnished"
chevy engineer #2 "true...just give it a new name...something witty. like sonic the hedgehog."

 

From what I have read in numerous publications, there are numerous writers that loathed the Aveo and see the Sonic as being a very decent car that is comparable to others in its class... I'm waiting to see what the auto press in other parts of the world have to say about it before I'd feel okay about it.... The blind unwarranted patriotism that takes precedence over good sense of a lot of citizens of this country has a lot of influence on the way people perceive a lot of stuff.