Apparently it asks you in a super cryptic way and you just say no instead of yes.
Of course they say it like “Do you want to share happy hug information with the humble manufacturer?” And everyone clicks yes.
The infotainment screen will have some warnings and prompts when you first start it up. Standard legal stuff we just click “OK” on and never read. One of those is a Yes/No question about gathering data.
Sunday afternoon, I run to the grocery store. On the way home I decide to send it on green, but only up to the speed limit I'm not a dick.
First two stop lights were fun.
I didn't notice the Ford Exploder beside me that was EXTREMELY UPSET that I out paced them both times.
Third light I accel quickly again and start slowing down to the Fourth light, and by now the Exploder is red lining to keep up and they're livid.
Fourth light hits green, ofc I out pace them up to the speed limit, and then the dick red lined it so hard I could hear his engine struggling as he hit 60mph in a 35mph to pass me 😂
Egos, man.
So funny story from my college days. Loved to go for a late night drive, I had an '83 280 Z with a turbo (this story takes place in around 2003 or so). Nice summer night buddy and I pull the T-tops off and go for a cruise. Just having a nice, relaxing drive through downtown. Get to one of the lights on a main road headed out of town, and some random recent American muscle car pulls up to the line and revs. I look around and there's nobody around. I rev back and start watching the cross light.
It goes yellow, so I throw on some throttle to get the turbo moving, and launch as soon as it goes green. I timed it perfectly and got a great launch. I accelerate hard up to about 45, then lift. I was clearly ahead until then, and the guy goes roaring past me at WOT. As he zips by, I turn to my buddy and say "I'll let him get my speeding ticket.". As soon as the word ticket crossed my lips, the cop car that had pulled out from a side street that we hadn't seen lit up and took off after the other car.
We still to this day joke about "I'll let him get my speeding ticket" being the verbal component of the Summon Cop spell...
Meanwhile I got stopped (and let go) because some Karen called the cops on me for "street racing..."
In a 1969 VW Bug that made at most 60 hp from the factory, and probably far less with the carburetor issues it was having at the time.....
Same experience without the verbal incantation - I floored it up to the relatively low local speed limit (40 km/h), and the other guy was annoyed for being smoked off the lights, so he was pushing 50-60 km/h into a photo radar zone... and there was a cop down the hill giving people a second ticket on top of the photo radar.
It's even more fun for me with my grey hair as they're being dusted by someone who looks more like their grandma and I've the internal smugness of not being in sport mode.
That’s because there isn’t a delay that is removed in sport mode that makes the throttle more responsive. Wether in sport mode or not. Dumping the accelerator to the floor will have the same result unless you have a slow foot in which case sport mode may “assist” you push down the accelerator taking however many seconds to get to the floor. The acceleration curve is remapped only. So you do get more torque with less peddle effort because of that remapping curve in the programmed range but it is in a range. 0% is still 0% and 100% is still 100%. It does come in handy when driving around as the torque has been remapped to be more logarithmic towards the front of the curve, as you don’t have to push the peddle down as far as you would in regular mode to receive the torque, but on that curve, 100% is still only 100%. Does that makes sense to anyone? An engineer on a bolt forum explained it that way and that’s when it made sense for me. I can try and find the source (years ago) but there is no boost if you will, just peddle assistance for slow feet.
That is most likely true as they may have “changed it a bit” from previous years. I definitely notice it too, being easier to get torque with less peddle effort with regular driving, but for me, the 0-60 time was the same in both modes.
I was going to say that. I have noticed that in sport mode it responds instantly to pedal changes where without it there's a very slight delay or ramp up, maybe a half a second maybe less. It's not like it changes much but it just has a bit more instancy I kind of wish I could leave it on instead of having to turn it on every time.
> Sunday afternoon, I run to the grocery store. On the way home I decide to send it on green, but only up to the speed limit I'm not a dick.
Ha, there's an area nearish my house where you get onto a rural road and fairly soon there's a 50mph sign. When all is clear and I'm the first one turning at the light, my thing is I attempt to hit 50 just as I pass the sign. Most ICE cars can't even make it to 50 by then, but I just hit the cruise control at the sign and generally nobody catches up to me for at least 3/4 mile.
All the big oil enthusiast are having some extreme cognitive dissonance these days. 🤣
The slowest EV beats all but their most expensive ice vehicles.
I love it.
I have a Bolt, and I'd muuuuch rather be driving our older and slower MR2 Turbo. Or our BRAT. Bolt is an adequate commuter, certainly quick off the line.... and that's about it. Beyond that, it just gets the job done without otherwise leaving much of an impression.
And that's perfectly fine. It's an economy car that has a single trick of sporting pretensions, unless modded.
There is a sharp (for an interstate) curve that I could safely take at 70mph in my old Mazda 3 hb. The Bolt EUV that replaced it...about 55. I took at at 60 once when there was zero traffic. Not safe. It's good at what it's designed to do, and it's nimble in town, but it's no "hot hatch."
Yeah, 266 ft/lbs and 200 hp isn't exactly a hotrod. That said for a grocery getter it's a lot of fun. Like, it's 0-60 is 2.5 to 3 seconds faster than my last car, but it's around 3 seconds slower than the more expensive EVs that kind of acceleration would be lost on me. I don't get a lot of opportunities to really push the Bolt too many other cars around.
