[Jmaj]

Car Guys! He says think of the Bolt as a hot hatch like the Focus RS or Golf GTI. Needs performance tires which will of course cut the range but the Bolt is a hoot to drive he says, and practical.

He does mark the Bolt down a bit for it's uninspiring front end styling and in his opinion ticky tack interior trim. His preferred color is black because it has the shiny grill inserts.

Kind of ruled the Bolt out for myself but now I might rule it back in.

 

[BAZINGA]

I do wish GM would find a way to add in more "aggressive" SPORT mode option lowering the 0-60 times a second or two.

 

[Raymondjram]

GM cannot comply with every "sport" request, and there are no third-party upgrades for this new vehicle, as there are for the Camaro and Corvette which have been in the market for many years. So I suggest either order the Bolt EV with your favorite packages and upgrade it yourself. Or wait a few years until such third-party offers appear.

 

[DonC]

Interesting review. Those interested can find it here: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...eview-chevy-bolt-electric-hot-hatch/94697790/

Not sure of this demographic. I think plenty of "green" folks would like an electric car with 238 miles of range. I mean somebody bought the Nissan Leaf! Also, on the biggest negative, the Bolt EV's interior until you get to Premium, he uses the $42K number but that leaves off the tax credit (and any state rebates). So his comparison between the $42K Bolt EV and the VW Golf R "funbox" at $36K is actually off. Rather than being more expensive the Bolt EV is slightly less expensive, at least as long as the credits last.

 

[Breezy]

It's got hot-hatchiness. It might not beat a Golf R or a Focus RS, but it's comparable to a GTI or a Focus ST. And of course it will feel quicker than it is.

 

[Steverino]

Yes, compare the full price rather than the effective price after tax credit when you want to make a price comparison. At least he mentioned the $7500 tax credit for those paying attention.

I too prefer the silver nose. Alas, not available as an option for Summit White, but the blacked out grill still delivers on the high contrast white with black trim color scheme I'm leaning toward.

I do think EV's are a tough proposition for urban dwellers due to lack of charge infrastructure.He has a point there. On street parking does not lend itself to overnight charging. One solution would be charging at work, but that infrastructure is often lacking as well.

No mention of the new seats.

I thought it funny he conflated the Model 3 with a hot hatch, but his focus is obviously on speed, not "hatch", while my focus is on utility. Speed is down the list for me. Still, good to hear he enjoyed driving the car overall.

 

[Qinsp]

The Bolt is being sold with a "performance suspension". There is no touring suspension or racing suspension offered.

I have a hunch once you turn the babysitters off on a Bolt with sticky tires, it will surprise a lot of folk, just the Volt did.

I pulled into the pits, and about 5 other racers at a SCCA Solo2 event came up to me to check out the car. This was a 2013. They did not expect it beat some of the cars that it did. They thought it was something like a Prius until it cut times better than several of the BMW's.

 

[BAZINGA]

Most folks would not have compared the Bolt to some of the best "hot hatchbacks" available today. Interesting observation and a pleasant surprise.

I agree charging a BIG battery BEV is the long pole in the tent for many. I guess I shouldn't suggest GM/Chevy to install a few "token" CSS chargers in selected markets for that reason as a safety net or to help kick start sales.

 

[stuart22]

I sat in a Bolt Premier last week at the SF Auto Show. I'm 6'2", average shape and build.

Excellent front seat headroom; seat travel seemed very generous - 6'7" people ought to fit quite well. Rear seat legroom is very good except when the front seat is fully pushed to its rearmost limit. Rear seat headroom is just adequate and tightens to the side of one's head as if the roofline narrowed down. It would be a cozy fit for three adults there, as interior width is not what contributes to the Bolt's respectable interior volume statistic. The flat floor is nice.

Probably the most obvious area of cost-cutting for me were the hard plastic door panels. They were well designed with sculpture, but don't expect wood paneling or padded soft vinyl or multi-colored appearances. It became clear to me that this was a car that needs to be driven in order to really find out what it is all about.

 

[Bacardi]

No idea what it would take in terms of sales/demand wise for GM to green light AWD...Doing so would allow you to make two variants out of it, a "hot hatch" SS version where you gain AWD, stickier tires and lowered and firmer suspension...Then a more "CUV" version (ZR71?), just AWD, an increased ride height, and some lower rugged looking cladding being the only differences...

 

[!arry4pyro]

So why not a hot hatch? BMW is going to make a sportier version of the I3, I wouldn't think it would be that hard with the Bolt. Just add wider, stickier tires and reprogram the inverter to deliver power quicker. As I understand it the inverter ramps up power in order to prevent excessive power from spinning the tires. Stickier tires can handle more torque so a faster ramp-up of power would provide faster acceleration meaning better 0-60 times and sportier driving characteristics.

 

[stuart22]

No idea what it would take in terms of sales/demand wise for GM to green light AWD...

I went there last summer, ho-hum was the verdict.... http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?254234-AWD-Bolt

But I do think it to be a smart decision. AWD is cool for the image. It kept Subaru in the game despite many years of invisible visibility. VW is now pushing the Alltrack AWD Golf and its ads bring out some needed energy for the brand.

AWD would appeal to the North Face and Patagonia crowd; people with a younger, adventurous bent. The kind of people Buick would kill for. Maybe GM will give Buick a Bolt variant and do exactly what they need to do to bring youth into the Buick fold.

 

[Norton]

I do wish GM would find a way to add in more "aggressive" SPORT mode option lowering the 0-60 times a second or two.

