And thought I'd chime in with my thoughts.
I got my '13 1.4 Auto LT Sedan on August 30. I've put just over 800 miles on it since then.
Overall I really do like the car. Great interior room for those of us with extreme girth, height, and length.
Virtually all of my driving is city, and short trips at that (commute is 11 minutes... barely long enough for the engine to warm up) and thus far the gas mileage has been spot on with the window sticker, 25 mpg.
Today was the first extended highway trip I've taken, about 3 hours total. With little wind and on flat terrain, it's interesting to see how driving speeds affect gas mileage. I did some experimenting with resetting the gas mileage meter and running the car at the same speed with cruise on for 4-5 miles, to see what the car claimed the gas mileage was for different speeds.
73mph (my preferred cruising speed) = 34 mpg
65mph = 39 mpg
55mph = 43 mpg
So if you don't mind being a slug (and in some areas, e.g., Chicagoland, being a speed bump or road hazard), you can definitely pull above-sticker mpg.
There are a few things I don't like about the car though:
1. The idle is rough as hell, even with no A/C running. It comes and goes, but occasionally at a stop, the car will actually shake. From reading here, I'm assuming it may be due to the spark plug gaps being uneven. Is this something that would be covered under warranty, or am I looking at having to pay out of pocket to remedy this (I'm useless with tools and deathly afraid of effing things up, so DIY is right out)?
2. I want to find the person who invented the traction and steering control nannies and beat the ever-loving snot out of them. Holy [CENSORED]!! These aren't safety devices, they are ANTI-safety devices. With any kind of cross wind and a driving speed above 50, it literally feels like you may lose control of the car. It's damned frightening. Disable the two nannies and all is well. I don't know if it's the technologies that are the problem or the way Chevrolet has them programmed.
The first thing I now do upon turning the vehicle on is to hold down the disable button until both lights come on in the dash. I wish I could just disable them entirely, but reading here that's really not a good idea.
I wonder (1) how many people these features will ultimately PUT IN danger, and (2) how many sales this may wind up costing Chevrolet, as people who don't read a forum and have no idea that these "features" (and I use the term lightly) can be disabled on-the-fly, may have crap-yer-pants moments while test driving and ultimately decide "Aw, HELL no!" and just mark it up to being a POS vehicle.
Seriously, the control nannies do this car an extreme disservice.
I got my '13 1.4 Auto LT Sedan on August 30. I've put just over 800 miles on it since then.
Overall I really do like the car. Great interior room for those of us with extreme girth, height, and length.
Virtually all of my driving is city, and short trips at that (commute is 11 minutes... barely long enough for the engine to warm up) and thus far the gas mileage has been spot on with the window sticker, 25 mpg.
Today was the first extended highway trip I've taken, about 3 hours total. With little wind and on flat terrain, it's interesting to see how driving speeds affect gas mileage. I did some experimenting with resetting the gas mileage meter and running the car at the same speed with cruise on for 4-5 miles, to see what the car claimed the gas mileage was for different speeds.
73mph (my preferred cruising speed) = 34 mpg
65mph = 39 mpg
55mph = 43 mpg
So if you don't mind being a slug (and in some areas, e.g., Chicagoland, being a speed bump or road hazard), you can definitely pull above-sticker mpg.
There are a few things I don't like about the car though:
1. The idle is rough as hell, even with no A/C running. It comes and goes, but occasionally at a stop, the car will actually shake. From reading here, I'm assuming it may be due to the spark plug gaps being uneven. Is this something that would be covered under warranty, or am I looking at having to pay out of pocket to remedy this (I'm useless with tools and deathly afraid of effing things up, so DIY is right out)?
2. I want to find the person who invented the traction and steering control nannies and beat the ever-loving snot out of them. Holy [CENSORED]!! These aren't safety devices, they are ANTI-safety devices. With any kind of cross wind and a driving speed above 50, it literally feels like you may lose control of the car. It's damned frightening. Disable the two nannies and all is well. I don't know if it's the technologies that are the problem or the way Chevrolet has them programmed.
The first thing I now do upon turning the vehicle on is to hold down the disable button until both lights come on in the dash. I wish I could just disable them entirely, but reading here that's really not a good idea.
I wonder (1) how many people these features will ultimately PUT IN danger, and (2) how many sales this may wind up costing Chevrolet, as people who don't read a forum and have no idea that these "features" (and I use the term lightly) can be disabled on-the-fly, may have crap-yer-pants moments while test driving and ultimately decide "Aw, HELL no!" and just mark it up to being a POS vehicle.
Seriously, the control nannies do this car an extreme disservice.