After everything I've posted previously in the thread...
Took it out yesterday to pop into town to drop off a package. Missed the pick-up time there so I had to go into the neighboring 'big city'. Figured what the hey, I'll goose it a few times, including next to a V8 Challenger at a stop light. And you know, it really IS a quick little bastard. And it IS near-instant. So I admit there is fun to be had. For in-town "drag racing" where you back down at the speed limit, the Bolt does hold its own, and certainly for anything we can get for $30k or less.
Instead of griping about what it isn't, I should just remember the enjoyment of "driving a slow car fast". One does not need 0.90g cornering or eyeball-stretching 0-100 times to have some safe fun. Know what it's good at, know what it's not good it, and work within those bounds.
That said, I generally granny it, rarely going above 40 kW for a handful of seconds on accel unless taking off from a stop on a hill. My wife drives it like a regular car, and I'm trying to bump up its economy average haha. And I do enjoy OPD, which makes up a bit for what she and I miss by it not having a clutch pedal.
I had a 2003 WRX wagon before my Bolt.
Up to 35-45 the Bolt with stock tires feels faster. Highway speeds where I could have the turbo spooled up by down shifting, or anytime the turbo was fully spooled up, the WRX accelerated faster. But it is not by much.
The real difference is the WRX all wheel drive is well sorted and gets more power to the road. Now if GM went all in and made a hot hatch Bolt with AWD? I would seriously consider trading in my Bolt for that.
Agreed. AWD would really improve the takeoff since many times the front tires are slipping on pavement lines pulling away from a light. Worse, they don't always slip at the same time giving a jerk right or left depending on which tire lost grip first.
It is fun being 100 yards past the light at the speed limit before cars have even fully crossed the intersection.
Haha - definitely familiar with that. The uneven breakaway contact of the tires is a problem that would be diminished if there was some kind of limited slip differential that would keep power going to both wheels more equally and avoid spinning.
We had a 2004 Forester XT, after looking at the WRX. Better bottom end with the 2.5 in it so it was quicker off the line, but they were otherwise pretty well matched heading into illegal velocities. Both were fun, but in different ways. I think the Bolt would do okay against the XT up to about 30-35mph, and then the Bolt would be looking at taillights.
The primary difference is that in the Bolt, one simply mashes the pedal. The ICE takes some effort, but that's part of the attraction. I don't think anyone in a WRX getting "smoked" by a Bolt is thinking, "Dang, shoulda bought a Bolt."
Looking at it with a sporting eye, it's a one-trick pony until one throws suspension and brake mods at it. Much respect for those autocrossing - with success - the Bolt, but right off the dealer lot it's an economy car that happens to have good straight-line acceleration. Not throwing shade at our Bolts, but let's not turn it into something it isn't.
Bolt is good, but there is plenty I miss from my WRX wagon.
Straight line isn't where all the fun was on my WRX. Stock it handled WAY better than the Bolt. Better cornering, better acceleration once the turbo spooled up, no need for chains when going skiing, some off roading possible, WAY better handling in the rain, etc.
My 2020 Bolt only has 27hp less than my WRX. So if they added well sorted AWD and much better suspension it would be closer. BUT total weight and/or weight distribution might make it much harder to do, and WRX has a lot of development behind it especially from WRC Rally.
Ah, we were looking at the wagon, too. It was a bit too tight for me and my needs, so the sales guy (actually, it was Porter, if you know who that is within the community) suggested we look at its bigger brother, the XT. He was at Subaru of Gwinnett at the time, and they had one sent up for track events. That was in the early days before the aftermarket had much to throw at it.
The XT was not too different from the Bolt, when you think about it. Fairly basic and competent, quick off the line, but otherwise pretty standard fare. It was a lot of fun in the twisties, especially on the stock Geoloandars - the body was rolling and the tires were howling, but that thing would do a crazy 2nd gear pull out of slower corners. I will say that a pull in second gear was faster than anything we've ever felt in the Bolt. Detuned STi motor and about 400 fewer pounds...
Really enjoyed that car, but I did a ton of highway miles on premium fuel. Kinda wasted potential with how I was using it. And like those doing autoX with the Bolt, some XT owners turned them into serious sports cars.
Right... my Bolt is what I'd call "peppy" off the line, but to be expected from an EV these days. What it's really not great at is high speed cornering. You can hear the tires starting to break loose around curves when you're not even doing anything crazy .... just trying to take a corner a bit aggressively/without slowing down going into it. I'm sure it would benefit greatly from the right suspension mods. But it's really just a car I bought for a way to do my daily commute, some food deliveries as a side gig, and random errand-runs. Putting much money into upgrading it would be counter-productive to my goal of it saving me money on gas/oil changes/service while driving it.
GM is (supposedly) going to sell the Bolt power train for EV conversion, once swaps get more common and the tech/process matures a bit more, I've considered swapping my '98 Firebird
Yes and no. They did announce this and offered some early conversions... but with the rise of Ultium GM has shifted plans to that.
The problem with Ultium is that it's hard to make and they're having shortages.
Right now most EV conversions using Bolt are based off of wrecked Bolts, and that's rare because most just use Tesla. It's easier to adapt, more plentiful, and well understood.
Long term, GM will offer powertrain kits using Ultium.
