Overview & Reviews

For a long time, buying a subcompact car from a domestic automaker was either completely impossible or an unfortunate circumstance. Now, however, homegrown models are at the segment's forefront both in terms of sales and overall quality. The Chevrolet Sonic is one such example of local talent, a very well-rounded subcompact that stands as one of the top choices in its segment.

The Chevy Sonic represents a quantum leap forward from the Aveo it replaced. High points include sharp styling, nimble handling, a composed ride, generous interior space, ample feature content and quick acceleration. The optional turbocharged four-cylinder, in particular, is a standout in this class. Perhaps most importantly, the Sonic feels like a more premium, substantial car from behind the wheel than its modest price and dimensions would suggest. Buyers would be wise to check it out.

Current Chevrolet Sonic
The Chevrolet Sonic is available as a sedan or a four-door hatchback. Even the base LS trim level comes with air-conditioning, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, Bluetooth phone connectivity, OnStar and an auxiliary audio jack. Moving up through the LT and LTZ trims adds more comfort and convenience features such as leatherette premium vinyl upholstery, heated seats, an iPod interface and Chevrolet's MyLink infotainment system that includes a touchscreen, Bluetooth audio and additional smartphone-compatible services. There's also the sporty RS trim (hatchback only) that features four-wheel disc brakes, a sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch wheels and leather/faux-suede upholstery.

Every Sonic except for the RS comes standard with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that makes 138 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque. Standard on the RS and optional for the LT and LTZ trims is a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It also produces 138 hp, but more importantly, 148 lb-ft of torque. So equipped, the Sonic feels significantly quicker than other subcompact cars. Manual transmissions are standard (five-speed with the 1.8-liter, six-speed with the turbo), and a six-speed automatic is optional for both. Fuel economy is actually better with the turbo engine.

In reviews, we've been very impressed with the Chevrolet Sonic. It offers engaging handling that doesn't come at the expense of a comfortable ride, and the controls operate with a consistency of effort that you rarely see in cars in this price range. As long as you're OK shifting your own gears, the punchy and efficient turbocharged engine is definitely worth the extra dough. In total, the Sonic drives like a bigger, more composed car than you would expect.

Inside, materials quality is merely acceptable. The motorcycle-style gauge cluster is gimmicky, but the analog tachometer and digital speedometer are large and legible -- hard to argue with form plus function. In terms of space, the Chevy Sonic provides ample head- and shoulder room for front passengers -- even for those taller than 6 feet, which is rare for subcompacts. The second row is also quite spacious provided one of those 6-footers isn't driving. Cargo capacity with the hatchback is average for the class, but the sedan's trunk space is quite generous.

Used Chevrolet Sonic Models
The Chevrolet Sonic was an all-new model for 2012. Although the current Sonic offers a few more available perks, such as the sporty RS trim level and the MyLink infotainment system, these Sonics are otherwise similar to today's car.

User Reviews:

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  A Sporty Battle Tank with Convenience &Luxury feel - 2017 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Christopher Vizcarra - May 13 - 7:12 am

  I bought the 2017 Chevrolet Sonic LT 5-Door Auto Hatchback and added the Optional Convenience & Drivers Confidence Packages to match the goodies of the Premier. My other car that I was considering was the BMW Z4 Roadster. I had always thought you get what you pay for but this Chevrolet Sonic blew that misconception out of my mind. Highest Quality Tailored to Comfort & Convenience, For That Luxury Feel The Hatchback only comes in 2 trims the LT & Premier, They both have great standard features. There is a difference in both trims, the LT cabin and engine are amazingly quiet equal to the highest trim of a 70k+ luxury vehicle which is hard to believe. However the Premier has a more lowered suspension & as a result sacrifices the quiet sounding cabin just a bit. A Very Sporty Battle Tank I love sporty cars & have test driven from the supposedly sporty hideous Honda CRX to the Lexus, Audi, & BMWs. Now the company says the engine has 140 horsepower, I strongly feel it is more than that just by the torque and how amazingly responsive it is. Many companies will make their cars look sporty but fail to deliver when a prospective buyer test drives it. We both can agree that how the engine is built and tuned make a very big difference when it comes to a sports car. Both trims are very sporty that you easily bolt from a stop, and when applying the breaks, theyre very responsive and stop just as fast. If you want others to hear your sporty side, the automatics can also be driven in manual mode! Just shift the selector to M and press the button to upshift or downshift without the annoying clutch pedal which is even better! The engine goes from a kittens purr to a Lions Roar that can easily achieve the speed of a Cheetahs run. Ive seen a lot of cars that are sold to look sporty, but this one actually is built to run sporty. Safety Yes this is the smallest car to ever receive the highest 5 star rating across all tests from the Institute of Insurance in Highway Safety in the USA. A huge achievement when it comes to cars this size. I call it my mini Lambo because Its looks, feels, and actually is sporty. Youre always comfortable on short and long drives, pampered with features, and every part and detail has been amazingly stitched, built and solid. Theres a reason why the Chevrolet Sonic muscled its way into the sports car scene and was officially recognized. Many people have the misconception that small cars dont offer much; However Ive learned to never judge a book by its cover because even looks can be deceiving. There are many company reviewers who will base their ratings on what they expect not by what the car actually has to offer. I dont expect you to take my word for it, go out and test drive yourself with the exact options I have added and see for yourself.

