The Official Bolt Performance Thread (TOBPT)

{{ Mod : split off from "Finally (after 6 months) drove the Bolt!" }}

ScooterCT said:

Performance: Meh... I floored it and wasn't impressed.

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What was your speed for this test? The Bolt is very quick. Car&Driver did 0-60 in 6.5 sec. 2017 Miata is 6.1 sec.

I'd hate to see this thread hijacked into a performance argument, when that was a very small part of my original review.

The points raised by other posters above are valid. Everyone has their own opinion of the Bolt's performance and dynamics. Like any EV with 100% torque at launch, it has undeniably nice acceleration numbers down at the low end - meaning it's jumpy around town. That's a fact. But it's not a fast car the way I measure fast cars. Fast is take it out on the track Saturday afternoon and race. Fast is taking it (safely) on a deserted mountain road and pushing (sanely). I very much doubt you're going to be seeing Bolts on the racetracks on Saturday, but I'm totally ready to eat my words if some performance guru cares to post a photo of a Bolt leading a field of Miatas or BRZs. Actually, I think it would be kind of cool to hear a racetrack report - lets put some facts behind all these "the Bolt is a stealth sports car" claims (ROTFL).

I still find the Bolt dynamically unnerving in anything but the most sedate driving. You just can't get around the limitations of FWD, 3,500 lbs of mass, and narrow economy tires. In fairness, I find the majority of FWD ICE cars unnerving once you step past sedate.

I assert that if you take the Bolt out on a curvy road and try to drive like you would in a Miata or a BRZ, you're probably going to end up in the trees. That's all I was saying, and that was a tiny part of a review that I ended with the conclusion that the Bolt was an outstanding BEV for early adopters to buy if they need to buy right now. I wouldn't take my Kia Soul out to carve corners, and if I owned a Chevy Bolt I wouldn't take it out to carve corners.

The Bolt is a great little EV. And because it's an EV, you get a dramatic jump away from the stop light (that's 100% torque doing its thing). Let's just not call it a fast or sporty car without carefully qualifying what that means. It's fast and sporty compared to a Sonic.

For $300 you can get decent performance tires, which transforms the handling. Issue closed.

New tires does not address 3,500 lbs of curb weight, absolutely horrific brakes, or crappy FWD handling approaching the limits.

sgt1372 said:

My only complaint is that the speed limiter id set too low and csn't wait for someone to havk the CPU to raise it to at least 105.

LOL!

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The speed limit on the Bolt could be due to a mechanical limit because the electric motor or the reduction gear has a hard RPM limit to avoid causing damage to either of them.

ScooterCT said:

I assert that if you take the Bolt out on a curvy road and try to drive like you would in a Miata or a BRZ, you're probably going to end up in the trees. That's all I was saying, and that was a tiny part of a review that I ended with the conclusion that the Bolt was an outstanding BEV for early adopters to buy if they need to buy right now. I wouldn't take my Kia Soul out to carve corners, and if I owned a Chevy Bolt I wouldn't take it out to carve corners.

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I beg to differ. This really depends on the skill of the driver w/in the limitations of the tires/suspension of the Bolt.

I can drive the Bolt VERY FAST on the hwy/fwy and on the back roads. Fast enough that I pass and piss off other drivers enough that they try to race and cut me off. It happened last night when I was driving home.

To drive the Bolt effectively in the twisties, it's all about speed control. You have to hit each turn at the max WITHOUT the need to brake.

In motorcycling, this method is called the PACE by which to try to ride SMOOTHLY through each turn without ever touching your brakes which means that you are making maximum use of your motorcycle's capabilities w/o resorting to hard braking and lean to complete the turn.

That said, I wouldn't take my Bolt out to "carve corners" either. I'd take my MR2 out to do that but that doesn't mean you can't drive extremely fast and under control in the Bolt on such roads.

The single pedal method of controlling the speed of the Bolt is perfect for implementing the PACE and, if you're ever in the SF Bay Area, I'd be happy to demonstrate it for you on the backroads along the Delta near my house.

Yea, the MR2 was an awesome little devil. Can't beat mid-engine.

Why don't you take your Bolt out to the track on track day and do a video? I searched YouTube for "Bolt track day", and I can't find anything. You could be first. Maybe borrow some better tires for a few hours?

bravo said:

The Bolt is very quick. Car&Driver did 0-60 in 6.5 sec. 2017 Miata is 6.1 sec.

