2003 Chevrolet Cavalier

File this new Cavalier under "Pleasant Surprises." Most new cars and trucks are pretty darn good these days, and many turn out better than expected. But this significantly updated '03 Cavalier is by far one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. Recent Cavaliers in general have been good cars—not great or class-leading but good, solid, reliable and an excellent value for money (especially with substantial incentives). But this 2003 version impressed from the moment we turned the key.

The Cavalier's mild but effective facelift for 2003 refines its nose and tail without affecting its overall shape.

GM's new 2.2-liter Ecotec DOHC 16-valve aluminum 4-cylinder engine (shared with other GM small cars including Saturn ION and VUE, and Pontiac Sunfire) is now standard in all Cavaliers. It's smooth, quiet, fuel efficient and amazingly powerful for its size. Twin balance shafts in the cylinder block keep the Ecotec smooth as glass from idle to redline by canceling the shaking forces inherent to an inline four. It's quiet at idle and sings proudly of strength and power at wide-open throttle. Paired with the standard 5-speed manual transaxle, it feels far stronger than its rated 140 hp at 5,600 rpm and 150 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm. One reason is that it offers most of that torque from 2,000 rpm up—yet EPA economy is a thrifty 26 mpg city, 33 highway.


Our test car, the 5-speed manual sedan, spun its front wheels easily at launch, caught rubber again on the 1-2 shift and accelerated strongly through all five gears. Trying our best to minimize wheelspin on take-off, we ran out of revs in second gear and had to grab third at about 55 mph—yet still powered past 60 in a tick over eight seconds. Clutch action was excellent and the shift mechanism was always precise. The only sour powertrain note: the Cavalier's high brake pedal placement relative to the accelerator rules out racing-style "heel-toe" downshifts, which detracts a bit from the fun factor for driving enthusiasts.

GM's new 2.2-liter Ecotec DOHC 16-valve aluminum 4-cylinder engine, standard in all Cavaliers, is amazingly powerful for its size.

Other dynamic attributes were also good. Steering felt precise and accurate with good feel and feedback through the wheel. Braking was strong and secure with the 4-wheel ABS working hard to prevent lockup in emergency stops. Handling on the LS sedan's FE2 sport suspension and P195/65R15 Touring tires was another very pleasant surprise: responsive, quick and agile—definitely more Euro than American small car in character.


The Cavalier's mild but effective facelift refines its nose and tail without affecting its overall shape, which has held up well despite its considerable age. The sedan looks good, if not exciting, while the coupe is sporty and handsome to our eyes.