Kannisto
New member
About me. I'm a 31 year old single dad and own a 2016 Sonic RS hatch manual. This is my 18th car. I've bought many cars purely to rebuild and sell. I almost always buy the top model of said cars because these are what interest me. I'm a fabricator/engineer by trade and consider myself a car enthusiast.
One thing that i hate seeing when reading reviews on this car is the constant ridicule for it's lack of an upgraded engine. Now like i said I'm a single dad. My son is in my back seat 80% of the time I'm driving. So opting for something that's sole reason it to increase speed, which therefore increases chance of a serious crash, feels selfish.
The thing is that the 1.4 turbo is perfectly sufficient for this chassis. In fact, EVERYONE including gearheads always comment that my car is quick when they don't know the HP rating. Good enough for me.
But i still like my car to handle and perform better then "normal". I consider myself a very good driver and choosing the RS package only helps my ability to control my car better. The fun factor is only a bonus. Believe it or not the addition of rear disk brakes was the main reason of choosing the RS over a lower trim.
I obsess over my vehicles. I like to know that i can park next to another gearhead and have a conversation with him/her and not come off as a poser. I would never do more then autocross with this vehicle and i think it's perfect for that. But if you talk about taking it to the track you're going to sound funny.
Being an engineer i can tell this car is well built especially for a chevy. Everything is well balanced and put together. I've only owned this car for a month so reliability is up in the air but so far i like what i see. I normally would prefer a larger vehicle but the sonic is very comfortable. My RS is equipped better then some luxury vehicles and the 5 star safety rating takes the edge off driving a smaller car.
In the end, if i had no children and lived on a racetrack i would have bought a ford fiesta st. But I'm grown up now (so I'm told) and need to make responsible decisions where comfort and safety come first. But I get to enjoy a fun car built to handle real roads with real speed limits. Not only that but it's better equipped and more spacious then it's competitors too. All of which i believe justifies the RS's premium price.
I just wanted to give my 2 cents on where i believe the Sonic RS belongs in the hot hatch world. It was made for guys like me. If chevrolet made an SS model with 200 horsepower i wouldn't be interested.
One thing that i hate seeing when reading reviews on this car is the constant ridicule for it's lack of an upgraded engine. Now like i said I'm a single dad. My son is in my back seat 80% of the time I'm driving. So opting for something that's sole reason it to increase speed, which therefore increases chance of a serious crash, feels selfish.
The thing is that the 1.4 turbo is perfectly sufficient for this chassis. In fact, EVERYONE including gearheads always comment that my car is quick when they don't know the HP rating. Good enough for me.
But i still like my car to handle and perform better then "normal". I consider myself a very good driver and choosing the RS package only helps my ability to control my car better. The fun factor is only a bonus. Believe it or not the addition of rear disk brakes was the main reason of choosing the RS over a lower trim.
I obsess over my vehicles. I like to know that i can park next to another gearhead and have a conversation with him/her and not come off as a poser. I would never do more then autocross with this vehicle and i think it's perfect for that. But if you talk about taking it to the track you're going to sound funny.
Being an engineer i can tell this car is well built especially for a chevy. Everything is well balanced and put together. I've only owned this car for a month so reliability is up in the air but so far i like what i see. I normally would prefer a larger vehicle but the sonic is very comfortable. My RS is equipped better then some luxury vehicles and the 5 star safety rating takes the edge off driving a smaller car.
In the end, if i had no children and lived on a racetrack i would have bought a ford fiesta st. But I'm grown up now (so I'm told) and need to make responsible decisions where comfort and safety come first. But I get to enjoy a fun car built to handle real roads with real speed limits. Not only that but it's better equipped and more spacious then it's competitors too. All of which i believe justifies the RS's premium price.
I just wanted to give my 2 cents on where i believe the Sonic RS belongs in the hot hatch world. It was made for guys like me. If chevrolet made an SS model with 200 horsepower i wouldn't be interested.
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