Met an unhappy Aveo owner today

[MetroMPG]

The guy's a tradesman. Uses the car to haul around tools & supplies for small home reno jobs. (Back seat is out of the car).

It's a small town: I had actually offered to buy this guy's 95 Metro over the phone when Ivan and I were searching for ForkenSwift host vehicles this winter. (But he wanted too much for it at the time - $500 - and of course ended up selling it to someone else for only $125 grrr... but that's another story...)

ANYWAY... he bought the Aveo because the Metro was getting rusty, had a bad axle, and he wanted A/C. And he's sorely disappointed he did.

"Tractor transmission" is how he describes it. Geared way too low, engine screams at highway speeds, he says. Really disappointed with the FE (though he really shouldn't be, if he did the research in advance).

[MetroMPG]

RH77 says:

Yeah, even the Automatics Disappoint

I've rented the automatic sedan version twice and had the same disappointing FE. Even the gearing in that was short -- from a stop: ka-pow you've inadvertently given it too much throttle, the soft suspension squats in the rear, and it takes off. On the highway, the tach reads unbelievably high.

My half-brother bought the 5-door, 5-speed when they first came out. His father worked for GM for like 100-years, so he ended up with rebates and the family discount, which brought the out-the-door total to sub $10k. He has a long daily commute at 55-60 mph in rural Upstate New York, and he hasn't had any complaints so far.

When I drove it, the biggest plus was the micro-car handling.

[MetroMPG]

The problem is gearing.

And the better way is simple: an optional, taller final gear for those of us willing to SHIFT occasionally when needed for acceleration or hill climbing at top gear speeds.

For the masses who apparently aren't willing to ever shift out of top gear once they get there, fine. Stick with the "original" too-short gearing.

EDIT: of course this option puts the onus on the sales people to adequately explain the pros and cons of each choice, and that's where the idea falls on its face.

[MetroMPG]

RH77 adds:

Exactly. So, put in a slushbox so people can drive it here. Classic PRNDL shift pattern. People use "D" and that's about it. BUT

Put a curious button somewhere that says "Economy". When pressed, the dash indicates "Economy" in green or something. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the highest gear is now available and it shift's into a taller gearset at higher speed cruise. Normal operation ensues. Shut the car off, and like cruise control it resets. So you can go back to "D" and forget about stuff until you pass the gas station prices and "Hmmm, might as well press the "Economy" button today".

[metroschultz]

just found this thread, glad i didn't get an aveo.
"D" for "dat way ->" lol.

[metroschultz]

oohh lookit d time. krapkrapkrap.

[bestmapman]

My son has a 07 Aveo 4 dr. Your right the 5th gear is way too low. I took the car last Fall to Salt Lake City from Cincinnati, OH. I averaged 38 MPG going 70-75 all the way. I feel if the car was geared taller it would get very respectable numbers.

I liked car other than that. Yea, it is a small car. I had a Metro from 1993-2000 and it is put together nicer than my 93 Metro IMHO.

Also the price was right. He bought the car out the door for $10,500 air included. This included $800 discount for my GM card, no trade and tax and registration. The Yaris was about $4000 more out the door where we live. The Aveo also had the 100,000 drive train warranty.

The hatchback would be a great candidate for a Basjoos type of aeromod if you could get a taller 5th gear.

[cfg83]

bestmapman -

Originally Posted by bestmapman

My son has a 07 Aveo 4 dr. Your right the 5th gear is way too low. I took the car last Fall to Salt Lake City from Cincinnati, OH. I averaged 38 MPG going 70-75 all the way. I feel if the car was geared taller it would get very respectable numbers.

I liked car other than that. Yea, it is a small car. I had a Metro from 1993-2000 and it is put together nicer than my 93 Metro IMHO.

Also the price was right. He bought the car out the door for $10,500 air included. This included $800 discount for my GM card, no trade and tax and registration. The Yaris was about $4000 more out the door where we live. The Aveo also had the 100,000 drive train warranty.

The hatchback would be a great candidate for a Basjoos type of aeromod if you could get a taller 5th gear.

In 2006 I was in Europe for work and I rented a Chevrolet Kalos, which is the European Aveo. I didn't push the car to any limits, but it seemed fine on the freeway to me. There is the possibility of a 5th gear swap IF the transmissions are otherwise physically the same.

Now for some googling ...

Chevrolet Kalos model comparison spreadsheet (PDF)
http://media.gm.com/gb/chevrolet/en/...d_kalos_en.pdf

5 Speed Transmissions :
1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th
3.416/1.950/1.280/0.971/0.757
3.545/1.952/1.276/0.971/0.763

Soooooooo, there is a different 5th gear. I have no idea, however, if these are swappable gears. I am just looking at the ratios. Also, I can't tell what the benefit would be. The ratio difference looks negligible to me.

Now, here's an enticing post. There might be an even better Aveo 5th gear lying around :

Topic: gear ratios
http://aveoclub.proboards26.com/inde...ead=1127678655

2004-2007 D16 Manual Trans

Final Drive Ratio (1.4L SOHC)
4.176:1
Final Drive Ratio (1.4L DOHC)
3.944:1
Final Drive Ratio (1.5L)
3.722:1

1st Gear Ratio
3.545:1
2nd Gear Ratio
1.952:1
3rd Gear Ratio
1.276:1
4th Gear Ratio (1.4L DOHC/1.5L)
0.971:1
4th Gear Ratio (1.4L SOHC)
0.892:1
5th Gear Ratio (1.4L DOHC/1.5L)
0.763:1
5th Gear Ratio (1.4L SOHC)
0.707:1
Reverse Gear Ratio
3.333:1

2004-2007 Y4M Manual Trans
Gear Ratio - 1st
3.417
Gear Ratio - 2nd
1.950
Gear Ratio - 3rd
1.280
Gear Ratio - 4th
0.971
Gear Ratio - 5th
0.758
Gear Ratio - Reverse
3.273
Final Drive Ratio
4.105

If the above information is accurate, then it *appears* that if you have a D16 manual transmission, there is the possibility of swapping the SOHC 5th gear into a DOHC Aveo. I assume that this would result in a 7%+ drop in RPMs in 5th gear (0.707/0.763 = 0.926; 1 - 0.926 = 0.073 => 7.3%).

CarloSW2

[Metro502]

Yeah If I was to get a chevy it'd be a Cobalt. Isn't EPA about the same on both it and the Aveo? Plus it looks sportier.

[homeworkhome53]

50 mpg is very doable in the Aveo. A taller gear would be nice though

homeworkhome53