Unique Motors

2008 Chevrolet Aveo

Editor: New Car Test Drive
Nice interior in an inexpensive package.

Walk Around

The Chevy Aveo is about the same length as the Toyota Yaris, almost a foot shorter than the Honda Fit. The re-styling for 2008 gave the Aveo a more aerodynamic shape, one of the benefits of which has been to reduce wind noise at highway speeds.

Up front, a thick, bright horizontal grille bar emblazoned with a gold bowtie leaves no doubt that Aveo is a Chevy. The lower fascia is nicely detailed, and the fog lights well integrated. Moving around to the side, a crisp bevel just below the window line and a parallel bulge down between the wheel arches combine to camouflage the Aveo's tall, stubby profile, sort of like a person wearing appropriately directed stripes. The sedan's blacked-out window frames look heavy handed, however, especially with bright colors. Around back, a bright band between fashionably complex tail lamps echoes the theme of the grille.

But like many cars, the Aveo sedan has a look that tries to find wide acceptability by not offending anybody. But in its attempt to be neither too boring nor too radical, it lacks personality.

The same cannot be said of the Aveo5, which shares surprisingly little sheet metal with the sedan. It has personality all right, but it's not the kind everyone will like. At just 152.7 inches in overall length, the Aveo5 is a significant 17 inches shorter than the sedan, and despite some fairly ambitious, curvy sculpturing in the doors and rear quarters (contrasting with the crisp feel of the sedan), it all seems to end rather abruptly, just behind the rear wheels. This impression is greatly heightened by a rear-end profile that's more station-wagon vertical than hatchback sleek, and by the almost comically abbreviated quarter windows just behind the rear doors. About the best Chevy can hope is that the resulting rubber-duck ugliness appeals to grownups still missing their favorite tub toy.

Interestingly, while the Aveo5 looks as tall as a bus, it actually measures 0.4 inches lower than the sedan. It is also 1.6 inches narrower, with 0.8 inches less rear track (the distance between the rear tires.)

Interior

The big surprise in the interior of our Chevrolet Aveo LT test car was the handsomeness of the Charcoal Deluxe seat fabric, which shames the manufacturers of some more expensive vehicles. That combines with a tidy and sensible layout to minimize Aveo's economy-car status.

The Aveo's basic controls, such as climate and stereo, are simple and easy to use. All radios come with an auxiliary jack for iPods and other MP3 players.

The driver's seat is height adjustable, even in the Special Value model, a nice feature for drivers short and tall. The front seat bottom cushion is a bit short for drivers with long legs, cutting some occupants a little short on thigh support.

Rear legroom is an advantage the Aveo has over the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. We found it's possible to carry four tall adults (six-footers) for a short distance without anybody being traumatized, as long as there's cooperation from the people in the front seats, that is.

Despite its slimmer dimensions, the Aveo5 hatchback surrenders just 0.1 inch each in rear headroom and hiproom to the sedan; otherwise its passenger-carrying credentials are identical.

The trunk is rated at 12.4 cubic feet for the Aveo sedan. That's competitive in a segment like this, and the back seat folds down if the priority becomes carrying stuff instead of people.

The Aveo5 hatchback has just 7.0 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, but that expands to a wagon-like 42.0 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. If you'll be using the cargo compartment more than the back seat, the Aveo5 makes a lot of sense.