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Driving Impressions

The Chevy HHR offers a choice of engines, all of which offer good fuel economy.

We like the optional 2.4-liter Ecotec engine. The Ecotec is an aluminum four-cylinder engine, with 16 valves, electronic fuel injection and variable valve timing. The 2.4-liter delivers 172 horsepower at 5800 rpm and 167 pound-feet of torque at 4500 rpm. The torque peak figure at such a high rpm suggests that the low-rpm pulling power might be weak, but quite to the contrary, it's not. Faced with a steep, slow hill, the HHR worked its way upward like a tractor, with no shifting-down or searching by the automatic transmission. This high-load, low-rpm driving is what many drivers demand, and the pulling power of the 2.4-liter engine is impressive.

The four-speed automatic works well. We liked the way the automatic could be easily manually downshifted, even though it doesn't feature a separate manual mode. And we liked how it held second gear going down steep and slow hills.

Acceleration is impressive. Merge onto a freeway, with the foot on the floor, and the HHR 2LT really scoots, making it a lot of fun. The 2.4-liter engine is quiet, thanks partly to specially laminated steel in the firewall. It's also fuel efficient.

The 2.4-liter gets an EPA-rated 22/28 mpg City/Highway. That's with either transmission. Premium fuel is recommended but not required. During one week in the HHR 2LT, we averaged 23.4 miles per gallon, as indicated by the digital display on the dash. That included mostly around-town driving, plus about 120 freeway miles with a full load of passengers and the cruise control set at 70. The HHR got slightly better mileage at that freeway pace than it did light-footed around town.

The best fuel economy comes from the base 2.2-liter engine, which gets an EPA-rated 22/30 mpg City/Highway.

Even the SS, with its 260-horsepower engine and manual transmission, delivers EPA ratings of 21/29, City/Highway.

The 2LT has a sport-tuned suspension with 17-inch aluminum wheels. There is no harshness to the ride around town, or over freeway bumps for that matter. The HHR is nimble, though the suspension shows its limitations when driven like a sports car. Chevrolet said it put a lot of time into the calibration of the rack-and-pinion steering with power assist, and we would say it feels just right around town.

Brakes are discs up front, drums in the rear, and have an easy feel. The SS has four-wheel discs. ABS is standard on all models.

The HHR SS features a 260-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged and intercooled Ecotec four-cylinder engine with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. The SS rides on performance tires, mounted on 18-inch polished alloy wheels, and the FE5 performance suspension was tuned on the famous Nurburgring track in Germany. The suspension includes specific stabilizer bars, spring rates and shock absorber tuning, all of which were designed to complement the turbocharged powertrain.

We drove two SS models, one with a manual gearbox and Brembo brakes and the other with an automatic, in and around Phoenix as well as on an autocross course and the road course at Firebird International Raceway. In all cases, it handled everything thrown at it in superior fashion. It really gets going on acceleration, has very powerful brakes, handles as well as many sports cars, and at a bargain price, while managing to deliver remarkably good fuel economy. Our preference was for the manual gearbox and Brembo brakes.

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