Test drove an HHR today off a lot down here in Eastern Carolina where they were having a grand opening of a dealership that has rescently changed ownership. I strolled up the line of cars and happened up on a Chevrolet HHR. It was a 2007 with the new 100,000mile powertrain warranty, and it also had an $18k sticker so I descided to take her for a drive. Though the exquizit looks caught my eye I was suspicious that the car was going to be cheap and underpowered just due to the price tag on the door. My take was tha they would not sale a good car for under $20k.
Boy was I wrong!
I jumped in the drivers seat and fired up the HHR and the 2.2L Came to life. I was impressed by the remarkable refinement of the baby four cylinder. Its power was smooth and the transmission was flawless in its shift patterns and kept the engine buzz contained by running at low RPMs. I was however more impressed by the Acceleration of the HHR. I am a product of the generation where 4clyinder cars with auto trannys are SLOW!! This one here actually slipped out on take off when I had not gassed it but half throttle! I have driven a Ford Taurus on a test awhile back and that car had a much bigger V6 and it was slow and draggy compared to this Chevy 4cylinder!
Also, the mileage ratings on the HHR with the 2.2L is 23 city and 30 hi way. It had both AC and ABS and was 18,300 brand spanking new. Due to the fact that I have come up in an all truck family, I was doubtful about how well made a cheaper priced car would be but after driving this spritely compact, I haveseen the light!
So what is yawlls take on the smaller Chevy cars( Cobalt, Aveo, or HHR ) After driving the HHR which is built on the smae platform that the Cobalt is, I am a firm fan of the econo cars built by GM. Any of yawll have any experiense with any of those cars? If so please post up, and if you are an auto bluff such as myself, and have an opinion on this topic please post it up as well. I hope to here more on this topic from yawll. Any opinions or thoughts on this issue will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
-Tubby Ray Jr
I test drove a Cobalt, and to be brutally honest, I guess my experience driving 5.0, 7.0, and 5.7 Chevy engines has me spoiled. Just seemed anemic to me.
__________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.
I test drove a Cobalt, and to be brutally honest, I guess my experience driving 5.0, 7.0, and 5.7 Chevy engines has me spoiled. Just seemed anemic to me.
I know what you mean. I drive a 4.1L I6, 5.7L V8, and a 6.6L Duramax and they are are blessed with way more raw power then the HHR or Cobalt were. However, the HHR to me seemed to have a good puch for how light a car it was. I think that GM has found the right power to weight ratio with their compact cars that Ford, and Dodge just have not found. My brother has a Neon and that thing is as veryone thinks it is, slow and cheap! So I expected the HHR to be more of the same, but it is ovious that GM put way more into the HHR and Cobalt then Dodge put in their Neon. Guess thats why they do not have a compact sedan right now, hahaha! Thanks for replying! I hope to hear more from you in the future! Thanks agian!
-Tubby Ray Jr
I still drive a Caprice with the V8 5.7 engine in it...and then I also drive a VW Beetle that has the 2.0L engine...that little bug can go sometimes
Cobalt doesn't impress me, but the HHR sorta does...I would prolly look at an Impala if I was looking to spend 18K or so. Get last years model Impala for around 14k with very low miles...to me GM has lost a lot of value with most of it's cars.
I don't know about the Chevies, but we just bought a Scion Xb for my wife a few weeks ago. You know those little boxy cars? She likes it, and it was a good price.
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My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban as soon as I take office.
Just to give you another case history, I got my spousal unit a Mitsubishi Lancer with the 5 speed : 33mpg on the highway, about 29-30 around town. Goes like a bat out of Hades and does great in the mountains, I had er up to 120mph, (dont tell her), no problemo. Ive taken it on a couple of 4000 mile trips and it's even comfortable in the back seat for a normal size person (5'11" 165 lbs) to take a nap. No maintenance except oil changes. Nice trunk too.
Been having pretty good luck with the Chevy Equinox. Not a small car class but still a newer GM product. Still have the 'ole 92 F-150 XCAb long bed 351 & probably always will.
The short sticker price may be partly due to HHR Mfg in Mexico I believe, could be mistaken. The Equinox was assembled by our brother to the north.
Test drive a Hyundai Elantra GT hatch and then tell me you prefer the HHR.
I believe you get what you pay for, sometimes. Sometimes you pay for something you don't get. And sometimes cheap means efficient and simple, not crappy. Sometimes it means crap too.
I have yet to see a sub-compact car that gives any sufficient advantages over a full compact or borderline midsize. This includes efficiency and strength/weight ratio. My Hyundai Elantra, which is a mid size car, seats five comfortably, has plenty of space, and gets 40mpg on a good day, 45 on the best. And it was about 15k out the door.
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Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf
The new Dodge Caliber will be available with a 300hp turbo charged 4 cylinder, it wasn't that many years ago you couldn't even get a Corvette with that much power. The only Dodger faster then the Caliber is the Viper, and that includes the 6.1L Charger.
I haven't driven a HHR but it wouldn't surprise me if it felter faster then a Taurus. THe Taurus 3.0 was making 150 hp in 1985 when they first rolled out and was only making 155 hp when the last one rolled of the line 21 years later.
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Liberty is for those that claim it.
i have 04 aveo and love it .15.00 and i drive for a week and a half. i pass up suv's and hemis while they at the gas pump and toot the horn.then the best part is all them big hemis and gas guslers have to put then windows downand a/c off to save gas while i sit there at thered lights with my windows up and thea/c blowin cool air.i got me a jeep cherrokee but i gave it to my son.
i have 04 aveo and love it .15.00 and i drive for a week and a half. i pass up suv's and hemis while they at the gas pump and toot the horn.then the best part is all them big hemis and gas guslers have to put then windows downand a/c off to save gas while i sit there at thered lights with my windows up and thea/c blowin cool air.i got me a jeep cherrokee but i gave it to my son.
