Just came across the site, 12 LTZ hatch owner representing

[dai]

Hey there, I bought my car new back in October, already have 18k miles on it. I'm from the Chicago area and drive 80-100 miles daily for work, plus ~600 one weekend a month. Lots of time down, really comfortable in it.

car is a fully loaded '12 LTZ hatchback, Cyber gray with the black and orange leather interior, orange dash plastic.

I'll definitely dig around the site a bit more, but had a few questions that have gone unanswered with the searching I've done yet. maybe someone knows where I can look:

bike racks- I've seen a number of people ask about them, seen one person post the suction cuppy thing, but in all of the threads someone ends up posting a link saying "they're discussing bike racks over here", but the link has never worked. Same goes for a number of other links I've seen, not sure if the linked thread has been culled after being untouched for a while, moved, whatever.

details- have you seen any good looking enhancements made to a cyber gray car? Jealous of the firey orange tincoat I saw with plasti-dipped pieces like the spoiler and gascap, wish I could pull off something that popped like that. I wonder of doing that to pieces would look interesting, or if I should look to a lighter steel/aluminum/chrome looking color to make things pop.

automatic- is it a commonly noted problem that the automatic transmission feels... weird? ever since I bought the car, I've noticed that decelerating (usually when I pass ~30mph) it will shift early and it'll lurch a bit with the resistance of the next gear. It also takes a bit of time to get from 5th gear to 6th, like it's waiting for me to continue accelerating. Searching around a while ago, it just seemed that was the norm for it to be a little finnicky that way, I've taken to manually shifting most of the time and don't have problems with it, save for if I shift from 1-2 and it thinks I should go back to 1 all of a sudden

side note, oh man this forum is like a trip to 2003, basic vbullitin and old classic emotes. Guess I'm spoiled on the internet these days, heh

 

[Swordsmith]

Welcome to the Forum. You can spit on the floor and call the cat a bastard.

Plastidip comes in a very wide variety of colors, is easy to apply, and best of all comes back off if you don't like the results. I can't say as I have seen much done with it on Cyber Grey, but black goes with everything, or you could look for a color combo you like. Photoshop is a good way to test things out if you're good at it, or I think there's a thread here where someone else will do some photochopping for you. Some orange might really pop with your interior?

I have definitely seen bike racks discussed, complete with pictures, other than the cuppy one. Cuppy one seemed viable but expensive, apparantly it's stronger than you might imagine though. Thread links do seem to go funny after a while, even though the pages themselves stay put, a peculiarity of the forum. Usually someone better at using the search engine comes through on questions, though, if you have tried and can't find something.

My Sonic is a manual, but yes, people have reported that the auto with the stock tune behaves oddly. More, I am given to understand that it "learns" to work with you, which often means it learns to work less well as you are trying to work around it's failings and it is trying to keep doing what it wants despite you. I hear, but again cannot confirm, that the Trifecta tune will address most of those complaints for you and make you much much happier with your auto transmission.

Does "fully loaded" mean with the 1.4T Transmission?

And let me be the first to say: Pics?

 

[Goneau]

My sedan is cyber gray and i'm doing white bowties and covering up all the chrome with white :]

 

[dai]

My sedan is cyber gray and i'm doing white bowties and covering up all the chrome with white :]

one thing that caught my eye at the dealer was a black sedan with the white "swoosh" bowtie stripes along the side

picture from their site is wrong, the center isn't a light grey, it's cut out so you see the car color.

it was pretty slick but I'm personally not much a fan of sporting bowties

Photoshop is a good way to test things out if you're good at it, or I think there's a thread here where someone else will do some photochopping for you.

I figured as much, photoshop has always been a major portion of my work and hobby lifestyles, though opinion and example are usually a bit more informative when it comes down to it. PS would likely come into play after I've made some better decisions and want to do the actual design work.

Thread links do seem to go funny after a while, even though the pages themselves stay put, a peculiarity of the forum. Usually someone better at using the search engine comes through on questions, though, if you have tried and can't find something.

ah, I know how it goes. I'm an old hand at vb forums, currently a moderator on Facepunch Studios (gaming community, 30k active members daily right now). Lest you have an account I'd say it's not worth checking at the moment, site owner pulled some wonky moves recently and locked it to invite-only for some reason, leaving an unmoderatable anon-enabled subforum for randoms to ask to join. Not going well with trolls taking over that, but he's set in his 'experiment' apparently

My Sonic is a manual, but yes, people have reported that the auto with the stock tune behaves oddly. More, I am given to understand that it "learns" to work with you, which often means it learns to work less well as you are trying to work around it's failings and it is trying to keep doing what it wants despite you. I hear, but again cannot confirm, that the Trifecta tune will address most of those complaints for you and make you much much happier with your auto transmission.

that whole "you get used to it and work around its kinks" thing, eh? My first car was a nice little Saturn SL2, I learned pretty fast how to play with the gas pedal to trick it into shifting up for me, haha.

Does "fully loaded" mean with the 1.4T Transmission?

ah, fully loaded for an LTZ, I'll have to triple check the specs but I remember some things like the 1.4L not being available for the Z. Not sure about the trans, just know it's a 6-speed off the top of my head. Will check the sticker later to let ya know.

