2009 Chevrolet Aveo

2009 Chevy Aveo 5 – Click above for high-res image gallery Until the new Chevy Spark here in 2011, the entry point for getting into the General Motors product line-up remains the Chevy Aveo. The Korean-built Aveo is available in two forms, a four-door sedan and five-door hatch. The hatchback is dubbed the Aveo 5, an example of which spent some time in the AutoblogGreen Garage during the week following the Detroit Auto Show. This is the first opportunity we've had to sample the Aveo and it turned out to be something of a mixed bag. The Aveo 5 is the smallest model in the current North American GM lineup and fits into the sub-compact B-Segment. Dimensionally the Aveo slots in between the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit and almost matches the Scion xD. Until the Ford Fiesta arrives late this year, the Fit is generally considered the overachiever in this class. Find out how the Aveo 5 stacks up against the Fit after the jump. %Gallery-42398% Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc. The 2009 Honda Fit exceeds the Aveo every dimension, most notably overall length where it stretches 7.3 inches longer bumper to bumper. All other exterior dimensions are different between the two by less than an inch. The most significant differences on the inside are shoulder room, where the Aveo has an advantage of about an inch, and rear head room, where the Fit has 1.4 inches of extra clearance. The Aveo has been with us for several years and received a visual update for 2009, ostensibly to make it look more like other contemporary Chevrolets with its dual-port grille design. Unfortunately, GM designers have taken what appears to be the largest iteration of this grille design and grafted it onto their smallest body. The result is best described by the old cliché that it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. When approached from the rear, the effect is not quite so visually jarring, although that angle falls more toward the bland side of the equation. The test car we had was equipped with several options in addition to the top 2LT trim level. $350 for 15-inch alloy wheels is definitely a worthwhile expenditure, but $375 for "leatherette" seats would be better spent elsewhere. Many automakers are now offering synthetic seat coverings that do a remarkably accurate job of mimicking genuine animal hides, including the leatherette used by Volkswagen in the Jetta. The material in the Aveo is more akin to what you might find in a mid-1970s Pinto when the stuff was still called vinyl. It didn't help that temperatures in southeast Michigan dropped from the mid-20s to near zero on the day we received the Aveo, and these seats took quite a while to warm up. Even worse, the seats are just not comfortable. The contour of the seat backs provide little back support and the lower cushions are too short. Things are more on …
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