You saw it here first! ...unless you went to one of the other auto blog sites before you came here.
Chevy kept a tight lid on this little bugger. Nobody knew what it was or what it looked like until today. So here's the details. Chevy polled a bunch of 20-somethings all over the country and asked them what they wanted in a car. This is what they asked for. It's a compact, rear wheel drive coupe with a 150HP 1.4L turbo four and manual transmission. It'll also have GM's eAssist system for marginally better fuel economy as well. Pricing? GM estimates they could sell it for the low to mid $20,000s, if they decide to build it. Frankly I'd like to see a few more ponies out of this if they do. If it's got around 200HP, it'd be a solid competitor to the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ. Otherwise? I'm afraid it's just not quick enough for that kind of money.
So GM..are you listening? BUILD IT. We've told you we want it so build it. And ditch the name. Call it a Nova.
The kid in me says "man that looks like a really awesome car, how fast does it go, and where can I get one?"
ReplyDeleteThe critic in me says, "1.4L turbo? Really? Only 150hp? You just made a cruze coupe... and what's with that rounded front end, and tall cabin? Bleh..."
1.4L turbo? It's a European sports car! =P
ReplyDeleteThey don't say what kind of things they polled, but judging from the engine choice, I might assume that "fuel economy" is one - the 1.4L gasoline turbos are known to be pretty thrifty over here in Finland, and reasonably fast too (200hp might be considered over-powered already).
The 1.4L turbo four in this car gets an honest 40 MPG highway (US) in the Chevy Sonic, though it's down by just a few ponies. So yeah, fuel economy was likely a concern.
DeleteBut very few people buy a rear wheel drive coupe with fuel economy as their top priority.
Probably my guess as well on fuel economy... only problem with that is that these are going to be the same 20-somethings that want high performance as well (or at least decent performance)... and you arnt going to get great acceleration out of a 1.4l even if you slap a turbo on it... maybe if you make it super-lightweight, but then you start sacrificing safety and quality... maybe you could get a little better if you go higher octane (like europe), but the mentality here is fuel is fuel, why go for more expensive when you get similar results out of regular...
ReplyDeleteReguardless of that though, Jim is right, for mid to low $20k i'd want something with more juice under the hood... if there was an "SS" or a "gto" model maybe you could stick a higher pricetag on that, but $25k for a sporty looking underpowered coupe... you won't see me buying into that mindset anytime soon...