The Chevrolet Aveo body was created, believe it or not, in the Giugiaro Italdesign studio in Turin, Italy. And it shows, especially in the smooth sedan, which is better looking than the Hyundai Accent or Rio. The sedan and five-door have the same wheelbase, but the sedan is 14 inches longer, and with that extra length to work with, Giugiaro made the car look real, and not so much like a toy.The nose is nice: simple and clean with tidy shapes. The headlights are horizontal and nicely rounded at the corners, with long thin turn signals like amber underlines. There's a little smiley-face grille, inconspicuous in black mesh, with a tidy Chevy bowtie symbol in the center. Both front and rear bumpers are body colored and part of the shape of the car. As sleek little hatchbacks go, the Aveo five-door isn't quite as good looking as Toyota's Scion xA, but it holds its own. The taillights especially, chunky and efficient, have a nice physical edge to them. The roofline is rounded, sloping back to meet the optional spoiler over the liftgate. There are character lines running back from the front wheelwell to the rear, which may or may not add character. The fit of the body panels is visibly tight, something not usually seen with low-priced entry-level cars.
The Aveo interior is better than you might expect for such a low-cost car. The seats offer a solid fit and are quite comfortable, with high-density foam under the LS's deluxe cloth in a tweedy pattern. There's a good four-spoke steering wheel, finished in matt black. The instrument panel is simple, while still presenting the important information in big gauges: speedo, tach, fuel and coolant temp. There's some silly pseudo carbon fiber in the door handles, and the golfball grain on the dash looks rough; but Cadillacs have it too. There are a number of thoughtful slots and pockets for storing things, including a lighted glovebox. There's a floor console with a storage compartment, and an extra 12-volt power outlet. Our test model was an LS with the conveniences. We drove it on a hot Texas day, and the air conditioning was excellent. There was a CD player in the dash, and a storage slot big enough for your whole hand under the CD slot. The big round old-fashioned black gearshift knob with black boot was simple and appropriate for the no-frills Aveo. We crawled in the back seat and discovered lots of room back there, as well as good visibility given the stadium seating, with elevated seats which are possible thanks to a high roof. The rear seat of the sedan folds flat and opens up to the trunk, while the rear seat of the five-door further flips forward with the touch of one finger, yielding a relatively cavernous cargo area. Minimizing wind, road and engine noise, there's a lot of sound insulation located under the hood and floor, and in the doors and dash panel. |