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My remarks were not meant to imply any sort of "high performance" or "stealth race car" vibe.

Rather, I was just suggesting that the Bolt is a quick 5-passenger sedan (on public roads). That's its design target.

As to tracks, I suppose it could slog its way around Button Willow or maybe Sears Point. But 90 MPH isn't going to do much at Thunder Hill or Laguna Seca. (These are the tracks that I'm familiar with riding/driving.)

But I wouldn't take it on the track. Nor would I use it to attack the canyons.

That said, when I was a student at Skip Barber the instructors would ferry us out to various vantage points around the track. They used some kind of funky Dodge FWD compact sedans for this. Those drivers could carry some pretty crazy speeds around the DH and flat parts of Laguna in those wallowing tubs.

Sorry, perhaps I'm taking my original OT (?) remark even further afield.

OP: You wrote a very helpful and thorough review. Thanks!

The Bolt isn't a sports car and it doesn't pretend to be.

It is, however, "fast" when it comes to merging on the freeway and passing, where zero lag is important.

I used to take my Spark EV up through the mountains between Palm Springs and Temecula. It isn't fast going around the corners but acceleration out of the corners was outstanding and fun. Particularly after I replaced the OEM tires with something that had a bit more grip.

Fun, but certainly not a sports car experience. It was also fun going downhill, regen braking makes going down the twisty downhills fun as well.

Give it a few more years and someone will find a way to make something like a Miata EV that will be more like what Scooter is looking for.

sparkyps said:

The Bolt isn't a sports car and it doesn't pretend to be.

It is, however, "fast" when it comes to merging on the freeway and passing, where zero lag is important.

I used to take my Spark EV up through the mountains between Palm Springs and Temecula. It isn't fast going around the corners but acceleration out of the corners was outstanding and fun. Particularly after I replaced the OEM tires with something that had a bit more grip.

Fun, but certainly not a sports car experience. It was also fun going downhill, regen braking makes going down the twisty downhills fun as well.

Give it a few more years and someone will find a way to make something like a Miata EV that will be more like what Scooter is looking for.

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I was talking with a Spark owner at last years Drive EV event and he mentioned the 400+ #/' of torque. I was a bit skeptical which he was accustomed to at which point he pulled out the sales literature and sure enough. That must be a blast but difficult to keep traction if it's anything like my stodgy Leaf.

sparkyps said:

The Bolt isn't a sports car and it doesn't pretend to be.

It is, however, "fast" when it comes to merging on the freeway and passing, where zero lag is important.

I used to take my Spark EV up through the mountains between Palm Springs and Temecula. It isn't fast going around the corners but acceleration out of the corners was outstanding and fun. Particularly after I replaced the OEM tires with something that had a bit more grip.

Fun, but certainly not a sports car experience. It was also fun going downhill, regen braking makes going down the twisty downhills fun as well.

Give it a few more years and someone will find a way to make something like a Miata EV that will be more like what Scooter is looking for.

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GM just needs to hurry up and build the Jolt EV. If they made something like that in an old fashion 2+2 coupe, I'd buy one in a heartbeat!

http://www.chevyjoltev.com/

Disclaimer: The "Jolt" is the brainchild of an EV fan, and not a GM concept. The specs are based off putting the Bolt drivetrain into a RWD sports coupe.

Dgodfrey said:

I was talking with a Spark owner at last years Drive EV event and he mentioned the 400+ #/' of torque. I was a bit skeptical which he was accustomed to at which point he pulled out the sales literature and sure enough. That must be a blast but difficult to keep traction if it's anything like my stodgy Leaf.

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The Spark EV is as squirrely as a tweaking meth addict after a 72-hour binge (under full acceleration (especially if not 100% straight ahead, and even then ...).

http://jalopnik.com/how-to-be-fast-with-front-wheel-drive-an-expert-explai-1795906825

By golly, look what appeared on Jalopnik today. A pro explaining how to drive FWD well. Talk about timing...

ScooterCT said:

By golly, look what appeared on Jalopnik today. A pro explaining how to drive FWD well. Talk about timing...

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A lot of good tips for driving an FWD (and AWD generally).

The heel-toe left foot braking is something I do in all automatics mainly because it reduces reaction time for braking.

