These cars are under powered?

[LarsBud]

I wonder why so many people think these cars are under powered?
I can't complain at all about my 2009 Aveo 5 with the five speed manual. I can whip through the gears like they aren't even there. I can lay rubber as long as I want and keep up to any car in my class or beat them.
Now with that said, I'm not going to race my friends Z07 Vet with over 500 horses and he also knows how to drive it.
I think more drivers should learn what there car’s can really do before complaining what they can't. Yes, I have made some changes to the chasse and improved the handling. Also lightened the wheels and improved the air flow the engine, but other wise the car and motor are stock.

[Diddlbiker]

I fully agree. First of all, when merging onto the highway I usually get held up by big SUV's in front of me and pulling away from Volvos and Audi's behind me.
Second, the office I work is at a campus and the road to the office meanders through it. To keep the speed down (max speed 15mph but no one takes that serious) there's one of those radar signs that shows your speed in a certain corner.
I had to push my old car fairly hard to get the speed to 40mph at that point; with the Aveo on the other hand it's not a problem do get it to 45. It sticks nicely to the road and, given the small engine, accelerates pretty quickly once you keep RPM above 2500.

[petrified.rabbit]

i think its under powered, when i'm cruising at 80mph and need to speed up to pass on a steep uphill i have to shift down to fourth.


But i think an average driver thinks its slow because americans typically shift at 3500-4000rpm, and "flooring it" when the light turns green it doesnt pull ahead of all the cars with 240-280hp stock. Seriously look what kind of hp and 0-60 1/4 mile times some of these nissans have that parents buy for their 16yo girls..

I do think this car required more driver ability to be fast, and i hate to say it but most people lack that ability..

[byron84]

It is definitely a slow car. On paper, the power to weight makes it obvious. In practice, you can tell right away it doesn't have any guts. Having said that, I think they set up the car nicely. Why? You don't have to rev the crap out of it to get the available power. This makes the Aveo a good commuter and effortless to drive.

I frequently keep the rpms between 1500-2000, I barely give it any gas and I get up to the posted speed limit just fine. Obviously passing is usually done with 2500+ but you really don't have to rev it much just to get where you're going.

It does feel peppier than the Accent, in my opinion.

I have to agree with the notion that one should learn what their car can do before complaining about what it can't do, and also with the fact that some people are used to 260+ hp cars, of course the Aveo will feel slow in comparison.

For its intended purpose, the car does a great job. It doesn't have a super cheap feel to it, yet it is a cheap car. It feels more torquey than other underpowered econoboxes which is nice.

[theclarkfam]

I have to agree with the notion that one should learn what their car can do before complaining about what it can't do, and also with the fact that some people are used to 260+ hp cars, of course the Aveo will feel slow in comparison

I also feel that people need to learn the limitations of what there cars can and can’t do. Are they underpowered? I really don't think so. Once I figured out the shifting patterns of my automatic I found the acceleration to highway speeds to be more than adequate and beyond expectations without putting a hole in the floor board.
I am also one of those guys that is used to having the 260 hp cars and still have one but in my case driving a SUV is not the same as driving a small car you can have fun with swerving in and out of traffic during the commute

[serega12]

Like I always said, "It's not WHAT you drive, it's HOW you drive it". Some of those cars that you guys are talking about may take me on a straight line (there isn't anything complicated about flooring it), but when we come up to a very busy section of traffic on the highway, most of them don't have the guts or the reaction to keep going... I learned very fast that for driving i large cities (like Seattle) on highway in traffic you need a smaller car, back then my 89 1.0L 3 cyl geo metro helped me very much to learn that... You should talk about those if you wanna talk about underpowered cars... In comparison to that car - Aveo is awesome!

[LarsBud]

When I had decides on getting the Aveo 5, I went and test drove the Automatic and a manual. I quickly found that the manual had the advantage of quicker power response. I am mostly running at around 3000 to 3500 rpm’s and I will not shift until 4500 to 5000rpm’s. (I use to race bikes) The car really just takes to it and will jump up to red line quickly, there’s no hesitation.

[hammsaveo]

I think its funny if people even make the comment of this vehicle being under powered... It's a 1.6ltr...what are they looking for v8 power? these cars are for mileage ...where power has nothing to do with it! Oh and they're pretty snappy when it's needed...