Hows the acceleration of that Aveo? I saw one of them at a dealer lot and it looked to be pretty small. Does it still have a lot of punch or is it underpowered. I have heard of all of the fuel economy that it gets but how much of that is acheived by sacrafising power of that 1.6L powerplant. BTW, I like the Aveo, had a girlfriend that drove a 04 LS sedan and she seemed to like it, but I never rode in it because Ipersonally could not fit in it. BTW, she liked my truck better anyway so I was off the hook, hahaha! Just curious and want to learn more. Any replay will be appreciated! Thanks to all who have posted and all who will continue to post!
-Tubby Ray Jr
i was really surprised at how fast it gets upto 60mph. infact i had to take my foot off the pedal a few times because a caught myself doing 65 in a 55. and i don't speed. i have nuthin bad to say about the car. it has really good pickup and go and really good gas milaege. i would recamend it to anyone. i owned a metro (three cylinder)before and this one replaced the metro . atleast thats what the dealer told me.the interior is roomy atleast fo me i'm 5'9'' 145lbsto 150lbs. all around great car so far i would buy another one.
i was really surprised at how fast it gets upto 60mph. infact i had to take my foot off the pedal a few times because a caught myself doing 65 in a 55. and i don't speed. i have nuthin bad to say about the car. it has really good pickup and go and really good gas milaege. i would recamend it to anyone. i owned a metro (three cylinder)before and this one replaced the metro . atleast thats what the dealer told me.the interior is roomy atleast fo me i'm 5'9'' 145lbsto 150lbs. all around great car so far i would buy another one.
Thats the way with me. I have ridden in Cavaliers and I figured that the HHR/Cobalt would be similar cars to the Cavvy in terms of acceleration but the new platfornm that both the HHR and the Cobalt ride on( dubbed Delta ) is much smoother and the power is both there and efficent! I burned out on a pull out with that HHR! I would have never thought that could be done after riding in that Cavvy. How does that Aveo stack up to that Metro? What mileage were you getting with both cars, and hows the acceleration difference between the 2? I have seen the Metro around at one of my friends shops and that seemed to be a pretty rugged little car. How did it hold up for you? That old Metro that I'm talking about is run down and has 250,000 miles on it! Those little cars were just solid! BTW, its been nice talking with you and any reply to this post will be greatly appreciated! I guess you can tell that I am interested in your Aveo and the Cobalt/HHR. Hope to hear more from you soon and thanks again for posting!
-Tubby Ray Jr
When I'm sitting at a long traffic light I count cars. I measure the % of gas efficient cars. Say theres 12 cars? I typically see 80% are not gas efficient. 8 outta 12 cars are big, heavy gas hogs. Americans are wasteful because they are too much into keeping up with the Jones'. Americans choose car models that they think will impress their neighbor instead of saving gas. That is a very bad thing to do during wartime.
Yeah, I'd have to say thats true, Zen900. What do you drive, if you dont mind me asking. Thanks for posting and hope to hear more from you in the future.
-Tubby Ray Jr.
Hey yawll, got a little tid bit of info that yawll might not know.
How many of yawll knew that the Dodge Neon of old and the Chevy Cobalt oftoday are the same cars?( built by two diff makers obviously ) Its true! When the out dated Cavvy gave up the ghost in early 2005, GM had already hired the same engineer that built the PL and PT platform for Dodge to help design a compact for them( PL-Neon, PT-Pt Cruiser ) That is why the HHR and the PT Cruiser look so much alike. They are the same car! Now, the GM obviously has GM trannys and powerplants, where as the Dodge had its engines and trannys. But the underpinnings or platform is identical, possibly tweaked a little for a more refined ride by modern standards as compared to back in 1994( the Neon years )
This may seem radical but GM has actually done that more then you think with Compacts. Remeber the Metro? The Metro was Suzuki built with a Chevy badge. Remeber the Aveo? Daewoo built with a GM Badge. The HHR? Stolen technology from Dodge made research mighty easy ) Cobalt( like wise ) I think what this boils down to, is that GM does not put a lot into researching the compact cars and focuses more on Mid sized( where it is really at in the USA ) and they buy up or contract with other companies to make their compacts for them to remain competitive in that market. Gee things are easy when your the Big kid on the block in buisness huh? haha.
Just thought some of yawll might want to know this. Thanks for posting and I hope to hear more from all of yawll in the future! Thanks!
-Tubby Ray Jr
GEO Storm, (Which in the US was marketed under the Chevy Economy group was actually an Izuzu. I had one, and for all the fuel they saved, you'd spend four times the money on parts. Didn't make much sense to save money on gas, but throw it away on parts.
__________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.
i had a 94 geo metro and it hada 3 cylinder man it was good on gas and never gave me a lick of trouble . i got hurt on the job and fell behind on payments and the repoded it. but as for the aveo it's solid i got into a wreck yesterday doin 30mph and you realy can't tell the car is wrecked . now the estimate to get it fixed is 1,500 but as for the cosmetic damage looks you would never know and when that car cut out in front of me i thought for sure it was a goner but no this car is solid.man look i'm not a sales man and i'm not trying to sale you a car but if you want a safe car for your wife or kid or even you that will get great gas mileage and not breakdown. and now krinkle up in a miner fender bender then this is the car. it has plenty of room. now the other car was doing about 5 mph and i was doing about 30mph and it was !!!! bear head on on the drivers side. but this car looks like it was bumped by a shopping cart.now i lost alot of styrofoam out of the front bumper but thats gonna be fixed . my point is for a small car it's incredibly safenow my metro in think would have been totaled.go stop by a dealer and sit in one and test drive one for the !!!! of it.