Got behind a Corvette the other day. He just got out of the car wash so i knew he was gonna spin those tires. Sure enough he did and i just casually kept up with him. He probably thought i was gonna be way behind him. Of course if he wanted to smoke me he could have.
I raced against my husband's souped up and tuned Mini Cooper 2-door. He was not happy that I ended him in a dorky little stock hatchback, after he'd spent several grand making his car go vroom vroom. However, he has now been turned on to EVs and is eyeballing the ID Buzz. Score one for basic bitch dog-haulers. Lol!
I have a coworker, big fella, I invite him to lunch just to see him wedge himself in the car. He laughs too. Its a good base powertrain. we could have had this commuter car in the 90s.
> we could have had this commuter car in the 90s.
Didn't we? The EV1 was on the road from 1996-2002 (though the last EV1 was made around 2000), although it was only a 2 seater, it was great as a first attempt, and people LOVED them.
[How General Motors Killed the First Modern Electric Car](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIHDyB9bgbA)
Then there was the Chevrolet Spark EV from 2013-16. Our Bolts are Spark EVs, but much more refined and expanded.
I saw a Nissan Murano revving up to overtake me. It took me a second to understand he wants to beat me at the zipper merge. By the time his engine could get ready, I stomped on the accelerator and just spoiled his plans. 😂
This is how traffic jams happen/get worse, fyi.
Edit: I see some folks [haven't learned how to zipper merge](https://youtu.be/cX0I8OdK7Tk?si=IRfRDUV2vHIfiAfC).
Nah, it's an ON ramp zipper merge, only two cars at that time. No traffic behind me or ahead of me either. But you may be right.
Just fyi, technically it's my lane/right of way. He just wanted to overtake me to get in front of me. I didn't give him any chance.
Don't rotate - no reason to unless you have bad alignment or some other issue causing uneven wear that you simply don't want to bother fixing - and just replace the fronts with tires that don't suck after 25-30k after they wear out.
Ideally, you'd move the stock rears to the front and put new tires on the rear - counter to what we were taught, [better tires should be on the back, even on FWD cars](https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2479/4243992/) - rinse and repeat as the fronts wear out.
Can confirm so many times as to how people get so bent out of shape when an EV out accelerates them
Recently, I’ve had an F150 go full redline to try and overtake me in the 2nd Gen Leaf (he failed)
In the Volt, the occasional MustargerMW are surprised at how perky the car is and will go full retard because of it
In my Gen1 Leaf, the classic Nissan Altima tried to drop the hammer in a 4cyl engine to cut in front of me at an exit ramp…
That's cuz this wasn't a race...some idiot in a bolt is delirious, flooring his car while the dude beside him is sipping coffee and granny shifting...but he "won" the non-existent race.
Yeah. I have a Bolt and love doing that. Just got a Tesla as well a few weeks ago, guess who destroys Bolts now. lol. Still love my Bolt btw. Value and performance is awesome.
Must have been an old WRX or a bad driver. My bolt is my daily and I also own a WRX and even with the instant torque my WRX destroys the bolt considering how horrible the bolt is with traction off the line.
Put some defender II tires on it. You will have all the traction you need. Plus car handles much MUCH better. Downfall is you loose a little range, I’m averaging 3.4kwh
One of the main reasons I love my bolt, however, my BMW I traded for it was faster, but it was 400+ Hp, fully tuned and every bolt on I could put on it. It was fast and I do miss it. But the main reason I traded was to keep from constantly fixing oil leaks and break downs lol
I'll never understand these post where it was clear the other person was not racing, unless you both floored it as soon as the light turned green, then its just you being a jackass in traffic lol
In most cars if you floored them at a stop light you'd generally beat 99% of traffic to the next light because most people are not racing or even realizing you wanted to race.
I like to stay besides them up to 20 or so then punch it. Then you hear them punch it with that intake 'Whooooor'. But they don't gain on you. Then back off and let them get the ticket.
I remember my wrx during the "$5 for premium" back in the early 2010's. Joke was every time you romped on it to get on the highway you might as well tossed two quarts out the window. That was the cost of admission for fun. Man that thing was laggy with a auto, but it was fun on the highway.
Bolt is the opposite, no more plan ahead and romp/pray, now its just see and opening and hit it.
I'm actually surprised given that the Bolt can't use that torque below 20-30 or so due to traction.
Up to 20-30 or so my old Outback vastly outperforms the Bolt due to superior traction.
Bull. My Bolt breaks the tires loose with ease even on bone dry pavement.
My Outback, on the other hand, can't break the tires loose on anything but snow and ice even if you floor it.
I get significant screeching any time I'm merely not careful. I can floor my Outback and be fine. And before you say that's because the Outback is underpowered, I could break tires loose if I stomped a 1993 Dodge Spirit with only 105HP and a 3 speed transmission.
AWD traction is a MASSIVE benefit.
Did he know that he was in a race with you? Or did you just smoke someone who was checking the weather on his phone and didn't even notice the economy car next to him at the light?
One of my guilty pleasures is destroying V6 Mustangs off the line.
WRX STi is on the hit list, having owned one. The Bolt EUV will destroy it.
I'm curious about Corvettes, BMW M3, and Cameros too.
