04 Aveo MPG
 

Since my truck went into the body shop after hitting a deer, I've been driving a loaner car. This is working out nicely because my insurance does not include rental car coverage.

The loaner car is a 2004 Chevrolet Aveo with 150,000 miles, worn struts, worn rear suspension bushings, 4 spd automatic, and power steering. During this time, a rear wheel bearing seized up, and I drove it back to the body shop with three wheels turning. Drove OK on snow, corners were a challenge. As of yesterday, I've put 506.9 miles on it, and put in 14.29 gallons, for 35.5 MPG.

The weather has been cold, with typical temperatures 0 to 10 deg F. The winds have been mostly headwinds, we have had several snowfalls. I would have done well to get 29 MPG in my truck. The Aveo is geared 2100 RPM at 55 MPH.

Being an ECOMODDER, I could not resist thinking about what I would do to it if...

Manual steering
Grille block
Air dam and/or front belly pan
Fix front and rear suspensions
Front and rear wheel alignment
LRR tires pumped up
Manual transmission
Kill switch
Change final drive ratio to get about 1900 RPM at 55 MPH
Ultragauge/Scangauge plus vacuum gauge

With all of the above, I would expect mid 40's for winter MPG, and mid 50's for summer MPG. The Aveo could be a pretty good little economy car. And they are available cheap.

The Aveo is a decent car for the money. I had one for a while. It was a 5spd. I didn't do any advanced driving techniques with it, just doing the speed limit and avoiding brake use. It also had no modifications. My normal commute was on 55 mph roads and I got low 40 mpg most of the time, sometimes high 30 mpg.

Here is the fuel log:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-l...vehicleid=3955

Decent car for the money ... if it's cheap enough.

Just don't forget to change the timing belt! :D They snap - high failure rate. Interference engine. Repair bills will be more than the car's worth. (On the other hand, there are plenty of dirt cheap Aveos for sale around with smashed valves & pistons.)

They actually sold this car without power steering - I think it must have been the last new car sold without it. I test drove an '04 sedan 5-speed without P.S. (I actually opened the hood and poked around to make sure it wasn't just missing a belt or hose or something.)

The salesman offered his opinion that they were going to have a hard time selling a car with such heavy steering. (I did not mention that if they had put more than ~25 PSI in the tires, it would have been a heck of lot easier!!)

We really have become a nation of wussies. 2500 lb econoboxes do not need PS or PB for that matter, other than ABS with manual brakes might be a problem.

I hear you. I learned to drive in a 1965 Suburban with manual steering and manual brakes.