SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


We link up with a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic 1.6 LS Black and White series

Perky and easy to live with

Posted: 28 December 2014

Please note: Black and White is a limited run of 1600cc Chevrolet Sonics available in South Africa only. Apart from the colour scheme and MyLink entertainment, it is otherwise the same as the Chevrolet Aveo or Holden Barina you already know.

The cheat sheet
Price: R205 700
Engine: 1598 cc, belt driven DOHC, 16-valve DCVCP, four-cylinder
Power: 85 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 155 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 183 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,7  l/100 km
Tank: 46 litres
Luggage: 253/653 litres
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at annual or 15 000 km intervals

Black and White: Scotch whisky, Sharks rugby team, classical evening dress or simply definitive clarity. Whatever the context, it’s usually quite special – special enough for GMSA to issue limited runs of 200 tricked-out Sonics and 300 Sparks in these colours.

We drove one of 120 Snowflake White Pearl 1.6 LS Sonics that, like their 80 Carbon Flash Black counterparts, are fitted with 16-inch black alloy wheels, the otherwise optional MyLink communications and entertainment system, and have their roof spoilers and outside mirror caps highlighted in Orange Rock paintwork. As we wrote this, approximately half these special cars remained available.

Exclusivity defined by bespoke colour schemes is all very well, but the primary motivator is surely MyLink. Going beyond the regular Bluetooth and steering wheel with satellite controls option, MyLink adds advanced music and radio streaming, Gracenote data enhancement, and photo- and movie viewing on the seven-inch touch screen. Most smartphones can be connected while voice control is available on certain phones loaded with suitable apps. For best results iOS, BlackBerry or Android platforms are preferred. About the only format it won’t support is CD, but your parents won’t be driving anyway.

USB and auxiliary connectors add further functionality, but how well they perform sometimes depends on whether software on your device plays nicely with that on the car’s system. For example MyLink claims to play M4a files, among others, but it recognised only eight songs out of a possible 960 on our main flash drive. That's the one that played perfectly on the IntelliLink system fitted to an Astra GTC we drove earlier. Switching to the mid-fi MP3-music drive that we keep for emergencies brought our tunes back. Similar “maybes” apply to radio streaming, so try before you buy.

But enough about entertainment; cars are bought for moving people and stuff around, so let’s look at that. The 1600 cc engine in these Sonics develops 85 kilowatts and 155 Newton-metres so, while it won’t outrun a 1400 RS turbo, it does a pretty decent job of hauling ass.

The boot gives you the option of loading and unloading at opening level or shifting the floorboard either downward a couple of steps or out altogether – for taller objects or things that don’t need hiding. There is a light, but no 12-Volt socket. The spare is a fully sized steel item.

The rear seatbacks split 1/3:2/3 to fold down and extend load space, although they do leave steps. Headroom and foot space is generous but if the driver is tall, knee room could be tight. Two head restraints, three safety belts, one cup holder and a single seatback pocket are provided; no door bins. Those are for the first-class passengers up front.

Apart from said bins, they enjoy two cup holders, an electrical socket, a pair of glove boxes, open slots in the front of the dash, an open tray on top so your phone can pick up satnav signals more easily, and a drawer under the left seat. The driver has his or her own sunspecs box up above the door. The handbrake lever is placed for right-hand drive, but possibly a bit too close for comfort. The five-speed manual shift lever is easy to reach and works smoothly. Big left feet might find things a little tight past the clutch pedal however.

The driver’s chair adjusts for height, reach and backrest angle, while the steering wheel adjusts both ways, so most users should be able to get comfortable. We did mention the satellite controls for cruise, phone and sound earlier.

Out on the freeway, the engine turns over a little busily at 3750 rpm for 120 km/h in top. That’s very close to the maximum torque point at 4000 rpm, so it rolls on quite strongly and holds speed up reasonable hills without struggling. Overall, it’s a perky little car that’s easy to live with.

As for fuel economy, the last Sonic 1600 we drove returned 8,8 l/100 in real life use, while this one needed only 7,7 litres per hundred. We had no reason to punish the first one unduly but it could have been caused by dirty plugs, or filters or something.

If superior connectivity fills your ears with Graceful notes, you have the choice of one of these with the special wheels and colour schemes, or you could simply option MyLink onto a standard car. It’s up to you.

Test unit from GMSA press fleet

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
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