And let me be the first to say: Pics?

trust me, I'll get them soon. Being in Chicago and having had it only through the winter, the car's sheen and the general area has been dull gray and coated in salty dust. Not very photogenic. I am a photographer and have done vehicles in the past, so expect something fancy once I get a chance. Also free to shoot for other people in the area if the chance arises.

Have a treat from an old client shoot in the meantime, '70 Chevelle SS

 

[AndrewGS]

Welcome!

Yes, the forum layout is dated, but I'm old and I like it that way! Damn kids!

 

[Eric Smit]

If it's a six speed manual, than it's a 1.4T. Welcome to the family!

 

[dai]

6-speed automatic with the static manual shift, this thinger

(photo from chevy's site)

one thing I've noticed is that sometimes the +/- rocker squeaks if the plastic rubs up against the main housing, haven't heard lately but I was planning on getting in there with an exacto to shave away some of the edge it's hitting

ONE of these days spring will actually stick and I can get out and really touch up the car

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Welcome to the family!! :banana:

 

[dai]

went digging through my archive, seems there's at least a couple of random snaps I grabbed on-the-spot

like I said, I'll try and get out and do a few proper shots. Oil change tomorrow and a good washing if it's a decent temp out

 

[Calculon]

I thought my 10 minute commute was bad. Every once and a while, I wish I had gotten the cyber gray/brick combo.

 

[dai]

yeah, it's about 45 min to an hour one way, mostly highway. the extra bit is for carpooling's sake, my dad works at the same place but lives a bit in the opposite direction. For the wages vs my living costs in the suburbs it's kind of a necessity right now, $300/month for gas or so but it'd cost two to three times more on top for a half decent apartment in the city. still looking to find a nice spot to balance out distance/costs though

brick interior is pretty snazzy, but I've noticed that the orange plating on the door above the armrests gets scuffed super easy by elbows, albeit it wipes off right away with a sleeve. I wonder if there's something I can use as a clear coat so it isn't so rough and scuffy

hmm, quick question, but is there a way to disable the daytime running function on the headlights? I feel the car looks way sharper with them off during the day but I'd have to manually flick them off every time I started the car up

 

[Swordsmith]

I wanted the brick interior but settled for grey, there are some funny restrictions on which options are available with which others. I am 99.999% sure you can get the 1.4T in LTZ though, it's just the LS where you can't.

Yep just checked Chevy site, LTZ auto and manual are both have 1.4T available. Dealer may not have had one handy, may even have (gasp) lied to you about whether it's possible... but it can be done.

 

[dai]

how dare they tell me to buy the one LTZ they had on the lot instead of checking elsewhere, heh

actually I just ran to check my sticker. Only says "Transmission, 6-SPD Automatic", then notes the engine is 1.8L. hmm

-question, when does my avatar allow itself to show up? I know some forums require a post limit before more info can show.

 

[poncho167]

"hmm, quick question, but is there a way to disable the daytime running function on the headlights? I feel the car looks way sharper with them off during the day but I'd have to manually flick them off every time I started the car up."

The question is do you want yourself and others to be less safe? Daytime running lights are there for a reason and thats so others can see you easier. In Canada they have been law for all new vehicles for over 10-years and statistics will back them up.

 

[dai]

The question is do you want yourself and others to be less safe? Daytime running lights are there for a reason and thats so others can see you easier. In Canada they have been law for all new vehicles for over 10-years and statistics will back them up.

it seems lower models of the vehicle require you to manually turn it on, going by the fact I see a lot on the road without their lights on mid-day. Obviously someone here could confirm/deny that assumption, but it seems odd that everybody would be manually turning them off all the time.

wasn't aware there were legal requirements to have them in places, it always seems unnecessary and almost hazardous itself, if you get a larger vehicle behind you their headlights can still be pretty intense and in your face in the mirrors. I've got my rear-view permanently stuck in night-mode because it's such an issue in the city

 

[poncho167]

I know all GM models have it standard and most other makes. The lights are not at full brightness during the day, just enough so you can spot them easier. I don't know about the Sonic models, but other models have deactivation procedures to turn them off. Such a deactivation procedure would be listed in the owners manual.

I can't see how they could be too bright during the day to have to turn your mirror upwards. They are just bright enough to be noticed and again people will see you earlier including pedestrians crossing the road, or that person coming out of a parking lot in front of you who may have other distractions in their car and not paying close attention.

 

[wingman]

Welcome

 

[dai]

I can't see how they could be too bright during the day to have to turn your mirror upwards. They are just bright enough to be noticed and again people will see you earlier including pedestrians crossing the road, or that person coming out of a parking lot in front of you who may have other distractions in their car and not paying close attention.

I can only equate it to "everybody in this town turns their brights on manually to eradicate midday shadows"

ah well, thanks for all the info. Seems it isn't worth going so far out of the way to tweak.

edit- oh wait you're in fox lake, you should know about all the SUVs and jacked up pickups with headache racks that float around Antioch, haha.

 

[poncho167]

Chapter 6 in your owners manual explains how you can disable the DRL's if you really want to.