Aveo 1.6 with Sonic 1.8 Head?

[vcarlos40]

Hello to all,

In Mexico both the Aveo and Sonic are offered with the 1.6 liter Engine, (both on sale here as of 2013, Aveo now has the frontal Aveo5 look).

The aveo is sold with 103 HP and 107 Pounds of torque and the Sonic offers 115 HP and 114 Pounds of torque.

I heard that they are basically the same engine, with the slight difference that the sonic has the Cruze or USA Sonic 1.8 Liter head installed, and that you could actually install the Sonic/Cruze's 1.8 head to the Aveo and get 10-12 HP more out of the engine.

Has anyone heard anything about this?

Has anyone done it, if yes what kind of results did you have?

If true, will the swap work "turn key" or would a PCM flash or something additional would need to be done?

Carlos V.

[sflindall26]

Not sure, but I would also be interested in this if it is true!!

[petrified.rabbit]

displacement is the job of the short block, not the head. Now, you can change compression ratios with the head an gain some hp, but you can just deck the stock head to achieve that. You could also verify if the sonic has larger valves or better porting..

the research i have done. which mexico is different. Suggests that the heads should be the same.

[Scanman]

displacement is the job of the short block, not the head. Now, you can change compression ratios with the head an gain some hp, but you can just deck the stock head to achieve that. You could also verify if the sonic has larger valves or better porting..

the research i have done. which mexico is different. Suggests that the heads should be the same.

That, IMHO, would be the cheapest fastest way to gain HP. The CAI/exhaust mods just aren't worth the monetary investment ,for the HP gain.

Rabbit, do you have decking specs? how many thousandths? Would that affect cooling (make me run hot), or just increase compression? Are there any drawbacks to decking? Would I need a stronger head gasket? How would the computer take that? Sounds like fun!

[petrified.rabbit]

things to watch when adding to the compression ratio by decking..

1. piston to valve clearance, it gets tighter. with variable valve timing etc you have to be sure the valves wont hit the cylinders.
2. Knocking, the added compression can be picked up as knocking. there are a few ways around this, but air fuel ratio and octane rating are the two biggest factors
3. it will run a little hotter you could say.
4. depending on the cylinder size to the heads combustion chamber, the actual ratio change will vary. Cutting the head down will decrease the combustion chamber. so the ratio will climb "faster"
5. without measuring the cc's of the head and the clearance of the valves i cannot say how many thousandths should be cut for what gain.
6. you can use a mls gasket.
7. for the cost of the work you could just swap a 1.8 engine in for 140 hp.

[sflindall26]

Why not just swap in the 1.4 sonic ltz turbo engine, same amount of hp but has a bit more tourque!! as long as you could find one..

[Scanman]

I agree with ya'll. Swapping engines would be cheaper, even though I do my own work(except for the machining). It would probably be more reliable & have fewer issues, as well. Since I just swapped from an '05 engine to an '07 and am about to give my aveo to my teenager, I guess I'll leave it alone.

[vcarlos40]

Could you actually swap in a 1.8 engine in there? you would also need to perform some kind of PCM flash?

[2010AveoLT]

Could you actually swap in a 1.8 engine in there? you would also need to perform some kind of PCM flash?

from what I read on the HP Tuners site, the 1.8 N/A US Spec Sonics use the same hardware (known as the E83 PCM) as the 2009-2011 Aveos, so you could either Get a Sonic PCM (it would plug right in since there are no physical differences between a Sonic PCM or an Aveo PCM) or flash your Aveo PCM with a Calibration from a Sonic.

[petrified.rabbit]

From what i read the maps on both are the same, and the physical parts are what adjust to the engine size difference (injectors). I have not verified this with anyone who can read the maps though, but the ecus are can seemingly be swapped and run fine.



Easiest swap is the 1.8 because all the accessories will bolt right on. So you really only "need" the long block and injectors. Which makes just yard engines a complete swap. i would still swap ecus. but I would try a aveo one first.. The trifecta 1.8 tune would give you a 1.8 swap with a tune could land you mid 150 hp range for less than $1000..