Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Jonathan Gitlin

DETROIT, MI—Chevrolet probably deserves more credit than it's getting for the Bolt electric vehicle. CEO Mary Barra gave her engineers some targets that had to be met, a move that was reminiscent of the diktats given to Bugatti by Ferdinand Piech—except the goals were range and a price ceiling rather than four digits of horsepower and a lunatic top speed. The Bolt met Barra's demands, and in the process Chevy built a fine car, one that's actually fun to drive. During the lead-up to and first months since the car's arrival, Chevy had been more interested in talking about the Bolt's range or the efficiency of its electric motor. But that changed when we got word that it was planning a more performance-focused event: would we be interested in autocrossing the Bolt? (Obviously, we were.)

The setup

I'm a complete novice to autocrossing, so I won't attempt to explain it in too much depth. A course is laid out upon a suitably sized piece of tarmac: tight and demanding turns mapped out in little orange cones. Any straights are short enough to keep top speeds low, but the throttle is still pinned to the floor as often as possible. Your time starts when you pass the first timing light and finishes when you reach the second.

Shortest time wins, but you have to complete the entire course without hitting any of the cones. Today this would not be rigorously enforced; a single clipped cone would be met with a blind eye, but expect to be DQ'd if you mow down more than a couple. Normally, one gets very few runs of an autocross course during an event. But there were only four cars and seven drivers, and we had the entire morning to ourselves.

However, there was the lurking threat of rain. Early last week if felt as if the entire country was under a rain cloud, perhaps in sympathy with coastal Texas. The night before saw plenty of rain in Detroit, although the course was drying up by the time we arrived that morning. By late morning there was the occasional spot of rain—less than a drizzle but perhaps more than a sprinkling. More runs would mean more familiarity with the course and cars and, theoretically, a faster time.

Balancing those advantages were the tires. None of us had to pay to replace them, so none of us had any incentive to be gentle; instead there was an ever-present desire to see smoking rubber, preferably on camera and in focus. (You'll notice some of the photos make it look very sunny; there were several waves held over two days, and those that followed us were blessed with good weather and a photography team.)

The cars

There were four cars at our disposal: three Bolts and a VW Golf GTI. The choice of a Golf GTI as a benchmark was certainly bold; the definitive hot hatch may have lost its way in generations three and four, but it's now very much back on song. It's the go-to car when you want something fun, practical, affordable, and stylish without being over-styled. It's also a car you'd expect to find at an autocross, although more often with three pedals and a manual gearbox. This car was a GTI Sport with a dual-clutch gearbox. It has a few more horsepower than the Bolt but roughly the same torque. It's a little quicker than the Bolt (at sea level), it's lighter, and a good deal less expensive if we consider MSRP and ignore any EV tax credits.

How they match up Chevrolet Bolt Volkswagen Golf GTI Sport Base Price $37,495 $26,815 Powertrain Permanent magnet synchronous AC motor, one-speed direct drive transmission, front-wheel drive 2.0L turbocharged direct-injection inline four-cylinder internal combustion engine, six-speed dual clutch transmission, front-wheel drive Power 200hp/150kW 220hp/164kW Torque 266ft-lbs/360Nm 258ft-lbs/350Nm 0-60mph 6.5 seconds 5.9 seconds Curb weight 3,569lbs/1,617kg 3,116lbs/1,413kg

The Golf and two of the Bolts wore summer tires, nothing super sticky and no "we swear it's not a cut slick" double-digit wear rating: Pirelli Cinturato P7s for the VW and Michelin Primacy 3s for the summer-tire'd Bolts. The remaining Bolt was fitted with the stock all-season, Michelin's Energy Saver A/S Selfseal.

The results

What happened next confirmed my instincts about the bowtie-wearing EV: it is actually a hoot to drive. The center of gravity is nice and low, so even though you sit high up you don't have to fight that much body roll. The powertrain is torquey and very responsive, and there was even a little hint of lift-off oversteer that helped on the final few corners of the course. I didn't notice too much difference between leaving the transmission in D, which coasts when you lift off, or Low, where the Regen kicks in as your foot leaves the throttle pedal. (Because I was usually crossed-up in the corners, the Regen paddle on the steering wheel didn't get a lot of attention.)

With traction control turned off, the handling became flashier, particularly that lift-off oversteer. But it didn't make the Bolt go any faster, and the all-season tires weren't much slower than the summer rubber. (An EU-spec tire for those who were wondering.) The Golf, by comparison, was faster straight away and certainly felt more the part thanks to bolstered seats—trimmed in that GTI tartan, of course—and a sportier driving position that feels like you're in the car rather than on it. The best way to coax a time out of the red VW was definitely sans traction control, and I could probably have found some more time to be gained with a few more runs.

A little before lunch the skies darkened, and at least two left front tires were now ready for recycling. Fastest overall was Tommy Milner, one of Chevrolet's tame racing drivers. Normally Milner is found racing one of the bright yellow Corvette C7.Rs at places like Daytona and Road America; today he was on hand to give us pointers. But a close second was Evan Williams from hybridcars.com; we knew Evan was serious that morning when he appeared wearing a rather autocross-specific shirt from Blipshift. In fact, he set the fastest times for any of the journalists in all of the cars, breaking the 40 second barrier in the summer tire'd Bolt and GTI. Your faithful correspondent was looking at second quickest journo in the Bolt; then the Verge's Sean O'Kane found about three more tenths of a second, using up what remained of a Bolt's left front tire in the process. We had to settle for third. (Or fifth if you count Milner and GM's chief EV engineer Mike Lelli.)

After driving the production Bolt at the start of the year, I ended our writeup by calling for GM to make a 400hp, twin-motor Bolt SS. I still want that to happen, but I'd probably be just as happy with a tuned Bolt Sport, fitted with slightly grippier seats, slightly stiffer springs, and properly sticky summer tires. But here's a better idea: build at least 25 Bolts like that, then stick in roll cages and run them in New York in support of Formula E. Toyota used to have a lot of PR success with a celebrity Pro-Am race at the Long Beach Grand Prix, and I don't doubt Chevrolet would get similar results, adding some sporting cachet to its EV's efficiency street cred.

Listing image by Chevrolet