French Chevy Has Curb Weight of Sonic!
- Thread starter Memphis
- Start date
where did you find this?
i believe it....just wondering.
too much weight for a 138 hp car. disappointed if accurate.
MacGregor
New member
Cobalt & Sonic weight-to-hp is THE SAME!!!
Assuming Hurf is correct on the Sonic hatch weight (and I believe him to be correct inasmuch as he builds them), the Weight-to-Horsepower of the Sonic is IDENTICAL to the Cobalt! Do the math! (if you want me to post the Cobalt specs, just post here and you will have them). I am DISAPPOINTED!!!
Assuming Hurf is correct on the Sonic hatch weight (and I believe him to be correct inasmuch as he builds them), the Weight-to-Horsepower of the Sonic is IDENTICAL to the Cobalt! Do the math! (if you want me to post the Cobalt specs, just post here and you will have them). I am DISAPPOINTED!!!
LS 4 door 1.8 auto
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. look up zzperformance and see what they already have for the 1.4l turbo... in less than a year that the cruze has been out... and the cruze is NOT IN THE LEAST a sought after performance platform because it is a tank for the size it is and theres no manual with the turbo other than the eco and the gear ratio blows in that car.
laborsmith
New member
3716 minus 895(weight of passengers and luggage etc.) would leave 2821 for the auto equipped 1.8L. Having seen both engines within a few feet of each other when doing the open house tour this summer, I can testify the 1.4 is noticeably smaller than the 1.8. I could not say how much less it weighs, but subtracting the additional weight for the auto trans along with that for the 1.8L engine, a sub 2800 for the turbo car seems reasonable to me.
I seem to remember that Europe gives the weight w/o fluids and the US gives the weight with fluids including a full tank of gas. I suspect the 6lbs. per gallon would go a long way to accounting for the difference, but someone with a better memory than I have could say whether that is true or not.
Laborsmith
I seem to remember that Europe gives the weight w/o fluids and the US gives the weight with fluids including a full tank of gas. I suspect the 6lbs. per gallon would go a long way to accounting for the difference, but someone with a better memory than I have could say whether that is true or not.
Laborsmith
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laborsmith
New member
I just checked the door jambs of my 2010 V6 Camaro: GVW=4517. The official curb weight = 3750. This is a four passenger vehicle so instead of approx 950 punds one would use 750. Very close. One should remember the Camaro has a sports car suspension which means it is built to take less additional weight, something to remember if one wants to lower or otherwise modify the Sonic suspension. If you do such a change, you should take on less weight when driving, ie fewer passenger or fewer pieces of luggage.
Laborsmith
Laborsmith
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t275-2/
GVWR is 3758 lbs (1705 kg)
Max Weight Capacity is 895 lbs (406 kg)
Curb Weight ESTIMATE 3758 - 895 = 2863
that is a 1.8 auto sedan. yay...they built a chevy cobalt.
i expect the hatch to be a bit heavier.
im hoping the 1.4t will at least move this fatty adequately. i dont wanna here about the tune upgrade....i already found 3 cruze owners who got screwed by their chevy dealers after engine problems ( denied warranty coverage because of the trifecta tune upgrade). besides, 138 hp should be more than plenty for a subcompact.
now, where are those mpg numnbers?
GVWR is 3758 lbs (1705 kg)
Max Weight Capacity is 895 lbs (406 kg)
Curb Weight ESTIMATE 3758 - 895 = 2863
that is a 1.8 auto sedan. yay...they built a chevy cobalt.
i expect the hatch to be a bit heavier.
im hoping the 1.4t will at least move this fatty adequately. i dont wanna here about the tune upgrade....i already found 3 cruze owners who got screwed by their chevy dealers after engine problems ( denied warranty coverage because of the trifecta tune upgrade). besides, 138 hp should be more than plenty for a subcompact.
now, where are those mpg numnbers?
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Memphis
New member
You wouldnt happen to know what a fully loaded Sonic with the 1.4L without the sunroof would weigh would you?
Laborsmith, isnt the 1.8L an aluminum block? The 1.4L is an iron block. That plus the turbo added on might cancel out any weight savings. I wish it were aluminum. With that being said the iron block should be able to hold more hp.
ZZP makes decent parts. They arent the only one with things out for the Cruze. The O2 housing was a new one for me. The best intake for the Cruze and Sonic is the K&N or the one that Vince the owner of Trifecta uses. It slipped my mind.
I know a lot of people expect 12hp from a intake but with the tune you only get about 5-6hp.
The exhausts are out from a whole bunch of people but havent really looked into gains.
No intercoolers are out yet for the Cruze but is probably the most needed aftermarket part needed.
There is a motor mount out by TTR and I used that on my G5. It works really well and helps gain some of that drivetrain loss back.