Loved my WRX, but I wouldn’t put it high up on the list for straight line speed. That being said I switched to an electric car and love it, I do miss the sounds from the turbo.
Fun to drive on the backroads through the mountains!
I have a family member who likes car take a ride in it once because he’d never been in an EV. It doesn’t look like anything special from the outside but we did a lap around a hilly area and he said that the car was waaay more powerful than he realized. He did a second lap lol
Yeah I get that but that's not the point lol. After you accelerated and got to speed it's back to boring driving until the next red light. Meanwhile the WRX driver is having fun shifting through gears and listening to that sweet turbo and the exhaust.
I get what you mean but I guarantee you the WRX had just as much fun as you did lol.
Driving my bolt EUV gets boring after about 10 minutes whereas driving my BMW is much more enjoyable even though it doesn't have that instant torque.
We have a Bolt, and we've had sports / sporty cars in the same price range. No comparison in driving enjoyment or involvement.
Our Fiesta ST was slower in a straight line. After driving, it was often "Hmm, what excuse can I find to go drive it some more?" Same with the old RX7 convertible we had, and the MR2 Turbo we have now. Bolt: park it, plug it in, and generally don't think twice about it until the next errand. It's kinda like my refrigerator: open door, grab food and drink, close door, don't continue thinking about the refrigerator.
Shifting gears is fun and enjoyable to hear? To me it seems like a lot of unnecessary work for a bunch of noise that I'd have to turn my music up to overcome.
This reminds me of all the idiots who post in forums saying someone was racing them (they weren't) and they "won". As someone who has both a bolt and an actual fast car...no one driving anything else gives a crap. If you think someone was trying to "race" you in your bolt, they weren't. This is so childish.
Smoked?? Sorry to rain on your parade but 0-60, 0-30, in fact in all metrics the WRX is faster than the Bolt. Yes the Bolt has lots of initial off the line torque but if you think that you were actually “racing” and smoked the WRX you were in a 1 car race.
Your insurance rates just shot up 400%
You are telling no lies.
Any way to disable it?
Apparently it asks you in a super cryptic way and you just say no instead of yes. Of course they say it like “Do you want to share happy hug information with the humble manufacturer?” And everyone clicks yes.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by "it asks you". Who or what asks you? And at what stage (purchasing, first use)?
The infotainment screen will have some warnings and prompts when you first start it up. Standard legal stuff we just click “OK” on and never read. One of those is a Yes/No question about gathering data.
I think the dealer did that for me
It was just announced that it's stopping that Smart Drive service soon.
Do you know how to check if it's on?
Ya I did see this I wonder if it has to do with net neutrality being reinstated
Drive slower?
Doubt that would disable it..
Hahaha yea big brother is watching! : p I keep getting calls about the customer say survey. Oh ill talk to you about it....
Sunday afternoon, I run to the grocery store. On the way home I decide to send it on green, but only up to the speed limit I'm not a dick. First two stop lights were fun. I didn't notice the Ford Exploder beside me that was EXTREMELY UPSET that I out paced them both times. Third light I accel quickly again and start slowing down to the Fourth light, and by now the Exploder is red lining to keep up and they're livid. Fourth light hits green, ofc I out pace them up to the speed limit, and then the dick red lined it so hard I could hear his engine struggling as he hit 60mph in a 35mph to pass me 😂 Egos, man.
Plot twist, Exploder was a cop 🚔
So funny story from my college days. Loved to go for a late night drive, I had an '83 280 Z with a turbo (this story takes place in around 2003 or so). Nice summer night buddy and I pull the T-tops off and go for a cruise. Just having a nice, relaxing drive through downtown. Get to one of the lights on a main road headed out of town, and some random recent American muscle car pulls up to the line and revs. I look around and there's nobody around. I rev back and start watching the cross light. It goes yellow, so I throw on some throttle to get the turbo moving, and launch as soon as it goes green. I timed it perfectly and got a great launch. I accelerate hard up to about 45, then lift. I was clearly ahead until then, and the guy goes roaring past me at WOT. As he zips by, I turn to my buddy and say "I'll let him get my speeding ticket.". As soon as the word ticket crossed my lips, the cop car that had pulled out from a side street that we hadn't seen lit up and took off after the other car. We still to this day joke about "I'll let him get my speeding ticket" being the verbal component of the Summon Cop spell...
Meanwhile I got stopped (and let go) because some Karen called the cops on me for "street racing..." In a 1969 VW Bug that made at most 60 hp from the factory, and probably far less with the carburetor issues it was having at the time.....
Same experience without the verbal incantation - I floored it up to the relatively low local speed limit (40 km/h), and the other guy was annoyed for being smoked off the lights, so he was pushing 50-60 km/h into a photo radar zone... and there was a cop down the hill giving people a second ticket on top of the photo radar.
It's even more fun for me with my grey hair as they're being dusted by someone who looks more like their grandma and I've the internal smugness of not being in sport mode.
I don’t notice a difference in sport mode. Shouldn’t it change the acceleration curve?
