1.4 Turbo Automatic available now

[laborsmith]

I hope my answer on timing of availability helped the original poster. It is a guess based on experience, since I havie ordered more cars than most. I admit the hang up on the LTZ turbo baffles me, and not that many LT turbos have been produced as one would think. And where I live, two LT turbos show up on CARS, one in Ann Arbor and one in Davison, and as of last week both were still in transit and both already spoken for.

Oh by the way, front wheel drive and overhead cam engines have been around since the thirties.

Laborsmith

 

[TravsSonic]

Ummm... not entirely my choice. My daily driver is a '99 Miata with a 5 speed manual, which I put to very good use humiliating drivers of "faster" cars on twisty back roads. The Sonic will be the replacement for my wife's car. She's currently driving a nicely restored '66 Mustang with a 200 c.i.d. six backed by a C-4 automatic. She's not enthusiastic about driving a car with a manual transmission, and yeah, all those arguments you so enthusiastically present, I've run by her a few dozen times already.

She's also the one who is wanting to hold out for the 1.4 turbo/automatic combination, because she's got this thing about getting 40 mpg. I on the other hand appreciate torque. So it's a win-win.

Speaking of torque, that looks like a Buell in your avatar. So you can also, apparently, appreciate torque. Seems a bit, uh, glass house-ish, though, to be throwing stones over cam belts when you ride a bike with pushrods. Seems there's this fancy new technology that involves overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, to say nothing of liquid cooling. You might find it, well, enlightening to ride something with technology that post dates the disco era... ;^P

wifes car? enough said...

now now... the buell is a work of art...

dry sump oiling
fuel in the frame
fuel injection
oil in the swing arm
under slung exhaust
zero torsion load disc brake on front
separate gearbox and engine oil
distinctive styling that distinguishes its self in a line up of bikes (line my buell up with all my buddies jap bikes, and i will have the only bike people come up and look at.. its quite humorous)
AND it sounds mean

air cooled is neither positive or negative (its a love hate thing going on for me)

pushrods ... very true.. but just the volume of people that roll up to me at stoplights and tell me that they love my bike, or stop at gas stations and parking lots just to see it up close off sets this one deficient quality imho. Oh it also shifts like a tractor and will vibrate your eyeballs at stoplights, but thats just negative weirdness you get use to.

 

[ronarn]

turbo with auto

If they pair the Turbo with a Auto, I just might decide to get the Sonic instead of a Cruze!

I'm still leaning to the Sonic, but I don't want a manual, not where I have to drive every day.

this turbo paired to this automatic could be an expensive nightmare after the warranty runs out. it seems that they can't get the bugs out of the turbos that are on order now and the auto transmission problems are well known and continue; not to mention the sterring wheels seem to come off the cruze when making left turns or is that at any time. i like it and will buy automatic turbo anyway. (with the 7yr 100,000 mile warranty)

 

[Spiderman]

Why I like Stick Shifts but might buy an Automatic

Reading over the discussion on stick shift vs. automatic it seems that no one has mentioned a pretty obvious determining factor in which type of transmission to select: what your daily commute is like. As much as I love driving a stick shift, and in fact own two, I may be practically forced to buy an automatic if I end up taking a new job with a lengthy stop and go commute. It does not matter how much you might like driving a stick shift but, if like me, you might be commuting an hour to and hour and a half each way with much of the drive entailing stop and go traffic the stick shift is simply not a reasonable option.

My last commute was 25 miles of mostly twisting, turning scenic two lane roads that were perfect for a stick shift - pure joy to drive while rowing through the gears. However, sitting on the interstate for an hour or more in stop and go traffic is a totally different story and the stick shift I absolutely love to drive on those back roads is something that I practically curse as I jab that clutch in every couple hundred feet to get the car up to 10 or 15 miles an hour only to have to throw it into neutral and stop until traffic inches along again.

Yes, everyone can learn to drive a stick shift. Not everyone has the type of driving that is conducive to a stick shift.

 

[Gimpster]

I'm not going to give any potential Sonic owner grief over their choice of transmission. Its YOUR CAR and last I knew this was a free country so to all my automatic wanting turbo Sonic drivers, welcome

I will disagree with a manual "just not being viable" in traffic. Every car I've ever owned was manual and somehow I've managed to commute in some of the worst commuting corridors. Its not viable for YOU. I will say that I often question the wisdom of a 6spd in this car. I find myself flipping to 5th/6th a lot in 50-60mph traffic. Its annoying to have some SHIFT icon on the screen too... SHUTUP!

I made this observation before, but as a person who travels a lot of the world........... I find it interesting how pretty much US/North America gravitates to automatic transmissions. Over in Euroland especially everything from big body Benz to Fiat 500's you pretty much only see manual transmissions.

As a former Buell Lightning 1200S owner, nothin' wrong with pushrods. Just ask anyone driving a ZR1 or CTS-V

 

[buddy97]

She's also the one who is wanting to hold out for the 1.4 turbo/automatic combination, because she's got this thing about getting 40 mpg. P

have there been any epa numbers on the auto 1.4. would it be expected to be lower than the 29/40 of the manual?

if she is really anal about the 40 thing.....well, then.

