Dragon Sonic

[bubenator]

Hello friendly forum peeps!

After test driving a couple Sonics over the past few years I decided I needed to snag one once the previous old beast retired.

Since I knew exactly what I wanted (RS manual in Dragon Green) I just waited til one was available for a price I was willing to pay, then jumped on a plane. I picked up this one in Orlando and then gave it a 1200+ mile test drive home to southeast Michigan. My only gripe is the silly gearing that keeps engine speeds well above 3K for highway cruising.

The car is completely stock and likely to stay that way til that way since it's the DD. I'm here to learn about repairs and car features that other folks have dealt with on the journey of Sonic ownership.

 

[dtbrown]

Welcome and congrats! I can't speak for manual transmissions but my automatic on hwy at 80mph is 2600- 2800rpm from what I can recall. I'll update this next time I'm driving. Above 3k seems high.

 

[Silversn95]

Welcome to the forum.
3000+ rpm in a small car doesn't seem that out of the ordinary. My old '09 vibe with the 5 speed was at 3200 at 75 mph and my older '94 escort gt was at 4000 rpm at 75 mph.
I can't compare with our sonic however since it is an auto but I think it runs at lower 2600-2800 rpm at 75.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[bubenator]

The 'close-ratio' manual runs at 3250 RPM at 75 mph in 6th.
No, it's not by any means unusual for a small engine to be turning that quickly at those speeds, but I've generally expected things a bit more relaxed when you have 6 ratios to play with. I guess I'm just whining.

There are all kinds of discussions about possibly swapping in an LTZ final drive or even an entire transmission, but again this is intended to be the reliable daily driver.

 

[gnonne]

I assume your RS manual is a 1.4 turbo rather than a 1.8, right?

I have a 2013 turbo sedan with the automatic that I recently drove 1200+ miles on the road from West MI to KY and back. 75 MPH = 2500 RPM = 38 MPG. Slower gives more MPG.

What was your MPG on the long trip?