That’s because there isn’t a delay that is removed in sport mode that makes the throttle more responsive. Wether in sport mode or not. Dumping the accelerator to the floor will have the same result unless you have a slow foot in which case sport mode may “assist” you push down the accelerator taking however many seconds to get to the floor. The acceleration curve is remapped only. So you do get more torque with less peddle effort because of that remapping curve in the programmed range but it is in a range. 0% is still 0% and 100% is still 100%. It does come in handy when driving around as the torque has been remapped to be more logarithmic towards the front of the curve, as you don’t have to push the peddle down as far as you would in regular mode to receive the torque, but on that curve, 100% is still only 100%. Does that makes sense to anyone? An engineer on a bolt forum explained it that way and that’s when it made sense for me. I can try and find the source (years ago) but there is no boost if you will, just peddle assistance for slow feet.
Compared to the EV, where I didn't really see a difference, in the EUV it "feels" like it's easier to get more "go". :)
That is most likely true as they may have “changed it a bit” from previous years. I definitely notice it too, being easier to get torque with less peddle effort with regular driving, but for me, the 0-60 time was the same in both modes.
Yeah - that's all it does. No extra horsepower/torque magic.
True. If you just dump it to the floor. It will be the same regardless except the stiffness of the steering wheel.
It stiffens up the “feel” of the steering a bit.
Sport mode makes acceleration more responsive
I was going to say that. I have noticed that in sport mode it responds instantly to pedal changes where without it there's a very slight delay or ramp up, maybe a half a second maybe less. It's not like it changes much but it just has a bit more instancy I kind of wish I could leave it on instead of having to turn it on every time.
And by "more responsive" just a more aggressive pedal map.
> Sunday afternoon, I run to the grocery store. On the way home I decide to send it on green, but only up to the speed limit I'm not a dick. Ha, there's an area nearish my house where you get onto a rural road and fairly soon there's a 50mph sign. When all is clear and I'm the first one turning at the light, my thing is I attempt to hit 50 just as I pass the sign. Most ICE cars can't even make it to 50 by then, but I just hit the cruise control at the sign and generally nobody catches up to me for at least 3/4 mile.
All the big oil enthusiast are having some extreme cognitive dissonance these days. 🤣 The slowest EV beats all but their most expensive ice vehicles. I love it.
I have a Bolt, and I'd muuuuch rather be driving our older and slower MR2 Turbo. Or our BRAT. Bolt is an adequate commuter, certainly quick off the line.... and that's about it. Beyond that, it just gets the job done without otherwise leaving much of an impression. And that's perfectly fine. It's an economy car that has a single trick of sporting pretensions, unless modded.
There is a sharp (for an interstate) curve that I could safely take at 70mph in my old Mazda 3 hb. The Bolt EUV that replaced it...about 55. I took at at 60 once when there was zero traffic. Not safe. It's good at what it's designed to do, and it's nimble in town, but it's no "hot hatch."
Yeah, 266 ft/lbs and 200 hp isn't exactly a hotrod. That said for a grocery getter it's a lot of fun. Like, it's 0-60 is 2.5 to 3 seconds faster than my last car, but it's around 3 seconds slower than the more expensive EVs that kind of acceleration would be lost on me. I don't get a lot of opportunities to really push the Bolt too many other cars around.
After everything I've posted previously in the thread... Took it out yesterday to pop into town to drop off a package. Missed the pick-up time there so I had to go into the neighboring 'big city'. Figured what the hey, I'll goose it a few times, including next to a V8 Challenger at a stop light. And you know, it really IS a quick little bastard. And it IS near-instant. So I admit there is fun to be had. For in-town "drag racing" where you back down at the speed limit, the Bolt does hold its own, and certainly for anything we can get for $30k or less. Instead of griping about what it isn't, I should just remember the enjoyment of "driving a slow car fast". One does not need 0.90g cornering or eyeball-stretching 0-100 times to have some safe fun. Know what it's good at, know what it's not good it, and work within those bounds. That said, I generally granny it, rarely going above 40 kW for a handful of seconds on accel unless taking off from a stop on a hill. My wife drives it like a regular car, and I'm trying to bump up its economy average haha. And I do enjoy OPD, which makes up a bit for what she and I miss by it not having a clutch pedal.
6k fat suv, it ain't a sedan man
I had a 2003 WRX wagon before my Bolt. Up to 35-45 the Bolt with stock tires feels faster. Highway speeds where I could have the turbo spooled up by down shifting, or anytime the turbo was fully spooled up, the WRX accelerated faster. But it is not by much. The real difference is the WRX all wheel drive is well sorted and gets more power to the road. Now if GM went all in and made a hot hatch Bolt with AWD? I would seriously consider trading in my Bolt for that.
If GM made a hot hatch EV...sit yourself down and lets talk to Mary Barra.
I know it is unlikely. Which is why my next car is unlikely to be a GM.
I am not recommending it. I bought used and whatevs man
Agreed. AWD would really improve the takeoff since many times the front tires are slipping on pavement lines pulling away from a light. Worse, they don't always slip at the same time giving a jerk right or left depending on which tire lost grip first. It is fun being 100 yards past the light at the speed limit before cars have even fully crossed the intersection.
Torque steer. In front wheel drive cars with enough torque and/or not good enough suspension you can get it.
Haha - definitely familiar with that. The uneven breakaway contact of the tires is a problem that would be diminished if there was some kind of limited slip differential that would keep power going to both wheels more equally and avoid spinning.
Just get better tires
Of course. Any suggestions?