But if tire traction is the limiting factor, what'r you gonna do?

>.... reprogram the inverter to deliver power quicker.
>> As I understand it the inverter ramps up power in order to prevent excessive power from spinning the tires. Stickier tires can handle more torque ..... better 0-60 times and sportier driving characteristics.

>The inverter 'delivers power' at the speed of light now!
It's Traction Control that ramps the power to avoid tire spin.

If you don't care about the outer limits of range why have LRR tires?
Go sticky! All the performance numbers will improve!

I put 'performance' tires on my Spark EV within a month of owning it. Even then that TC light flashes at me anytime I flog it.
I need even stickier tires !! I wore out those tires in ~23k miles. I'm going back to the stock tires that I saved to get me through winter

 

[austai]

As the owner of a 2010 GTI, this review makes me very happy.

 

[SharkVolt]

After a little research, I found that Bridgestone makes their stickiest "autocross" tires in a 40 series for a 16" rim, which I am almost certain will easily clear the brake calipers, and that combination would give you a tire diameter that is 2.3" smaller than the oem tires/wheels.

That is 9% lower gearing, and lowers the car 1.15", and therefore improves body roll, cornering, acceleration and braking. If our engineers get their slide rules out I am sure they can tell us how much that will drop the 0-60 mph 6.5 second s down by. (I am guessing it should be at around 6 seconds flat)

And, if you buy some admittedly expensive lightweight 16" racing rims, you can improve performance even more.

Think that would make the Bolt a hot enough hatch for you?

 

[Jmaj]

After a little research, I found that Bridgestone makes their stickiest "autocross" tires in a 40 series for a 16" rim, which I am almost certain will easily clear the brake calipers, and that combination would give you a tire diameter that is 2.3" smaller than the oem tires/wheels.

That is 9% lower gearing, and lowers the car 1.15", and therefore improves body roll, cornering, acceleration and braking. If our engineers get their slide rules out I am sure they can tell us how much that will drop the 0-60 mph 6.5 second s down by. (I am guessing it should be at around 6 seconds flat)

And, if you buy some admittedly expensive lightweight 16" racing rims, you can improve performance even more.

Think that would make the Bolt a hot enough hatch for you?

That reduces the top speed to 82 mph. How to turn off the speed limiter?

 

[!arry4pyro]

But if tire traction is the limiting factor, what'r you gonna do?


>The inverter 'delivers power' at the speed of light now!
It's Traction Control that ramps the power to avoid tire spin.

If you don't care about the outer limits of range why have LRR tires?
Go sticky! All the performance numbers will improve!

I put 'performance' tires on my Spark EV within a month of owning it. Even then that TC light flashes at me anytime I flog it.
I need even stickier tires !! I wore out those tires in ~23k miles. I'm going back to the stock tires that I saved to get me through winter

I may be wrong but I thought traction control works by backing power off when the ABS sensors detect one tire spinning faster than the others, e.g., one tire on ice. In contrast the inverter's purpose is to deliver power to drive the traction motor. The magnitude of the power delivered by the inverter to the traction motor determines the torque produced and the frequency, the rotational speed of the motor. These two characteristics are governed by driver input (accelerator pedal). In general the inverter power delivery curve emulates a conventional ICE system, that is, torque increases as a function of motor speed and accelerator pedal input. When we select Sport Mode the software selects a different, and more aggressive torque vs speed profile. In most driving the designers try to limit the torque to not overcome the typical friction limits of the tires. There are times such as driving on ice when the actual friction between the tires and the road are less than typical and in these cases traction control is used to reduce power or apply brakes to get a spinning wheel under control.

Based on this line of reasoning, which i admit may be flawed, as I'm far from being an expert on the Bolt, it seems to me the possibility of a hot hatch SS Bolt would not be too hard. In fact, a lot easier than an ICE based hot hatch because the drivetrain components do not have to be changed. Just flare out the wheel wells and add sticky high performance tires, and of course add a new SS torque vs speed curve to the inverter that can work with the higher friction levels the tires can produce. I would think this would dramatically increase sportyness as well as improve acceleration, at least at the low to midrange speeds.

 

[SharkVolt]

If Chevy used the same traction control for the Bolt as they have on the Volt, it uses individual brake applications at the spinning wheel to reduce it's spin, which means no loss of toque or power to the wheels, only distributing power to the wheel with the better traction.

It uses the same method to create stability (reduce spinnouts)

If this remains the method used, the Bolt should be pretty good, for a front wheel drive, at least.

 

[Ladogaboy]

As others have stated, if the limiter is due to wheel spin, then stickier tires should improve the acceleration time a bit. I wouldn't lower the overall revolutions per mile, though. If anything, I would rather increase the outside diameter as long as it didn't add too much tire weight.

Regardless, without more power or less weight, I can't see increasing the 0-60 time to less than 6 seconds.

 

[Norton]

... it uses individual brake applications at the spinning wheel to reduce it's spin, which means no loss of toque or power to the wheels, only distributing power to the wheel with the better traction.

It uses the same method to create stability (reduce spinnouts)...

Yes Stability Control and Traction Control can individually apply brakes as needed to save your bacon.
But when TC senses both front wheels trying spin faster than the rear tires it will reduce power, not apply brakes.
I can hear this all the time in my sporty little EV.

....Regardless, without more power or less weight, I can't see increasing the 0-60 time to less than 6 seconds.

OK, Game On !!