It also allows more control w/a RWD vehicle by dragging the brake if you are pushing a car hard thru a turn (as mentioned in the article) and it also allows a smoother (on/off) accelerator/brake transition to control weight transfer (also mentioned in the article), even if you are not braking and accelerating simultaneously thru turns.

However, the Bolt is a little different. If you are driving in L (which I call Golf cart mode), you already have a built in engine braking factor which reduces the need to use the brake foot in turns or transitions.

I don't actually recall trying to use the brake drag technique in turns w/the Bolt because I haven't pushed the car that hard on any roads where that might be necessary but I still use heel-toe left food braking on the Bolt because it's a habit and still substantially reduces braking reaction time.

ScooterCT said:

By golly, look what appeared on Jalopnik today. A pro explaining how to drive FWD well. Talk about timing...

Click to expand...

A lot of good tips for driving an FWD (and AWD generally).

The heel-toe left foot braking is something I do in all automatics mainly because it reduces reaction time for braking.

It also allows more control w/a RWD vehicle by dragging the brake if you are pushing a car hard thru a turn (as mentioned in the article) and it also allows a smoother (on/off) accelerator/brake transition to control weight transfer (also mentioned in the article), even if you are not braking and accelerating simultaneously thru turns.

However, the Bolt is a little different. If you are driving in L (which I call Golf cart mode), where you already have a built in engine braking factor which reduces the need to use the brake foot in turns or transitions.

I don't actually recall trying to use the brake drag technique in turns w/the Bolt because I haven't pushed the car that hard on any roads where that might be necessary.

If the article's right, it'll probably just force the car into "limp" mode which I don't want to do but I'll still use heel-toe left food braking on the Bolt because it's a habit and still substantially reduces braking reaction time.

I'm pretty sure that if you use the brake pedal in a Bolt, the engine will not be accelerating the car - you can't have the single motor both speeding up and slowing down.

I recently saw a video of a Bolt at an autocross - sorry but I couldn't find it right now with a quick search.

I'm going to take my Bolt to the track some day just for giggles. I think it will do fairly well, although I'll miss shifting and the 93mph limiter will have me getting absolutely blitzed on the long straight. If it turns out to be fun enough I'll get a set of track wheels/tires for better grip and to avoid abuse of my street set.

Now I want a Jolt, if it only existed. That's a first class fan made website. If Chevy would just make it in AWD with no speed limiter it would make a super fun track day car. Put sticky tires on it and it would likely surprise the heck out of the newbies in their shiny ICE Bimmers....... :twisted:

Has anyone sourced aftermarket wheels for the Bolt? I keep checking Tire Rack and they come back with not available.

EldRick said:

For $300 you can get decent performance tires, which transforms the handling. Issue closed.

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Haven't got an EV yet, but I will. I haven't had great attraction for larger mpg reducing wheels & tires. However, in the past & in the present, I've gotten super deals on Craigslist for larger tires & nice larger alloy wheels to replace the smaller steels & tires on my cars. Car handling & shock absorption CAN be improved!! On already smooth & quiet highway pavements, larger wheel/tire combos are superb. Going to too large wheel/tire combos tho, does hurt shock absorber response. I expect even heavier & larger run-flat tires will exacerbate the problem more. In the past I thought I suffered a 4% to 5% DECREASE in mpg from a larger wheel/tire combo. HOWEVER, I can't remember now if I added extra miles to my odometer readings because of my larger tires. For my recent purchases of larger wheels & tires for two recent cars, I have carefully added the extra miles to my odometer readings. It appears that larger tires with proper inflation on both cars may only subtract ~ 0.5%mpg to ~ 1.5%mpg. Hopefully, more fill-ups (yeah, yeah, I know....get the EV) will give a more accurate indication of mpg loss.
Hope this helps those who are considering larger wheel/tire combos.

So, I'm thinking of getting a Bolt and putting performance tires on it right away.

Any suggestions?

I'm finding lots of high performance and and a couple ultra high performance in the original size. All season versions since we get all seasons here. The ultras have AA traction ratings, and I'm guessing that's my best bet?

Tire Rack offers Riken Raptor ZR in stock size at a great price. The tire has top-of-the-list reviews, and IMHO is an excellent summer street performance tire.
You can also cut ~5lbs./corner with wheels from a Chevy Cruze Eco at just under 18 lbs.