The Aveo is a common ground kind of car. It brings people together.

There's plenty of power from 2000 rpm in lower gears all the way up to 6000. The powerband is remarkably linear, with no lapses and surges as the tach needle climbs to 6500, where a rev-limiter abruptly chops acceleration; so you upshift and all is well. We accelerated all the way up to 85 mph in fourth gear, and the engine stayed with it all the way. But you can't expect miracles from 103 horsepower, so it won't exactly shoot you forward if you stomp it at 65 mph in fifth gear.

We gave the gearbox some good hard downshifts, and it took them without complaint. The gearshift lever had kind of a long throw, but then it isn't trying to be a sports car. The optional four-speed automatic is gated, so you can shift it like a manual. Aveo ingeniously offers manual capabilities that other cars use expensive technology to provide: Pressing a button on the shifter will hold it in second gear for starting on ice.

From behind the wheel the sedan seems to feel bigger than it is, or maybe it's actually bigger than it seems it should be. Whatever the reason, it's a good thing for a subcompact to feel bigger. The rack-and-pinion steering is sharp, and the torsion beam rear axle gives the car a grown-up feel, but with the turning circle a ridiculously small 16 feet, the car feels like a toy at the right time. However if you try to get too sporty in the curves, the narrow 14-inch tires will bring you back to reality.

Out on a Texas Interstate we ran with the 80-mph flow of traffic, mostly big ol' pickups, and it was pleasantly, surprisingly quiet inside the Aveo cabin, with nary a buzz from under the hood. The engine noise is low thanks to construction of the block itself, along with a large intake resonator and dual muffler exhaust system.

We're happy to report that when you lock the brakes, you will at least come to a screeching halt without veering. We found out by surprise that our LS did have the optional anti-lock brakes with brake force distribution. The front ventilated discs are large for the size of the car, and the rear drums have wide linings.

Our test route took us through a choppy construction zone and over some twisty back roads. There were a number of spots where the ride might have felt harsh if it were going to, and it didn't. We were driving a number of new GM cars over the same route, including everything from the Chevrolet SSR to Cadillac SRX, and it was interesting to compare them to each other in one particular dip, where the Aveo stayed right with the high-priced cars in the way it handled the dip.