For my 10th post...

[Joesonic]

I'll just write in that I'm up to about 65xx miles on my sonic now. Been driving around daily for work, chores, hockey and visiting for family.

I let the On-Star and Sirius XM radio expire. I've got to make the car payment after all and I cannot afford those extras. Maybe when the car is paid off, I can re-activate them.

I do want to write a more in-depth review but not right now. I have pretty much 1 really bad thing to say about this car:

What is wrong with the fuel economy? Even though I have the Turbo engine and automatic, I was expecting to hit higher numbers. I'm currently averaging 22 mpg in pure city driving and 31 pure highway and about 26 mixed. I did better with my 2002 Saturn LW200 with 5-speed manual.

Considering that this car has a .8liter smaller engine, a 6-speed automatic, no power steering pump, weighs 200lbs less and has tires with a cold inflation pressure of 38psi, I was expecting to be averaging more. And I accelerate smoothly and slowly and I've only floored the gas pedal once since I owned it. I'm also using Mobil regular fuel as I find that the engine idles the smoothest (it's a little rougher than I expected for a new engine) compared to other brands of gasoline.

And at 65xx miles, the engine isn't exactly needing to be broken in. :blankface:

On the plus side, the car is pretty quiet! For a little car, that says something!

 

[orangeltz13]

welcome to the club

I share your sentiments. My 3800 V6 Gran Prix got 31 mpg highway and 22ish city. When I bought my 2013 Sonic brand new the sticker said 40 mpg high way and 25 city. I have yet to hit the 40 mpg mark while driving 90% free way 10% city; it was closer to 36-37 mpg. I decided that was good enough; in short, I settled. I now have 88K miles with almost no issues (if you don't count the pvc fix). I have the turbo 6-speed manual so it's fun to drive and I have upgraded the speakers. Hope you enjoy your new car.

 

[Joesonic]

Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy...

Wow, so you're telling me that your Pontiac Grand Prix with a 3.8L 4-speed automatic weighing in most likely at 500lbs more than this car managed to get the same MPG?

This is a disgrace. I'm starting to wonder if there is something wrong with my car?

Yeah, I've been keeping my eye on the sonic since they first came out. I noted that they were originally rated for 40 mpg highway with the 6-speed manual. Then a few years ago, that dropped to 38mpg. Then in 2019 when the hatch was rated at 35mpg on the highway with the manual. Only the sedan supposedly achieved 38 on the highway with the manual. Of course I wanted a manual really bad, but all that was left was the automatic. It was too late for a factory order 2019 and for 2020 the manual was dropped.

The EPA ratings and testing are supposed to be more 'rigorous', in that they test the cars in colder conditions, and perform more stop n' go tests that are more typical of traffic conditions these days. But when I'm averaging 3-4 mpg less than the already lowered EPA figures and I'm not driving like a speed demon, I really have to question the quality of the engine/transmission.

FFS, my Ex's 2009 Saturn Aura with the 2.4L Ecotec and 6-speed automatic managed to easily get 26 around town and 32-33 on the highway.

I'm starting to get real negative about Turbos right about now. I have to say that this car has the turbo tuned real nice, as in I don't even know it exists. I hear no whistling/blow-off and the torque curve is smooth and linear. But if calibration engineers have the turbo tuned with an excessively rich mixture to avoid pinging/detonation, then what is the point? No one is saving any fuel.

 

[orangeltz13]

06 gp gas mileage

My 06 gp was the base model. It was pretty aero dynamic. When I used the car to go to work, I drove 38 miles on I75 and 6 miles on the surface street on a one way trip. I topped off the tank at 15 gallons every 4.5 days.

 

[JTee2017]

The GM 3.8L was a really good drive train. That drive train configuration was excellent for highway MPG.
We had a 1993 Pontiac Bonneville and I would get 18 to 22 MPG to work and doing weekly errands.
600+ mile highway trips of interstate and state roads also got us 30 to 31 MPG.
Pulling a small boat and trailer only got us 16 to 19 highway MPG. The final drive ratio was good for passenger hauling. . . not good for towing.

We have a 2017 Sonic with the "other" Sonic engine. . . 1.8L and average 27 to 28 MPG in daily driving. . .a bit less in very cold winter temps.

On the highway, we just did a 340 mile round trip of 90% interstate at 70 MPH and got 31 MPG. The DIC showed as high as 33.4 MPG. Note. . . it was winter driving and 15F to 20F temps.

The Sonic hatchback has a lot of drag so I conclude that is part of the relative low highway MPG also.

 

[JTee2017]

FFS, my Ex's 2009 Saturn Aura with the 2.4L Ecotec and 6-speed automatic managed to easily get 26 around town and 32-33 on the highway.

I'm starting to get real negative about Turbos right about now. I have to say that this car has the turbo tuned real nice, as in I don't even know it exists. I hear no whistling/blow-off and the torque curve is smooth and linear. But if calibration engineers have the turbo tuned with an excessively rich mixture to avoid pinging/detonation, then what is the point? No one is saving any fuel.

We also had a 2009 Saturn Aura with the older 2.4L and go the same MPG you speak of. Before that . . we had a 2005 Chevy Maibu Maxx 4 speed automatic with the old 3.5L push rod V6 and got 33 to 36 MPG on trips to Florida loaded up.