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  Great Car - 2015 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Anika Wilson - December 30 - 7:47 pm

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  An American Built Success Story - 2016 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Ross A. - August 8 - 11:33 pm

  After hitting 8,500 miles with my 2016 Sonic, I think it is time to review this surprisingly well put-together car. I commute over 100 miles round trip a day in upstate NY, so the Sonic and I have spent a lot of quality time together over the past months. Before the Sonic, I drove a 2013 Honda Fit, a car which the Sonic has blown out of the water (I decided to part with the Fit after it was out of commission for a total of 6 months for an airbag recall-and there will be another to follow). First of all, for what you get, the Sonic is priced exceptionally competitively. I paid just over $11,000 for my LS Hatch, brand new. True, it didnt come with a lot of bells and whistles, but its an American built car that is a top safety pick, had Bluetooth and Onstar, and looks stylish to boot. Though I looked at getting a new Fit, I couldnt spend 5k-7k more for a car with the same features built in Mexico. Second, driving wise, the Somic outperforms the Fit as well. For a subcompact car, the Sonic is fun to drive (while getting an average of 35 mpg) and you sit fairly high up in comparison to other subcompacts. My wife has a Subaru Impreza and when riding in her vehicle one sits noticeably closer to the road. Third, the Sonics interior design is functional and well thought out, however the materials could be of higher quality, though if I cared about being surrounded by "soft-touch" materials, I would have opted for a more expensive car. Overall the Sonic seems like it will be an excellent vehicle that will last a long time.

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  NO REGRETS - 2015 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Mark Wyss - December 4 - 6:50 pm

  Never thought Id own a Chevy. I bough a 2015 Sonic after buying a 2013 Buick Encore. I was so impressed by the Encore (never thought Id own a GM product) that I got the Sonic as a second car because its the same engine and drivetrain. Its a small car, got the RS version with 6-speed manual tranny. Fun to drive! Its a "sporty" car that is meant to hug the road and it does, so the downside to that is you feel every pothole and bump. But you have to expect that with a sport suspension and a car that is low to the ground. Im 61" and I have no difficulty getting in and out or finding a comfortable driving position. Love the heated leather seats and moonroof. Instrumentation is laid out perfectly, and the My Link info-tainment system is great. Have had the car for a year and had no issues. Mostly used as a city car and get overall combine city mileage of 29 mpg. The RS is a fun trim model and I enjoy it, even if Im not the intended buyer (Im 55 years old). On a good stretch of road the car is quiet and smooth and hearing while using Bluetooth for your cell phone is never an issue. Very nice build quality. If youre looking for a fun, sporty hatchback, I recommend the Sonic. And despite Edmunds thinking there isnt much room, with the back seats folded down, youd be surprised how much cargo you can carry! Two years in, still no complaints. Still enjoying the car & the look and still no rattles despite driving on poorly maintained Wisconsin roads.

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  My Cheverolet sonic - 2015 Chevrolet Sonic
  By L. Walker - February 16 - 8:38 pm

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  A Amazing Sporty Battle Tank With That Luxury Feel - 2017 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Christopher Vizcarra - July 29 - 5:27 pm

  I bought the 2017 Chevrolet Sonic LT (Auto) RS Hatchback and added the Convenience & Drivers Confidence Packages to match the goodies of the Premier Trim. There is a reason why I chose the trim I chose; the Hatchback only comes in 2 trims, the LT & Premier, there is a slight difference between the two trims. The LT has an amazingly quiet cabin equal to the highest trim of a $70k+ luxury vehicle, while the Premier has a more lowered suspension and as a result the Premiers cabin is not as quiet. The automatic can also be driven in manual mode without the annoying clutch pedal! The Performance is amazingly sporty for both engines as they both easily pounces from a stop. When applying the breaks it also comes to a smooth stop and when applied quickly Its very fast too! If you want a car that is amazingly quiet and caters to the highest safety standards, quality and convenience of a luxury car and at the same time not only looks sporty but actually is sporty with the attitude to show inside and out, this is a car worth test driving with the optional packages I have chosen. I call it my mini Lambo because it sits and pampers you like one yet its silent but deadly. It takes Unleaded gas and I get 30-35 MPG with mixed driving, now If you drive it sporty and have fun you will get about 24- 28 mpg which is still amazing. There is a reason this car has muscled Its way into the sports car scene and has been officially recognized. It is the only car so far to get a 5 star rating, the highest across all ratings for the Institute of Highway Safety Standards for such a small car. Everything in the car from the smallest button to the engine, inside and out is amazingly built and solid. You can tell that Chevrolet takes pride in every part of the car even to the smallest stitch. Take a test drive with the optional packages I have chosen and you will see that Chevrolet has built this amazingly rare gem to prove you dont have to spend a fortune to be pampered. I sure hope that this particular model will continue for years to come. There are many mixed reviews about this car in particular often nit-picking at it It is best to go and test drive it.

