Car Review - 2008 Chevrolet HHR

Yoshi, a friend, rented the 2008 Chevrolet HHR this weekend, and I got to ride in it with him.  So, here's my review -

The name:  To start with, what's with the name?  HHR?  Healthy Human Resources?  Hullo, Here's Roger?  No, Chevrolet says it stands for Heritage High Roof.  Um....

The looks:  Here is my first reaction - who stretched the Chrysler PT Cruiser, and made it look a little less retro?  To be serious - it doesn't look as nice as the PT Cruiser.  But it isn't too bad.  The exterior does look plastic-ey, and the interior does too.   Which brings us to..

The interior:  The car is long enough, and has a good amount of space in the trunk area (see photo below).  But width-wise?  No, it seems really narrow.  This partly seems to be due to bad interior design.  the center column in front (you know, the one with the radio, air controls, all those pretty knobs and lights) isn't well designed.  It seems too wide, taking up leg room in a car thats already narrow, while simultaneously looking like everything there is pushed together.  Seriously, how can 6 radio buttons in a row look so spacious in an Accord or BMW, but look so crushed together in this car?  (One hint - stop putting extra chrome between buttons!)

And why are the window controls just out of reach, near my feet, at the bottom of that center column?

A nice positive - I loved the interior door handle design.  Loved it!

 

The ride:  The ride is like a lot of American cars, unfortunately - a bit like a boat.  You can get seasick while driving in a straight line at a constant speed along a highway.  It isn't as bad as the old Ford Taurus, but still, isn't this car aimed at the younger crowd?

Power-wise, the car is adequate.  Yoshi doesn't push cars, but with what we saw, the car seemed to respond when you needed a little push.  But we got the impression it doesn't like going fast on curves.