Chevrolet has come out swinging left and right in the first round of the 2012 car wars with no less than four new derivatives in one salvo - which may have left the journos on this week's media launch in the Southern Cape with a slight case of information overload but gives customers a significantly wider choice in the showroom.
The Sonic hatch, released in South Africa late in 2011, is joined by a sedan variant, which is also available with a six-speed auto transmission - a first for the Sonic range.
There's also a new 1.3-litre turbodiesel which, rather to my surprise, is only available in hatchback format, and as the cherry on the top, there's a remarkably sophisticated 2.2-litre turbodiesel for the well established Captiva SUV.
We'll start there, if for no other reason than that it was the first one I drove.
SMOOTH MOVER
The long-stroke (86mm x 96mm bore x stroke) 2231cc turbodiesel is built on a stiff, heavy block, topped by a rotocast aluminium cylinder head with dual chain-driven overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, fed by a variable-geometry turbocharger with intercooler and high-pressure (1800 bar) common-rail fuel-injection.
It drives all four wheels through a six-speed auto transmission (there's no manual option) and Chevrolet quotes 135kW at 3800rpm and 400Nm at 2000 revs.
Compression is a low (by diesel standards) 16.3:1, and multiple-squirt injection is intended to reduce engine vibration and knock. It works, too; even at idle - or in slow traffic - you have to listen carefully to hear that it's a diesel and at highway speeds you can't hear (or feel) the engine running at all.
The combination of narrow diesel power-band and auto transmission is not always a happy one, as they tend to hunt when asked for acceleration or on long downgrades.
The ratios in this cogset, however, are close enough (except for a noticeably larger gap between first and second) that the occasional unexpected shift won't interrupt smooth progression.
There always seems to be enough torque on hand when you ask for more than 'just cruisin', with no turbo lag apparent; rather than accelerate, the diesel Captiva seems to gather momentum, sometimes unexpectedly quickly.
BY THE NUMBERS
Media launches are usually held on public roads, so we had no opportunity for performance or fuel-consumption testing, but GM promises 0-100km/h in 10.1 seconds, and 191km/h flat out, at an average cost of eight litres per 100km and 212g/km of CO2.
We'll compare notes once we've had a diesel Captiva on test.
The rest of the vehicle is the mixture as before: the Captiva diesel is available only in upmarket LTZ spec, which includes full leather trim and an impressive array of bells and whistles.
The cabin layout is spacious and comfortable, if a little brash in places; the controls fall readily to hand, although the push-button electronic parking brake took a little getting used to.
At launch, the petrol Captiva gave the impression that it was trying hard to punch above its weight; the 2.2 turbodiesel lends an additional, more grown-up air of competence; of gravitas, if you will.
At R427 500 it's considerably more expensive than any of the 2.4-litre LT models but R27 000 less so than the three-litre petrol flagship; however, it's the no-fuss way the diesel Captiva goes about its family-transport business that makes it, in our opinion anyway, the pick of the bunch.
BABY DIESEL A MECHANICAL TEENAGER
In contrast to the civilised persona of the 2.2-litre Captiva, the 1248cc oil-burner in the Sonic hatch seems like a mechanical teenager, instantly announcing its heritage with a burst of old-fashioned diesel clatter on start-up, and a very noisy idle until fully warm.
Even then you are never in any doubt of the 1.3 Sonic's genealogy, especially around town although, for a B-segment hatch, it's surprisingly at ease on the open road.
It delivers its 70 kW at 4000rpm and 210Nm from 1750-2500 to the front wheels via a slick new six-speed manual 'box, using a claimed average of 4.6 litres per 100km and breathing out 119g/km of champagne bubbles.
However, first gear is very short and the baby diesel suffers from noticeable turbo lag so, unless you short-shift into second before the variable-vane turbo spools up, progress around town is usually in a series of noisy and somewhat uncomfortable leaps and bounds.
It takes a light foot on the throttle and precision timing on the gear-shift to master the five-o'clock fandango - but that same finesse pays off big time out in the country, where the Sonic diesel shows an unexpectedly sporty side to its persona.
Its suspension is firm enough to allow a little hooning through the bends, the steering nicely weighted and precise enough to make it fun. Just remember to short-shift in both directions, to keep the revs between two and four and the hairdryer spinning and, although you're not likely to scare any GTI Joes, the drive is no longer a chore.
The Sonic diesel is available only as a hatch, at R178 570 - about R10 000 more than the range-topping 1.6-litre petrol version, which is appreciably easier to drive. But, if you take precision driving seriously and you like diesels, take another test drive in the forthright, slightly naughty 1.3 before you make up your mind.
SONIC WITH SPACE
In theory, the only difference between the Sonic hatch and sedan is a slightly longer rear overhang and a 466-litre boot instead of the hatch's 290 litres. In the real world, however, it's a different car aimed at a different market.
The longer horizontal elements make it look a little more conservative, and the designers have taken that one step further with simpler, less fussy tail light clusters under a slightly droopy bootlid that reminds one of Nissan's Tiida - also a hatch/sedan pairing with similar emphases.
So, younger, fun-loving dinks (younger, pre-baby couples; the acronym stands for Double Income; No Kids) are expected to go for the hatch while more established families would be encouraged to look at the sedan.
To me, it makes no difference; the sedan is the prettier car.
It's available either with 1.4-litre motivation boasting 74kW at 6000rpm and 130Nm at 4000 revs, or a 1.6-litre engine that's rated for 85kW at 6000rpm and 155Nm at 4000.
There's no diesel sedan - a surprising omission - but the Sonic 1.6 sedan is available with an electronically controlled six-speed auto transmission, a first for a B-segment Chevrolet, that allows engine braking when slowing down or negotiating steep downhill gradients.
It also gives away little in the way of performance to its manual sibling:
its 0-100km/h sprint takes 0.4 seconds longer at 11.7 seconds, top speed is down from 183kmh to 178, while fuel consumption is up from 6.4 to 6.9 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions from 152 to 164g/km.
All SA-market Sonics share the same LS trim specifications.
PRICES
Sonic Hatch
1.4 LS 5-speed - R156 990
1.6 LS 5-speed - R168 570
1.3 LS Diesel 6-speed - R178 730
Sonic Sedan
1.4 LS 5-speed - R156 990
1.6 LS 5-speed - R168 570
1.6 LS 6-speed a/t - R178 570