New 2009 Aveo 5 : Reviews and Specs

The Aveo5 gathers speed modestly, but a light clutch and reasonably precise five-speed manual transmission make it feel peppier than it is. At speed, there’s more road noise than you’ll find in Chevy’s larger Cobalt or Honda’s similarly sized Fit, but it’s not bad – and not far from luxury car levels just a few years ago.
And glance inside quickly and you might be forgiven for temporarily thinking you were indeed in an older luxury car. Chevy’s poorly named Neutral interior scheme combines nicely with a contrasting black dashboard and convincing faux wood. The low sheen materials look upscale (though a quick touch reveals that you’re definitely in an economy car) and the design is a step above economy car norm – closer to small European cars not sold on these shores. Also reminding us of a European car was the radio volume knob that merely mutes the stereo when pressed – you’ll have to search for the power switch. That stereo head unit looks comically like a cheap Chinese copy of GM’s “bowtie” unit seen in virtually everything else The General makes these days – it’s clearly of the same vein, but the fonts and shapes are off ever so slightly.