2006 Chevrolet HHR

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2006 Chevrolet HHR
It?s Retro Time Again: Not that anyone else already came out with a car like this
MARK VAUGHN
Published Date: 8/22/05
2006 CHEVROLET HHR
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $15,990
POWERTRAIN: 2.2-liter, 143-hp, 150-lb-ft I4; fwd, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 3155 lbs
FUEL MILAGE (EPA COMBINED): 25.0 mpg

Time was that thestation wagon version of a car was just called the station wagon version of the car. Wasn?t the Cavalier wagon just called a Cavalier wagon, for instance? Well, forget all that. The word ?wagon? is now wagona non grata in automotive parlance. In its place we have all sorts of verbiage that almost always includes the words ?active? and ?lifestyle? along with photos of zero-body-fat triathletes hauling kayaks out of Class V rivers while drinking satisfying coffee.

So don?t go thinking the Chevrolet HHR is just the wagon version of the Chevy Cobalt coupe and sedan, okay? Because it?s not.

Okay, it actually is the same platform: same drivetrains, same wheelbase, same almost everything, but there?s a lot more going on here than that, Chevy says. You need look no further than the name.


The letters HH and R stand for Heritage High Roof, a series of words that you can?t help but think would have come out better if they?d just spent more time working on them. Heritage High Roof doesn?t have the same ring to it as Super Sport, Gran Turismo Omologato or even Birdcage Maserati. How about Helpful, Hip and Retro? Hoppin? Hot Rod? Or Ha Ha haR? See, we didn?t spend any time at all coming up with those. Guess this is a new age with new acronyms.

The first H, the heritage part, refers to the 1949 Chevy Suburban, which the HHR sort of resembles in miniature and which Chevy suggests is the wellspring of all things SUV. That may be the case if you look at all SUVs from a certain angle and in the proper lighting conditions and after a few Heinekens?and if you conveniently forget about that whole Willys Jeep 4x4 station wagon thing from 1947. We are also supposed to see design cues from the Chevy SSR. The SSR is selling like lead bricks on a life raft, making you wonder why Chevy is even drawing the SSR into the deal, but there it sits.

The ?high roof? part of the moniker is the towering 65.2-inch skyline up top of this sucker. The high roof gives you command-of-the-road feel that only an SUV can give, Chevy says. Even if that SUV is just a big, honkin? Cobalt.


However, it turns out the 65.2-inch roofline is average among Chevy?s competitor list for the HHR. The Toyota RAV4, Honda Element and Ford Escape all have higher rooflines, while only the Scion xB and Chrysler PT Cruiser?s are lower.

There, we said it, the PT Cruiser, the elephant in the living room that no one at GM wants to admit exists. Now is as good a time as any to come clean. Chevrolet representatives couldn?t bring themselves to even mention P, T or Cruiser at all during the HHR?s daylong press intro until darn near the end of the day, and even then only when asked specifically about it. The PT Cruiser is obviously similar in concept and execution to the HHR. When it was unveiled at the Detroit and Los Angeles auto shows, the cruel joke circulating around the show floor was that the HHR was called the ?Me-Too Cruiser,? since it was the same size and basic shape as the Chrysler. GM didn?t think that very funny.

To the rescue came Bob Lutz, who shellacked those in the press who noticed any similarity, saying Chrysler had no lock on picking the best time for introducing a retro-themed car, etc. Lutz then went further, guaranteeing the HHR?s success. ?Read my lips,? Lutz said angrily in Los Angeles. ?The HHR will be sensationally successful.?


What does ?sensational? mean? Original sales targets were set at 100,000 a year, then were dialed back and now are not really talked about. Whether the HHR will be ?successful? may depend, as with many other cars, on whether it?s practical, attractive and represents good value.

Let?s start with practical, since that?s where we were when the pre-release publicity stepped in. We were addressing rooflines. While the High Roofline is indeed higher than the coupe and sedan, it turns out to be only average in the class. The same is true of its interior space. HHR has 97.4 cubic feet of passenger volume, fourth among the competitors that Chevy lists. In cargo volume, with everybody?s rear seats either folded or removed, it beats only the Scion xB. Chevy doesn?t list the cargo volume with seats in place, though all competitors do. It is versatile back there, with grocery bag hooks and a parcel shelf that can be slotted in a number of different ways? hey, that?s just like the PT Cruiser!

Also inside are standard air conditioning; power windows, door locks, outside mirrors and keyless entry; and a 260-watt, six-speaker AM/FM/CD with iPod jack. We have no complaints about the interior after several hours? drive that day. It was comfortable and convenient.


We cranked the engine, too. The entry-level 2.2-liter, 143-hp, 150-lb-ft four cylinder was not available on our drives, so we cranked the 2.4-liter 172-hp, 162-lb-ft. If that?s not enough output for you, Chevy says all the performance parts for the Ecotec four fit on the HHR, and they?re getting 1400 hp out of some Ecotecs, so have at it.

Our 2.4?s output did the job all day. It was a good match for the 3208-pound curb weight. This is, however, not best-in-class power. The PT Turbo makes 220, and the Escape V6 offers 200. The 2.2-liter, meanwhile, has less oomph in the class than all but the xB?s tiny 1.5-liter four, which makes 108 horsepower.

Chevrolet is proud of the HHR?s transmissions, the five-speed manual and four-speed automatic, pointing to awards from J.D. Power for reliability. Our drive with the manual trans was smooth and problem-free, even fun. But the automatic, also an award-winner, clunked heavily, first at liftoff from partial throttle acceleration and then whenever it shifted up or down, getting progressively worse as the day wore on. Engineers on sight said the problem was due to a loose exhaust mount.


The suspension is par for the class, with struts up front and a torsion beam rear. The RAV4 and Element both list double-wishbone rear setups. The HHR tends to lean a bit around corners, maybe more than the PT, though we didn?t drive the two cars back to back.

Prices range from $15,990 to $18,790, with options like remote-vehicle start, traction control and XM satellite radio available on top of that. It?s cute, but some may not think it?s as cute as a PT. And maybe everyone who thinks it is as cute as a PT already bought a PT. But just because Ferrari makes a 360 doesn?t mean no one wants to buy a Lamborghini Gallardo, does it? Though it might mean they won?t buy 100,000 of them.

[ifcar]

Did they drive the car, or even sit in it? How about some new information? Aside from pricing, I don't think they said anything now that they could have said at the car's unveiling.  

[bobwill]

I'd definately take a Malibu Maxx over one of those things.  Oh, wow, I just noticed the price on that.  Not bad.  

[ifcar]

The Maxx still isn't much more, I'd definitely take it first. Real power, better handling, comparable if not better fuel economy, and more interior space.

[giant_mtb]

The HHR is an underpowered ugly POS...good job Chevrolet!  :)  

[Tom]

[Wimmer]

It's compleeeeeetly underpowerd!  I'ts so slooooooooow!  Every car should be as fast as a Corvette and pack a turbocharged V12.

[/Wimmer]