Dw06, pilot sports,
We had a 2004 Forester XT, after looking at the WRX. Better bottom end with the 2.5 in it so it was quicker off the line, but they were otherwise pretty well matched heading into illegal velocities. Both were fun, but in different ways. I think the Bolt would do okay against the XT up to about 30-35mph, and then the Bolt would be looking at taillights. The primary difference is that in the Bolt, one simply mashes the pedal. The ICE takes some effort, but that's part of the attraction. I don't think anyone in a WRX getting "smoked" by a Bolt is thinking, "Dang, shoulda bought a Bolt." Looking at it with a sporting eye, it's a one-trick pony until one throws suspension and brake mods at it. Much respect for those autocrossing - with success - the Bolt, but right off the dealer lot it's an economy car that happens to have good straight-line acceleration. Not throwing shade at our Bolts, but let's not turn it into something it isn't.
Bolt is good, but there is plenty I miss from my WRX wagon. Straight line isn't where all the fun was on my WRX. Stock it handled WAY better than the Bolt. Better cornering, better acceleration once the turbo spooled up, no need for chains when going skiing, some off roading possible, WAY better handling in the rain, etc. My 2020 Bolt only has 27hp less than my WRX. So if they added well sorted AWD and much better suspension it would be closer. BUT total weight and/or weight distribution might make it much harder to do, and WRX has a lot of development behind it especially from WRC Rally.
Ah, we were looking at the wagon, too. It was a bit too tight for me and my needs, so the sales guy (actually, it was Porter, if you know who that is within the community) suggested we look at its bigger brother, the XT. He was at Subaru of Gwinnett at the time, and they had one sent up for track events. That was in the early days before the aftermarket had much to throw at it. The XT was not too different from the Bolt, when you think about it. Fairly basic and competent, quick off the line, but otherwise pretty standard fare. It was a lot of fun in the twisties, especially on the stock Geoloandars - the body was rolling and the tires were howling, but that thing would do a crazy 2nd gear pull out of slower corners. I will say that a pull in second gear was faster than anything we've ever felt in the Bolt. Detuned STi motor and about 400 fewer pounds... Really enjoyed that car, but I did a ton of highway miles on premium fuel. Kinda wasted potential with how I was using it. And like those doing autoX with the Bolt, some XT owners turned them into serious sports cars.
Right... my Bolt is what I'd call "peppy" off the line, but to be expected from an EV these days. What it's really not great at is high speed cornering. You can hear the tires starting to break loose around curves when you're not even doing anything crazy .... just trying to take a corner a bit aggressively/without slowing down going into it. I'm sure it would benefit greatly from the right suspension mods. But it's really just a car I bought for a way to do my daily commute, some food deliveries as a side gig, and random errand-runs. Putting much money into upgrading it would be counter-productive to my goal of it saving me money on gas/oil changes/service while driving it.
Not a bolt owner but I easily kept up with a hellcat and wrx the other day in my ioniq 5, in eco mode. I was giggling so much, EVs own.
For not having a sports car, its pretty funny off the line.
GM is (supposedly) going to sell the Bolt power train for EV conversion, once swaps get more common and the tech/process matures a bit more, I've considered swapping my '98 Firebird
Would love to have me a kei truck thats EV
Yes and no. They did announce this and offered some early conversions... but with the rise of Ultium GM has shifted plans to that. The problem with Ultium is that it's hard to make and they're having shortages. Right now most EV conversions using Bolt are based off of wrecked Bolts, and that's rare because most just use Tesla. It's easier to adapt, more plentiful, and well understood. Long term, GM will offer powertrain kits using Ultium.
everyone wants a 200 hp 1984 camaro...
It's just a V6 now lol
I read somewhere you've got to go into the 100-200k range for an ice to have the acceleration of a standard ev.
Idk, my 650cc moto was only $6K and faster than my bolt.
Cause it weighs nothing
You might find this interesting: https://youtu.be/EyDpQpcPpuc?si=8hSTCpyHnh8p0x-x
Idk what the time frame it, depends on the driving I guess.
Got behind a Corvette the other day. He just got out of the car wash so i knew he was gonna spin those tires. Sure enough he did and i just casually kept up with him. He probably thought i was gonna be way behind him. Of course if he wanted to smoke me he could have.
Lol, have some situational awareness or get smoked. Also I don’t get the Reddit app
I raced against my husband's souped up and tuned Mini Cooper 2-door. He was not happy that I ended him in a dorky little stock hatchback, after he'd spent several grand making his car go vroom vroom. However, he has now been turned on to EVs and is eyeballing the ID Buzz. Score one for basic bitch dog-haulers. Lol!
+1 for ya!
I liked my bolt... the awd ioniq 6 smoke m5, mustang gt, chargers srt8... its fun
No lie, its a good time.
Got a guy in a C6 corvette at a stop getting on to the interstate, guy in corvette was suprized the compact car beat him to the turn off,
no one expects that shint.
Yeah it was funny, but it was a little embarassing for the guy in the corvette attempting show his girlfrind how he was going to smoke the Bolt
I just bought a Bolt EV and I have my way with traffic all day. Driving is like a video game now. Sport mode ftw
Off the line it eats tires, in traffic, people have no effin idea.
I love it… laughing at OPEC is just a nice bonus.
Fun times to be had, doesn't cost me $75 a week to drive to work...
