Hello from a '07 Aveo5 SVM owner
 

Been lurking the forum for a little while and figured I'd finally post something. I've managed to beat the EPA average MPG, and yesterday bumped my tire pressures up to 42/40 PSI (sidewall max is 44) which should help the rather pathetic mileage this car gets compared to other similar vehicles.

Hey, welcome.

Curious: what other cars did you consider before you pulled the trigger on the Aveo?

The second choice (and, if money wasn't an issue, the preferred one) was a Yaris. In the end it was the price and the fact that the dealer actually had a no-frills Aveo5 SVM on the lot. I do like the car, and the extra interior room is nice.

Welcome to the site! Maybe you should go crazy and inflate your tires up to 50 psi :) My sidewalls say 35 psi and I've got 50 psi in them so it is definitely doable. Make sure you create a gaslog as it's fun to track your own mileage.

The aveo 5 speed was on my list of possible cars, before my saturn was reborn as a stick shift ;)

Welcome to the site. you should try a quick grill block out your grill looks perfect on the lower part

I agree that you need to work on a grill block. Also, consider front tire spats.
You should be able to do much better in mileage on the car. Keep trying.

I like the Aveos. I was THIS close[] to buying one, but then my Cavalier surfaced.

Rotareneg -

Welcome to GS! I drove the Euro-version in 2006, the Chevy "Kalos". You're right about the space. When I was in Europe (for work), two of us went to pick up 2 more people at the airport. I was worried 4 people + 2 people's luggage woudn't fit, but we were snug as a bug in a rug. It's turning radius was very "Euro-city" friendly, which helped alot.

EDIT : There have been some kool tricked out ones here in LA.

CarloSW2 aka "Kalos"

I understand from a guy who owns one (Aveo 5 speed) that the gearing is a little short, a la Honda Fit. Which would go a long way toward explaining its low MPG relative to its competitors.

The guy I talked to went from a 95 Metro to the Aveo.

The aveo is really roomy everywhere except the trunk. I always joke and say you can only fit 3 gallons of milk in there.

The SVM dosen't come with ac, but I assume you must have ac on yours living in kansas and all.

My previous car (a 2 door '87 Cavalier) had neither a working AC nor windows that would roll down, just the back windows that popped open outwards a bit. Just being able to roll the windows down on my Aveo is a miracle. :D

I plan on trying out a grill block on the lower "grill" on the bumper and leave the much smaller upper one open during the summer. During the winter I bet it can get by without either opening as there's a bit of an air dam or scoop behind and below the bumper that also directs air into radiator.

Welcome aboard! I'll be curious to see what kind of mileage you can pull out of your Aveo. I'm leaning towards a Yaris for a business vehicle, but the Aveo is definitely worth considering.

Sounds like the same arrangement as my VW Cabrio. A comment I read here was that it's more efficient to pull air across the bottom of a radiator, so I'm going to try the reverse of you: block off the upper grille first, leaving the bumper grille open. Depending on how the engine responds temperature-wise, I'll then try blocking off the bumper part. It'll be interesting to compare notes to see if we can determine any difference between the two approaches.

By the way, my bumper grille is split into a wide central part for the radiator, flanked by two smaller ones. The one on the driver's side is a dummy (not unlike the driver, hah! :D) and is blocked off by the factory. The passenger-side grille is nowhere near the radiator. It's not clear what it's for yet -- the airbox is on that side so it might be the CAI, but peering through the grillwork doesn't reveal any ducting. I can also see the end of something pulley-driven; alternator, maybe? Anyway, I plan to study the situation some before deciding to block that one off. You might want to check to make sure the Aveo doesn't have anything similar. It'd be a shame to watch your temperature gauge like a hawk thinking everything's okay while your power steering pump or whatever slowly cooks itself to death!

Thanks for mentioning that! The Fit is also on my list, but I'd been wondering about its gas mileage being a little lower than the Yaris'.

Rick