Yeah, the rental fodder trim that barely exists on the dealer's lots still uses the old MZR motor. Whoop de do. For all intents and purposes it doesn't exist.
Know why I know everything I know is correct? I go look things up before I talk about them.
You know the 2.5L in use in the current Mazda3 is still an MZR, right? The 2014 is supposed to lift the 2.5L SkyActiv from the new Mazda6, but at the moment all the S models still have MZRs. It most definitely does exist.
So I've always been a Japanese fan, and up until recently had an old Miata, a Mazda3, and a Toyota Yaris. When the Yaris was totaled in a hit-and-run we took a look at what was on the market with an open mind and ended up getting a Chevy Sonic for my wife. Compared to the last time we were car shopping in 2007 it just seemed like the Japanese makes hadn't done a lot. It was a toss up between the Sonic and a Mazda3 hatchback for my wife, but she decided she wanted something a little different than my Mazda3 sedan. We'd always said we'd consider an American car if they made one worth a damn, and Chevy seemed to have come a long way from the Aveo.
Although we like the car, every once and a while there are little gotchas that make us consider if we made the wrong choice. The rubber bushings on the rear hatch were missing, causing the hatch to rattle when we went on vacation and were going through gravel back roads for about a week. A stereo software upgrade to add compatibility with the promised nav system turned into a fiasco. Gas mileage isn't bad on the highway with the turbo model, but isn't anywhere near reported on a city cycle. In retrospect most of the issues weren't so much with the car itself but with the dealer and Chevy itself. I guess I just got use to having a certain relationship with both the Mazda and Toyota dealerships, and felt they were committed to solving any issues we had. They always seemed... apologetic if there was a problem. For some reason I always feel like I'm imposing on the Chevy dealer or on Chevy as a whole if I have a problem. It's your fault we couldn't update the software, you wanted the upgrade in the first place. You call Chevy Infotainment Support and get them to send us the info. It's your fault you didn't notice the bushing was missing, etc...
So anyway, we're happy with the car overall but I'd still have to vote Japanese.