SEOUL, Oct. 1 GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. auto giant General Motors Co., unveiled a refreshed Aveo subcompact with a downsized engine and improved transmission setup Wednesday.
The Chevrolet brand car, sold as the Sonic in the United States, is powered by a peppy 1.4-liter gasoline turbo engine rated at 140 ponies and copied from the Aveo Rally Sport car. The engine is designed to reduce turbo lag and can achieve 20.4 kilogram meters of torque in the 3,000-4,500 revolution per minute range.
The outgoing Aveo had a 1.6L mill with an output of 114 horsepower and 15.1 kgm of max torque at 4,000 rpm.
The tweaked second generation vehicle also comes with a six-speed manual gearbox, compared to the five-speed stick setup of the current model. This new transmission is able to deliver a combined 14.9 kilometer range on a liter of fuel, the carmaker claimed, with highway fuel economy rising to 17.4 kmpl.
GM Korea said the new vehicle, face-lifted in the front, rear and sides, has a tire pressure monitoring system, hill start assist, traction control and electronic stability control as standard on all trims.
Pricing for the car starts at 14.23 million won (US$13,400) for the base L Star with a manual shifter and rises to 17.99 million won for the LT and 19.99 million won for the sporty RS trim. Cars with the “Gen 2” six-speed automatic transmission cost 1.5 million won more.
The carmaker said it has started receiving pre-orders for the car, with delivery planned for mid-October.