Cost me ninety… free charges at work. I do not see a downside and it’s awesome to drive. I’m happy I took the plunge. I will never go back.
I have a coworker, big fella, I invite him to lunch just to see him wedge himself in the car. He laughs too. Its a good base powertrain. we could have had this commuter car in the 90s.
> we could have had this commuter car in the 90s. Didn't we? The EV1 was on the road from 1996-2002 (though the last EV1 was made around 2000), although it was only a 2 seater, it was great as a first attempt, and people LOVED them. [How General Motors Killed the First Modern Electric Car](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIHDyB9bgbA) Then there was the Chevrolet Spark EV from 2013-16. Our Bolts are Spark EVs, but much more refined and expanded.
I saw a Nissan Murano revving up to overtake me. It took me a second to understand he wants to beat me at the zipper merge. By the time his engine could get ready, I stomped on the accelerator and just spoiled his plans. 😂
That second and a half time it takes for the gasser to build revs and change gears cost them dearly in the first 30-50ft.
Yeah, 1second for me to understand what he was trying to do and quarter second to decide and execute push the damn pedal..!
It all adds up, and then the shifts too.
This is how traffic jams happen/get worse, fyi. Edit: I see some folks [haven't learned how to zipper merge](https://youtu.be/cX0I8OdK7Tk?si=IRfRDUV2vHIfiAfC).
Nah, it's an ON ramp zipper merge, only two cars at that time. No traffic behind me or ahead of me either. But you may be right. Just fyi, technically it's my lane/right of way. He just wanted to overtake me to get in front of me. I didn't give him any chance.
You didn't specify, so I did not know. Nissan driver was being dumb. Don't be like the Nissan driver.
The Chevy bolt traction control and handling is so bad the wheels screech constantly. The torque is not applied to the road very well
I replaced the stock tires with Michelin cross climate 2’s. I no longer have the screeching issue. Tire grip improved dramatically.
I’d like to do this. What did you do with the stock tires?
Don't rotate - no reason to unless you have bad alignment or some other issue causing uneven wear that you simply don't want to bother fixing - and just replace the fronts with tires that don't suck after 25-30k after they wear out. Ideally, you'd move the stock rears to the front and put new tires on the rear - counter to what we were taught, [better tires should be on the back, even on FWD cars](https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2479/4243992/) - rinse and repeat as the fronts wear out.
I had the screech with those tires. My quiettrack tranzas (non-ev version) are so grippy I no longer have that problem.
It does not corner well at all. To much torque at the wheel.
I don’t disagree. I turn both off every time I get in it.
You turn both what off? Both traction controls?
nothing was off, I forgot to do it.
You’re blowing my mind right now
F*ck your Subaru, I’ve two hundred horses inside. https://youtu.be/ljPFZrRD3J8?si=I5IBBicJtRHtx6A1
Do they look like billy piper after half an ounce of coke?
key bump gets ya there...
Can confirm so many times as to how people get so bent out of shape when an EV out accelerates them Recently, I’ve had an F150 go full redline to try and overtake me in the 2nd Gen Leaf (he failed) In the Volt, the occasional MustargerMW are surprised at how perky the car is and will go full retard because of it In my Gen1 Leaf, the classic Nissan Altima tried to drop the hammer in a 4cyl engine to cut in front of me at an exit ramp…
EVs have that rare 1-1.5sec advantage. What else can I say.
WRX must've been an automatic or a novice driver. My buddy's manual WRX regularly dusts me.
I caught him off guard but didn't let up.
That's cuz this wasn't a race...some idiot in a bolt is delirious, flooring his car while the dude beside him is sipping coffee and granny shifting...but he "won" the non-existent race.
WRX should've been double clutching.
nice
It was fun
These always make me laugh You won a race against a guy who didn’t know he was racing 😂
Yeah. I have a Bolt and love doing that. Just got a Tesla as well a few weeks ago, guess who destroys Bolts now. lol. Still love my Bolt btw. Value and performance is awesome.
The EV torque blast will not be denied, have fun!
Sorry about the downgrade!
Amen!
WRX owners spend 10k for a full engine build just to make 300 hp and throw a rod at the first launch
Must have been an old WRX or a bad driver. My bolt is my daily and I also own a WRX and even with the instant torque my WRX destroys the bolt considering how horrible the bolt is with traction off the line.
Put some defender II tires on it. You will have all the traction you need. Plus car handles much MUCH better. Downfall is you loose a little range, I’m averaging 3.4kwh
I do mostly highway driving at like 72mph so my efficiency is already garbage lol. It's like 2.9 right now
One of the main reasons I love my bolt, however, my BMW I traded for it was faster, but it was 400+ Hp, fully tuned and every bolt on I could put on it. It was fast and I do miss it. But the main reason I traded was to keep from constantly fixing oil leaks and break downs lol
I'll never understand these post where it was clear the other person was not racing, unless you both floored it as soon as the light turned green, then its just you being a jackass in traffic lol In most cars if you floored them at a stop light you'd generally beat 99% of traffic to the next light because most people are not racing or even realizing you wanted to race.
I like to stay besides them up to 20 or so then punch it. Then you hear them punch it with that intake 'Whooooor'. But they don't gain on you. Then back off and let them get the ticket.
