I am back from two weeks in California, USA. I put 2500 miles on a Chevy MAXX rental car. 3.5L, automatic, power, typical rental. It was a nice car and I would not hesitate to rent one again. The 3.5 has plenty of power for that weight car - just right. Ergonomics were very good. Arm rests ok. Excellent factory cd/stereo!
The "Tip-Tronic" shift was absolutely great for the winding mountain roads although the trans really needs to be a five speed. Dropping into 2 from 3 at
40-50 mph while simultaneously hard braking into a hairpin turn causes the rear end to come around a few feet. Fortunately, it just as quickly grabs again. There are no guard rails in the mountains and there is no room for counter-steer. They would not find the wreckage for months.The electric assist steering was responsive and I did not miss "road feel" at all. The traction control was kind of annoying and I turned it off most of the time. The traction control off light needs to be much smaller - just a pinpoint of yellow light instead of that large glowing blob.
The turn signal indicators are too small and difficult to see - just a small outline of a green arrow. If it were mine, I would remove the black out from the arrow and make it all green. The blinkers are nearly silent and with the indicator low visibility, especially with sun glasses on and radio on, I spent a lot of time driving with the blinkers on. Fortunately, after about 5 minutes they do start making beeping noises.
The headlights on the rental were very, very poor. The car is not drivable at night except in very well lit areas. There is no way I would drive that car at night without street lights. Maybe the factory offers better lighting - I don't know.
The "Info panel" was ok but could not be seen in daylight with sun glasses on. I liked the outside air temp indicator. It was a great asset for mountain driving. 38 degrees F or less meant time to go back down hill to avoid being caught in a snow storm.
With the seat raised all the way up, I still had about 2 inches of head clearance (I'm 5'7" tall) and could ALMOST hang my arm out the window. The sun / moon roof for front and back seats was totally useless, IMO.
Would I buy one? ... Maybe - If it comes with better headlights. It could use about four hundred pounds of sand bags in the rear end, too.