Well apparently I am the only person in the world who owns a 1.4L Sonic at the moment. So I will answer any questions anyone has to the best of my limited vehicle knowledge.
Seriously though..The shifter..how is the throw? Would you think it would be worth buying a short shifter? Also, is the reverse lockout like the Cobalt SS where you pull up on the boot or more like a Honda S2000 where you have to push in on the stick, or is there even one at all?
I would bet almost anything it uses the cruzes shifter.. it makes the most sense. They use this same shifter in Vauxhalls, opels (before they sold opel), 2011 buick regal, and eco cruze, all linked up to the M32 transmission. Go shift one and you'll know what the sonic is like. And nope there isn't a short shifter out for it here in the US. Although there is one in europe by a company called M-tech for the M32 transmission.
I've got an OEM shifter showing up in the mail tomorrow that i'm gonna be tearing apart. Then its off to a machine shop to get some parts made for a custom conversion. I'll let you all know how it goes.
would you guys be mad if i told you I have no clue how the shifter feels and what not lol I said limited knowledge haha...I mean it shifts fine...Its just like the cruze tho i know that.
always good to know. it should be reasonable to be rated 40 mpg on the highway. the worst offender here is the manual tranny honda fit. the gearing on that thing is laughable (pushing 3500+ rpm's on the highway....i think honda's idea was to drown out the ridiculous amount of road noise in that car with a ridiculous amount of engine noise.............brilliant).
Is that with the manual? Pretty impressive if so. I've never liked that most cars in this class w/ manual are all buzzing around 3k at highway speeds. I guess that's the benefit of a turbo adding some torque down lower in the power band.