Im personally most interested in the products turbokits.com does. They do amazing work that is right on par if not above that of Hahn.
They should be ale to get some stuff done pretty quick.
laborsmith
New member
Yes, one is iron the other aluminum, but the iron block has been worked over both to make it lighter and for cooling. And the goal was to handle more HP.
The turbo is small, little more than a bump on the exhaust manifold.
Someday someone will weigh the two and then we will know for sure, but for now I expect the 1.4 with turbo will come in weighing less than the 1.8.
I am definitely with you on the inter-cooler and am hopeful someone will come out with one soon.
Laborsmith
The turbo is small, little more than a bump on the exhaust manifold.
Someday someone will weigh the two and then we will know for sure, but for now I expect the 1.4 with turbo will come in weighing less than the 1.8.
I am definitely with you on the inter-cooler and am hopeful someone will come out with one soon.
Laborsmith
Boost
Banned
Would you mind please posting links or info about who these people are and where this is discussed? I am only asking because that is a strong statement that may discourage some potential customers from the otherwise very highly reputable Trifecta, as well as the small guys like me who provide excellent outstanding tunes for $199, and you will NEVER have any issue with warranty in my city. Modding and aftermarket performance are not for everyone. But with a pinch of sense and minimal connections, you will never, never have a warranty issue in the real world. Thanks, just would like to clear this up because: without the performance potential of a 40 horsepower tune that takes 10 minutes, the attraction of the near 3000 lb Sonic as a "peppy / sporty" compact fades rather quickly... intake + catback will get you less than 10 wheel horsepower!!!
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you are exactly right. the dealers dont have to prove without a shadow of a doubt the tune affected whatever the warranty issue is, only that it might have reasonably caused an issue.
indeed, as others have already advised these owners, they should have done exactly as you stated.
i am not implying it is a real issue with the tune. i dont believe it is. i believe there are issues with specific dealers. there are still ongoing cases, so i am not going to get into it further.
let me ask anyone who care to answer this:
why doesnt chevy just do this tune in production if it can be done for $200 and adds 40 hp. they could sell the car for alot more than $200 more and they would sell by hotcakes?
im not asking because i believe the tune caused real issues, im curious more from the side of the business decision by gm.
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Boost
Banned
The answer to that is long. But it has less to do with reliability than you might think. The production vehicles sold to the general public have to pass extreme tests and be very consistent. Emissions vary with different fuel types / brands / qualities / climate / driving conditions - the car has to meet the emission standards at all times under all of these AND by a lot to be competitive with others. The drivetrain would require more expensive and heavy parts with more power to last for a very long time under various conditions with added power. Fuel economy may be affected, although sometimes the added torque at low rpm and increased combustion efficiency can actually help it, it DOES take more fuel molecules to keep the proper mix if more oxygen molecules are present.... there are very logical and understandable reasons that GM and other manufacturers detune production vehicles. The people that enjoy very high performance are not the average consumer.
In a nutshell, GM has decided that current tune and power levels give the best possible all around combination of emissions, fuel economy, driveability, reliability and production / warranty / maintanance cost. If you want to step out of the stock performance envelope, it is your responsibility to be willing to accept a slight risk in one of the other areas. We should be glad that they routinely overbuild the hardware, that you can even tune 40-50 hp with minimal risk into a 1 liter engine under $20k. This is not the case with all vehicles. Like I said, some concrete evidence of failures and warranty denials would be nice to go with the thousands of trouble free satisfied tuned guys / gals.
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RichieRocket
New member
We discussed this on a previous thread. The tune requires 91-octane fuel. My suspicion is that in these days of high gas prices, Chevy doesn't want to require more expensive high-octane fuel. Even if they can upgrade the performance and/or mpg, for a sub-compact economy car, the perception of adding extra fuel cost would affect sales. Most non-performace-caring persons will not know any difference and just drive the car as is.
The main issue here is still the weight...
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thanks for this answer. as far as the warranty issues, i am actually talking to these people about what is going on. it was not from an internet thread. the denials are not absolute...it is an ongoing dispute, so i will try to get more details as they unfold.
i would think anyone wanting to do any type of tune should either: 1) have a gaurantee from the company providing the tune will not cause any engine warranty issues or 2) obtain a guarantee from their local dealer that the specific tune will not cause any engine warranty issues.
Boost
Banned
... or 3) sign or read and understand a disclaimer like most companies have such as Diablosport, Superchips, EFILive etc. they all basically say that the mods are for off-road use only and the end user is responsible for possible effects on emissions, warranty and such. You always have to pay to play.
And I am with you RR on GM not wanting to require premium octane fuel. As if these cars stock run WAAAY better on premium gasoline...
And I am with you RR on GM not wanting to require premium octane fuel. As if these cars stock run WAAAY better on premium gasoline...
