The 2012 Chevy Sonic is the second car we have checked from the “Chevy Runs Deep” family. This being a subcompact car, and one that starts off at $13,865 for the base sedan model (taken from Chevy’s website). IT can easily be a great first time car for the new drivers in your family, though I would spring for the hatchback model as in my opinion that one looks better. For our review we checked out the 2LS sedan model in Crystal Red. How did the cool stack up after a week, well let’s begin!
Style
The Chevy Sonic is a nice looking car. I especially can dig the front profile of the car. The grill, the lights, the Sonic definitely looks good from the front. The cool sort of continues from the side of the car and by time you get to the back, it is only okay. It isn’t to say that the back of the car doesn’t look nice, but it just doesn’t do anything for me. And I normally like a car that looks good from the back lol. Usually when it comes to the subcompacts, I think the coolest looking version of the car is the hatchback model, and with the Sonic I still agree with that. If you want the Sonic, get the hatchback, it has more cool points.
Once you get inside, the interior is nice, the seats are comfortable and the overall look and feel is cool. It has a unique very non-traditional gauge which at first I didn’t instantly like, but after driving or a week, it grew on me a little. The Sonic had a nice center console, which crammed a lot of information into a small screen. This was okay, I wish it was a bigger screen, but it is understandable at this price range. Besides if you intend to be buying this car for your first time driver, you don’t want them spending too much eye time at the screen and not on the road. Other than that, it had cup holders, no storage compartment in the middle of the front seats, and nice truck space.
Tech
Unlike the Chevy Volt, your not going to find as much good tech in the Chevy Sonic. But the tech that it did have was very cool, and something I believe should just be standard on all cars today! One of the first cool tech items if the Bluetooth connect for your phone, this seems like it should be standard but you be surprised how some cars don’t have it. And I’m not just talking Bluetooth so you can talk on your phone, I mean Bluetooth where I can play my music via my phone. This is included in the 2LS model we reviewed. I was not only able to connect my phone to talk, but to play my music as well. That is Bluetooth for the win!
Also some other cool tech stuff was the compass, which though I never use one, I found it cool to have in the car and know I was currently driving South or South West. It also came installed with OnStar which is an added plus there and good to see in the subcompact model! While there wasn’t a ton of features and abundance of cool tech, the ones it does have work well and are cool to use. My main thing was allowing me to use my smartphones, which the Sonic does with easy.
Experience
Driving the Chevy Sonic was definitely a fun experience, it was zippy and agile. I did notice some delay from when the petal was pressed and then acceleration happened. I can expect some small delay from the time I hit the petal and it taking off, but there was times when the light would turn green and I would try to floor it to see how the pick was, only to seen it accelerate slower than the amount of pressure I put on the petal. You definitely won’t be drag racing in this one lol
On the inside the ride was comfortable, the leather seats felt good, although there was a complain from the misses that for the front passenger side seat, there was no armrest. There seemed to be only one on the driver’s seat. The storage spaces was few, but useful, and the trunk space was much bigger than I thought, this was a surprise indeed.
For the tech stuff, setting up my smartphone to the car’s Bluetooth was very easy. If just a few knob turns and clicks I was all set up to play my music via Bluetooth but also to make calls. I love the fact that I could use one less cord in the car to play my music. This also worked well with the steering wheel controls, I was able to control some of the functions of the music from there.
Wrap Up
The week with the Chevy Sonic was a good one. While it didn’t have all the creature comforts as I might be use to, I have to keep in mind the type of car I was using. For the subcompact market, the Chevy Sonic is a great option. It looks good (again go for the hatchback model), and though there was a only a few hiccups here and there, overall the Chevy Sonic performed well and made my ride enjoyable. As with any subcompact, I also experienced great parking options as I was able to fit in space a larger car couldn’t. So that was very handy in my travels.
Do you own a Chevy Sonic, or thinking about getting one? Sound off and let us know your thoughts as well!
