With that much glassware in the car and the chief of design riding shotgun, I had to be on my best driving behavior. Even when easing away from the lights I found that the Aveo was reasonably good at getting underway quickly and was smooth. Our city streets did their best to bounce our precious cargo around, but the suspension soaked up the minor thumps and controlled the major ones very well. I made it home with everything intact.
Since I had to be on my best behavior, I thought it was time to go out and see if the Aveo could fill my normal boy racer urges. For a drag racer it is a tad slow, but then it has 108 horsepower coming out of a 1.6 litre engine. It fared much better diving into corners and doing a bit of late braking. The front disc/rear drum combination worked well under repeated heavy braking.
Actually getting around the corner in the Aveo produced a fair amount of body lean. The soft (by sports car standards) suspension let the car lean over quite a bit. I never had the feeling that the car was going to go over on the outside front tire, but did start to feel uncomfortable on long sweeping corners. I also tried the other extreme of sharp tight corners and I’m positive that the inner rear tire came off the ground.
After I finished being silly, I started to try the different seating positions. Chevrolet puts in five sets of seat belts, but unless those in the back are smaller than average, count on this to be four seat auto. Not only that, the middle of the rear seat is uncomfortable enough that only people you don’t like should have to sit there.
Space for adults in the rear is a bit tight with leg room being the biggest issue. If the front seat occupants pull their seats up a notch or two, the back seat is quite comfortable. Ironically, those in the front remain quite comfortable even with their seats forward that little bit.
I enjoyed the Aveo5 automatic and now I can’t wait to see if the five-speed manual will put a grin on my face!
photo:Charles Renny
Since I had to be on my best behavior, I thought it was time to go out and see if the Aveo could fill my normal boy racer urges. For a drag racer it is a tad slow, but then it has 108 horsepower coming out of a 1.6 litre engine. It fared much better diving into corners and doing a bit of late braking. The front disc/rear drum combination worked well under repeated heavy braking.
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| Cargo space, as you should expect with a small car and the back seat up may seem a bit small. |
Actually getting around the corner in the Aveo produced a fair amount of body lean. The soft (by sports car standards) suspension let the car lean over quite a bit. I never had the feeling that the car was going to go over on the outside front tire, but did start to feel uncomfortable on long sweeping corners. I also tried the other extreme of sharp tight corners and I’m positive that the inner rear tire came off the ground.
After I finished being silly, I started to try the different seating positions. Chevrolet puts in five sets of seat belts, but unless those in the back are smaller than average, count on this to be four seat auto. Not only that, the middle of the rear seat is uncomfortable enough that only people you don’t like should have to sit there.
Space for adults in the rear is a bit tight with leg room being the biggest issue. If the front seat occupants pull their seats up a notch or two, the back seat is quite comfortable. Ironically, those in the front remain quite comfortable even with their seats forward that little bit.
I enjoyed the Aveo5 automatic and now I can’t wait to see if the five-speed manual will put a grin on my face!
photo:Charles Renny
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