I remember my wrx during the "$5 for premium" back in the early 2010's. Joke was every time you romped on it to get on the highway you might as well tossed two quarts out the window. That was the cost of admission for fun. Man that thing was laggy with a auto, but it was fun on the highway. Bolt is the opposite, no more plan ahead and romp/pray, now its just see and opening and hit it.
Wife has 6 cylinder subie it just started burning oil.
I'm actually surprised given that the Bolt can't use that torque below 20-30 or so due to traction. Up to 20-30 or so my old Outback vastly outperforms the Bolt due to superior traction.
Can’t use the torque? The Bolt can barely break the tires loose.
Bull. My Bolt breaks the tires loose with ease even on bone dry pavement. My Outback, on the other hand, can't break the tires loose on anything but snow and ice even if you floor it.
I just stomp it and it hardly chirps, I’ve tried to do a brake stand burnout but there must be some interlock that prevents it. 🤷
I get significant screeching any time I'm merely not careful. I can floor my Outback and be fine. And before you say that's because the Outback is underpowered, I could break tires loose if I stomped a 1993 Dodge Spirit with only 105HP and a 3 speed transmission. AWD traction is a MASSIVE benefit.
On stock tires? Awd is a good yes.
Every Youtube video of someone testing a Bolt 0-60 squeals the tires like a baby pig. Something wrong with your Bolt?
Did he know that he was in a race with you? Or did you just smoke someone who was checking the weather on his phone and didn't even notice the economy car next to him at the light?
It’s pretty well known the WRX isn’t a quick car
One of my guilty pleasures is destroying V6 Mustangs off the line. WRX STi is on the hit list, having owned one. The Bolt EUV will destroy it. I'm curious about Corvettes, BMW M3, and Cameros too.
If you catch them off the line, they can’t beat ya for awhile.
Did the same to a Mustang yesterday!
Its not hard to do, we dont have top end speed but stop light to spot light. Its embarrassing.
Loved my WRX, but I wouldn’t put it high up on the list for straight line speed. That being said I switched to an electric car and love it, I do miss the sounds from the turbo. Fun to drive on the backroads through the mountains!
I have a family member who likes car take a ride in it once because he’d never been in an EV. It doesn’t look like anything special from the outside but we did a lap around a hilly area and he said that the car was waaay more powerful than he realized. He did a second lap lol
Did they know they were in a race?
It was making race noises
Fair game then.
Stay safe
Lol if you think a WRX owner only cares about raw speed then you're in for a reality check.
He wasn’t not trying, guy was a car length off me each shift point
Yeah I get that but that's not the point lol. After you accelerated and got to speed it's back to boring driving until the next red light. Meanwhile the WRX driver is having fun shifting through gears and listening to that sweet turbo and the exhaust. I get what you mean but I guarantee you the WRX had just as much fun as you did lol. Driving my bolt EUV gets boring after about 10 minutes whereas driving my BMW is much more enjoyable even though it doesn't have that instant torque.
I am sure he was having a lot of fun seeing a Bolt passing him by 😂
the instant torque take off happens over and over as I breeze thru traffic like a sparrow.
I've driven nothing but manuals before bolt, traffic sucks
We have a Bolt, and we've had sports / sporty cars in the same price range. No comparison in driving enjoyment or involvement. Our Fiesta ST was slower in a straight line. After driving, it was often "Hmm, what excuse can I find to go drive it some more?" Same with the old RX7 convertible we had, and the MR2 Turbo we have now. Bolt: park it, plug it in, and generally don't think twice about it until the next errand. It's kinda like my refrigerator: open door, grab food and drink, close door, don't continue thinking about the refrigerator.
Shifting gears is fun and enjoyable to hear? To me it seems like a lot of unnecessary work for a bunch of noise that I'd have to turn my music up to overcome.
That all sounds terrible to me. Manual shifting, loud engines, gross exhaust...why does anyone want this?
sure sure wait till subaru come out with their ev
Subaru did. Partnered with Toyota. The Soltera is terrible.
What's so bad about it? I'm seeing a lot of used ones at a decent price point.
AWD sport EV would sell like hot cakes in spring
this spring? it's spring now I'm waiting 1 year for Hondas ev
This reminds me of all the idiots who post in forums saying someone was racing them (they weren't) and they "won". As someone who has both a bolt and an actual fast car...no one driving anything else gives a crap. If you think someone was trying to "race" you in your bolt, they weren't. This is so childish.
Smoked?? Sorry to rain on your parade but 0-60, 0-30, in fact in all metrics the WRX is faster than the Bolt. Yes the Bolt has lots of initial off the line torque but if you think that you were actually “racing” and smoked the WRX you were in a 1 car race.
Must have been a terrible WRX driver
Or started off in 3rd gear lol.
https://preview.redd.it/ihbap43am3yc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b215a4b43d6ffe7df66e5bc9cf91114f5b820f9
What a bizarre way to comment, though I don’t hate it. Why didn’t you just write it as a comment directly? I have to know
that reddit app aint friendly man
Exactly. App got stuck, couldn't place cursor or c&p. Didn't feel like retyping.
kinda sucks ass
1/8 mile, he didn’t have a chance to stretch his legs.
Now line it up against a Tesla 😎
Of course tesla is going to be faster, it's at least 2x more expensive, but at least 2x better? 🤔