CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

The Chevrolet Aveo is back for another tilt at the supermini sector. Andy Enright checks out the green-fingered 1.3 VCDi Eco diesel version

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

The Chevrolet Aveo didn't make a huge dent in the consciousness of supermini buyers first time round but you won't miss this second generation model. With ultra-sharp styling it's one that will turn heads. Best value ascross the line-up is arguably the variant we're looking at here, the 1.3 VCDi Eco diesel, which puts out just 95g/km of CO2.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

I'm sure I'm not doing it a massive disservice by noting that the old Chevrolet Aveo was car that did underwhelming with quite some elan. A rebadged and reheated Daewoo Kalos, a car that never macerated the mustard first time round, the Aveo was a quick fix required to establish Chevrolet's name in the UK. A case of ready, fire, aim then?

Well yes and no. As clinically ignored as it was on these shores, the Aveo actually did very good business for Chevrolet, especially in developing markets such as Eastern Europe and China. Fast forward three years and the Aveo is back. This time it's a good deal sharper looking and runs on an all-new platform. For the first time, you can buy one with a diesel engine beneath the bonnet and the cleanest of these is the variant we're looking at here, the 1.3-litre VCDi Eco.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

The latest Aveo rides on the new General Motors Gamma III chassis, a development of the Vauxhall Corsa underpinnings. This results in better chassis rigidity, which in turn allows the suspension to work more effectively. The old Aveo was no great shakes in the engine department and Chevrolet still have a little work to do in that department to match the class best in terms of efficiency, which is an important measuring stick as to engineering ability.

If you're a typical Aveo buyer, then you probably won't care very much what goes on under the bonnet or how adept your car will be at tackling your favourite twisty B road. In fact, you probably won't have a favourite twisty B road. So you won't care that there are no really performance-minded engines in the range, that the steering is a little light and that bodyroll is a little more pronounced than you'll find in something more Fiesta-like. You'll be more interested instead in stuff that's of greater importance every day - namely levels of ride and refinement that are as good as anything in the class, including small cars that are a great deal more expensive than this one.

Here, we're testing the greenest diesel version, the 95PS 1.3 VCDi Eco. Planet-friendly it may be but this unit still endows this Chevy with a reasonable turn of speed. Rest to sixty occupies 11.7s on the way to 107mph.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

The latest Aveo certainly has distinctive and handsome styling going for it which, in the supermini market, counts for a lot. In a morass of lookalike, inoffensive blobs, the Aveo has some attitude, the barrel-like quad headlamps lending it real presence. The deeply sculpted flanks are also a good deal more dynamic than usual supermini fare, while the high roofline and kicked up tail end are both very well executed.

The interior continues the bold styling theme with a dashboard that's quite unlike any of its rivals. The main instrument cluster is inspired by sports motorcycles and features a round main clock housing an analogue rev counter with a rectangular digital display alongside where speed, fuel level, odometer and other data is displayed. After fifteen minutes I still couldn't decide whether it worked from a design standpoint but it's nevertheless good to see somebody trying something a bit different. The dashboard is also laid out rather oddly, with ventilation controls mounted beneath a pair of vestigial vertical storage bins that serve very little practical function.

Space inside is otherwise reasonably good, with a generous measure of rear legroom. Headroom can be a little pinched at the side, where the roof curves over. The front seats feel unusually substantial and comfortable for a budget supermini, possibly due to Chevrolet wanting to leverage some subliminal connection to the US of A. The steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach, and the boot yields a sizeable 290 litres of space. Drop the 60/40 split rear bench and you have up to 653 litres for the tip run.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

Though as a whole, Aveo pricing starts at around £10,000, you're looking at around £1,400 more than that to get yourself into a diesel variant and the best part of £13,000 to get yourself into this 95PS 'Eco' version. Still, that's £1,000-£1,500 less than green-fingered versions of obvious rivals like Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic or Skoda's Fabia Greenline II.

Equipment runs to air conditioning, cruise control with a useful speed limiter to keep your licence intact, remote locking, a rear spoiler, an MP3-compatible CD stereo, plus power mirrors and electric front windows. Popular options fitted further up the range include rear parking sensors, alloy wheels and auto headlamps. Sat nav though, rather surprisingly, isn't even available as an option.

Safety-wise, there's plenty to justify this car's 5 star Euro NCAP rating. That means single-stage airbags for the driver and front passenger, plus roof-rail airbags and side impact airbags - so six in all. The roof can withstand forces more than four times this car's weight. And there's a releasable pedal assembly to reduce the risk of lower extremity injury. Plus the rear of the car is built to protect the fuel tank by diverting energy away from it. Pedestrian safety has been thought about too, with an energy-absorbing bumper system and a specially designed bonnet. To try and ensure against your having to put all this stuff to the test, all the usual electronic driving aids make the team sheet, so there's ESC stability control and ABS braking made more effective by EBD Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and helped in emergency stops by a Brake Assist System.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

As usual when it comes to cost of ownership, the diesel option is by far the better way to go once you've swallowed the up-front asking price premium. With the Aveo though, the gulf between petrol and diesel is especially wide. Though owners of the petrol 1.2 can talk of a 60.1mpg combined cycle fuel figure, the reality is that since this engine develops most of its power in the upper reaches of its rev range - meaning that you have to drive the thing pretty hard to maintain purposeful progress - I'd question whether that figure is in any way a realistic guide to what day-to-day owners will actually achieve.

Hence my preference for this Aveo in 1.3 VCDi 95PS Eco form, in which guise it will return 78.4mpg on the combined cycle and put out just 95g/km of CO2. These kinds of figures mean you'll achieve a surprisingly lengthy range from the 46-litre fuel tank and are aided by a slippery 0.30Cd drag factor and a start/stop system that cuts the engine when you don't need it when you're stuck at the lights or snarled up in urban traffic. Peace of mind comes courtesy of a five year/100,000 mile warranty, plus one year of roadside assistance. The insurance groupings for this variant is 9E on the 1-50 groupings scale.

CHEVROLET NEW AVEO DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.3 VCDI 95 LT ECO 5DR

How to judge the Chevrolet Aveo? A budget supermini that looks as if it's about to spit fire yet serves up decidedly modest performance, it's certainly not anodyne. Sense and sensibility remain its key virtues and no variant in the range exemplifies these attributes better than the 1.3 VCDi 95PS Eco model we've been looking at here.

Overall, if you tend towards a car that challenges your perception of what small cars should be and how they should perform, you'll find plenty to like about the Aveo. At last it has a diesel engine. And at last, it's a really credible supermini contender.