 

[2>4]

So back to the original question, any idea when Chevy will start taking orders for 1.4Turbo automatics?

 

[laborsmith]

Not certain exactly what you are asking, I will attempt a one size fits all response. If this doesn't answer, perhaps clarification will help.

Have you tried to put an order in? I am asking, because generally dealers can put orders in about two months before anticipated start of production, which for the automatic equipped turbo Sonic has always been after the winter plant shut down, ie: early spring.

The order goes in at status 1100/1102 and the six character order number is generated. Sometime in early January order will be accepted by Chevy (status 2000) and a week or few after that the order is preferenced (2500).

An order can go in (1100) but not proceed to 2000/2500 for several weeks, and an order placed last week will generally be accepted before an order placed next week - here is where the mysterious concept called ALLOCATION rears its beastly head.

All this to say, if you want an automatic transmission equipped turbocharged Sonic, now or very soon from now is the time to place your order. When your dealer accepts your order and gives you the six character order number please post your success, as I am certain many of this forums readers will want to know.

The important thing is an order can go in weeks or even months before acceptance. Chevy's system does not wait for the week or month before start for orders to be put in. So if you want one, call your sales rep soon.

Laborsmith

 

[2>4]

Well, as of a month ago (October 19th, to be exact) I was told by the sales rep at the local Chevy dealership that the 1.4 Turbo automatic was listed as a "mid year" release. He couldn't define exactly what mid year means, and didn't offer to take an order, deposit, etc. even though my wife and I had just spent about an hour crawling through the (1.8 liter NA Automatic hatchback) floor model and taken a test drive in their 1.8 sedan. So my assumption at that point was that there was no possibility of ordering the car, or putting down a deposit, until some specific, yet-to-be-determined date.

So it sounds like I need to get back to the dealership and put down a deposit before the car is actually avalilable, in order to assure that I'll get one?

 

[Sonic]

Not so much that you'll get one, but that you would get one of the first ones made when they go live. That way your wait is reduced.

 

[Yas]

I am also not fond of automatic trannys, but because my petite little wife hates to shift I will just wait for the Sonic turbo/auto. My neighbors new black Sonic has the 1.8 auto and It keeps up well in traffic but I believe the 800$ or so for the turbo would pay for itself in performance and mpg over the long run. BTW are the Cruise a/t's really falling apart, (as another poster said) because I presume it would be exactly the same one in the Sonic? Now that would scare me away from the brand altogether.

 

[SRGilbert]

Well, this sucks. I was trying to get an update on the 1.4 Turbo automatic, so I jumped on the Chevy site and did a web chat with a CS person. All they could tell me was "soon".

So I decided to shoot my sales guy an email, and now Chevy is saying "auto transmission is probably 6 months off".

At that point, I might just wait for the 2013 to come out.

 

[SereneDroid]

I know its not as reassuring as having an order number, but right now I noticed the 2LZ Sedan Build-Your-Own offers the 1.4L Turbo with automatic as an option. Perhaps its been there and I've never noticed it before due to personal disinterest in the LZ, but could it mean Chevy is considering taking orders for that package? It only appears for the Sedan, not the Hatch.

 

[SRGilbert]

I know its not as reassuring as having an order number, but right now I noticed the 2LZ Sedan Build-Your-Own offers the 1.4L Turbo with automatic as an option. Perhaps its been there and I've never noticed it before due to personal disinterest in the LZ, but could it mean Chevy is considering taking orders for that package? It only appears for the Sedan, not the Hatch.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to think. This is the first time I've even considered buying a brand new car, but so far it's not what I'd expect.

 

[SereneDroid]

Just wanted to add that the 1.4L is now an option for both 2LT and 2LZ Sedans and Hatchbacks on the Build-Your-Own. While its no where near a definitive answer of when the turbo/auto option is coming, this does force speculation that your dealer was simply trying to discourage you into buying one off the lot now rather than waiting and ordering a new one at a quickly approaching date.

 

[AndrewGS]

Here's something that you all might find interesting.

Since the 9th you've been able to order the automatic turbo as well as Cyber Gray, a color I wish were available when I got my Sonic.

 

[Sonic]

That gray is just too bland of a color for me.

Will the first person who orders a 1.4 auto please confirm that it is now possible please?

 

[gsxr1000]

I'm on the same boat....want a sonic 1.4, but auto so my wife can drive it too. Same engine and tranny for thousands less...count me in!

you can save another thousand going with a stick lol

 

[BewareOfDoug]

1.4L Turbo Automatic in NJ?

Not that I'm looking for one, but I'm pretty certain I saw a 1.4L turbo with automatic transmission listed in Cars.com a couple days ago. Unfortunately I did not snag the listing right away because it is not there now. The car was priced something like $21,500 which is what caught my eye since the highest priced ones I've seen to date all land around $20,400. I'm pretty sure it was for the Lakewood Pine Belt location. This may be another "Bigfoot" combination like the turbo manuals - rarely seen and gone before anyone can get to it.

 

[Sonny@bnr]

made my wife learn stick