Grown-up on a budget: Chevrolet Aveo Sedan

If you’re shopping for an affordable subcompact, then you already know that the choices are bewildering. Go Korean and Kia and Hyundai have a slew of bargain basement Rios, Accents, Getzes, and Picantos in varying levels of standard equipment. Go Japanese and Toyota and Honda have their ever-reliable Vios and Jazz/City options, respectively. Go American, however (by way of Thailand) and you are presented with the Chevrolet Aveo, GM Philippine’s smallest sedan offering, the 4-door, second generation version of their cute little Korean-sourced Aveo hatchback.

This may well be the most intercontinental subcompact we’ve ever tested. See, it wears an American badge but is manufactured in Thailand. It rides on an all-new platform (industry code "T250") meant not only for Southeast Asia but the US, Canada, India, and other countries including Western Europe. And its ride is closest in feel to a European car, we kid you not.

Stylistically, the car is as innocuous as any other economobile from Japan or Korea, looking rather like a 2/3rds scale Optra. Crisp lines along the flanks and a rather prominent grille give it some character, while the tumblehome curves of the rear (where the C-pillar flows into the fenders down to the bumper) have a more agreeable look than those of the Honda City. In a crowded parking lot, though, you’ll still have a hard time locating your car in a sea of look-alikes. Aftermarket alloy wheels should do wonders for differentiating your ride from the next person’s.

Inside, the cabin has a sensible (but forgettable) layout, and it’s clear after just one hour behind the wheel that GM put a premium on comfort over flash. The seats are agreeably firm and supportive for Asian-size people, ergonomics are near-perfect, and the sightlines are good all-around except for those typically thick A-pillars. In this age of increasingly solid monocoque bodies, we’d like to see an engineer come up with a way to go about it without having to beef up the A-pillars to the size of Batista’s biceps.

Generally, the cockpit has a mass-produced ambience that’s not too cynical. The dashboard plastic looks durable but not too shiny, the integrated stereo fascia blends well, but overall GM still can’t get over the Little Tykes look present in its Chevrolet lineup. Switches, dials, and windshield wiper/turn signal stalks have a cheap tactile feel, the handbrake lever looks nice until you pull it and it produces a loose cracking sound as it engages, and the radioactive green lighting of the instrument panel is just weird.

Lent a 5-speed manual unit for a weekend though, we generally liked the car’s overall competence. The 1.5-liter engine makes adequate power, although drivers used to the rev-happy nature of small engines will find the Aveo’s relatively heavy flywheel disconcerting at first. It takes its time revving up the tach, so in stop-and-go traffic, it’s not a very enthusiastic partner. Coupled with the stick shift’s rubbery feel and tall gear ratios, rowing for yourself isn’t much fun.

On long stretches of highway though, the laid-back nature of the engine pays off as it gobbles up the miles without complaint, the flywheel’s inertia letting you cruise at 120+ kph at only a little over 3,000 rpm and negligible engine noise. We suspect that in designing this car, GM prioritized European and American drivers who’d clearly be averaging triple digit speeds all day and would therefore not want a buzzy drivetrain.

That must also be the reason why it rides so well, because on any road short of something best reserved for a rallye, the Aveo simply floats over it like a budget Opel. Soft spring rates coupled with reasonably firm shocks strike the balance between comfort and control. On the open road, passengers will have no trouble falling asleep as the little ruts, pockmarks, and whatnot are soaked up by the suspension, but on mountainous sections, it carves the switchbacks with confidence and reasonable amounts of roll and dive. Whether the suspension will hold up over the years as well as an Opel’s is anyone’s guess, of course. Were you to travel in Europe and rent this car, you’d feel perfectly relaxed cruising in the autobahn (as long as you stay out of the fast lane, of course).

Overall, this is a likeable car. It’s not styled to set your heart aflutter, but it’s spec’d and tuned for a grown-up experience you might find rather pleasant for the price. Last time we checked, the manual transmission version is just P640k, while the 4-speed automatic which we recommend is just P680k. Compared to 1.5-liter versions of the Honda City and Toyota Vios, the Aveo is some 35-50k cheaper, with only a marginal deficit in power and features. There’s no ABS, but you do get power everything, as well as foglamps and dual SRS airbags. Not quantifiable is the subliminal maturity of being seen in a sedan rather than a hatchback, and for buyers in this segment, Chevrolet has a bona fide offering to make the choice a genuine three-horse race.

THE GOOD: Mature, innocuous design. Relatively roomy cabin. Euro-tuned suspension. Fair level of standard equipment. Confident 3-year/100,000km warranty.

THE BAD: Mature, innocuous design. Some interior bits and pieces still feel cheap. Rope-a-dope shifter.

THE VERDICT: A pleasant appliance that’ll get the job done as you work your way up to a bigger and flashier ride.