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  Blue Fire - 2017 Chevrolet Sonic
  By C. D. Willoughby - July 7 - 12:53 pm

  The car I bought was a Chevy Sonic (four door Kinetic Blue Sedan) and its so cool looking. Ive gotten compliments on it already. It drives well and I love the bluetooth features. Plus its great on gas.

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  Chevrolet Sonic is a great car. - 2015 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Lorraine Crews - June 29 - 3:07 am

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  Better than expected. - 2015 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Theburgh - June 25 - 5:27 am

  I was looking for something affordable, well optioned, reasonably quick, spacious, and that can competently handle the rough and meandering mountain roads of southwestern Pennsylvania - all in a compact footprint. The Sonic delivers in spades! After seriously contemplating a Ford Fiesta, I did some research, and tried the Sonic. It was not only more spacious than the Fiesta, but the interior space even beats the Focus, which competes in the next class up! As for MPGs? I average 29 MPG combined. 22-24 in the city, with my daily commute including many steep inclines and heavy stop-and-go city traffic - and over 40 on more flat, highway oriented terrain. Any vehicle that can deliver over 20 mpg on my commute impresses me. (My last car, a 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T, averaged a poor 16-18mpg for the same trip.) The cons to the vehicle include: Harder than usual plastics (they do fit well and look nice). No full armrest (seriously, Chevy? Not even on the LTZ model?) Hushed, but still louder than preferred road noise. No padding where your elbows rest (again, Chevy, seriously? The car was $23,000 new...you can pad the door panel where elbows rest!!!) Base engine: awful! Sounds like a lawnmower. Buy the 1.4 Turbo! It beats the 1.8 engine in every way. Overall, if you want something easy to park, that is fun to drive, delivers excellent MPG, and has lots of room for the size, you wont be disappointed with the Sonic! **Update: Im still quite happy with the car. MPG is holding at 27.9 combined since purchase. Replaced junk OEM tires with premium Continentals which quieted the car down significantly.**

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  Hilarious Vehicle - 2017 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Archi Gaebel - June 8 - 10:42 am

  The Sonic Turbo Premier is hilarious to drive (for a day or two) while my ten year old BMW X3 is in the shop for age-related repairs and maintenance. "Hilarious" as in "Its a joke", not its actually fun to drive. First off, my 10 year old Bimmer, worth about half of what you can buy this Chevy Sonic for, still vastly outperforms it and is a ton more fun to drive and feels safer to boot. So much for "Would I ever consider owning this vehicle?". The answer is a resounding NO! Why not? I mean first impressions are of this car are not so bad. The exterior styling is not crazy or terrible. It is not good either. It just is. The Sonic sedan has a very basic, neutral car shape, the kind you get when you ask a toddler to draw a car. It is somewhat narrow and short but tall when compared to our BMW 328i, almost like Chevy took a Malibu and just trimmed off some excess fat on the sides, rear and front. The cabin is not a terrible place for an econo box. It appears roomy enough, has quite a few gadgets, buttons and a touch screen (in this trim level) and the plastics LOOK decent. All of these judgements, however, vanish when you start driving it. While there is plenty of headroom, even for tall people, legroom is cramped, not just in the back but also annoyingly in the driver seat. I am six foot tall and my legs are too long for a comfortable use of the left foot rest or the accelerator and brake pedals when I adjust the seat to allow a normal arm distance to the steering wheel. (Gorillas with really long arms might do better.) Visibility is not great either. Although the windshield is large, the short stubby hood just vanishes from view and it is very difficult to get a feel for where the front of the car starts. Rear visibility and right side visibility is severely compromised by the enormous headrests (which clearly come from a full size truck and take up most of the airspace of this small car). Once you start touching the visually decent plastic trim you realize that it is not the softer, richer material it masquerades as, but very cheap, basic hard plastic straight from a Yugo. But now to the truly hilarious part of driving this car, its performance. I drove it mostly in town with speed limits around 45 miles per hour. At first I thought I was going way too fast until a look at the speedometer informed me that I was actually chugging along about five miles below the speed limit! The car feels strained and bothered when driven at speeds greater than 35 - 40 mph. Still this is not yet the most fun you can have with the Sonic Turbo. Go find an empty stretch of road without speed bumps (like the access road to my works parking lot) and floor it. I did just that, going about 30 mph I floored the accelerator and ... absolutely NOTHING happened for at least a second, then the little beast huffed and puffed and lurched forward at the breakneck speed of 40 mph, I almost died laughing. This lack of performance is unfortunately less laughable when you have to pull out into heavy, fast-moving traffic, then just pray a Rosary (or two) while you wait for any acceleration to quick in ...