The Sonic RS sitting out in the driveway that belongs to my son fits the bill of the US domestic hot hatch for Chevrolet very well. Same engine, lighter weight than a Cruze.
The one thing that the Sonic RS (manual, anyway) does have going for it are gear ratios that make the most out of the little engine. They kinda remind me of the Accord Sport/Integra ratios where they're closely spaced and actually meant for sporty driving.
While the auto Cruzens used to be the slowest of the bunch, now they're actually quicker to 60 and 1/4 mile (on stock tune) according to C&D tests. Horrible throttle programming probably contributes to it somewhat.
And old LT Cruze, yes - which is why I owned that instead of an Eco.
But the final drive ratios are different between all of them, the Sonic RS's being a ratio that behooves itself to aiding acceleration (and high RPM, buzzy highway operation). Like changing the rear axle ratio on a RWD.
Axle, 3.65 final drive ratio for both the 1.4T Sonic hatch manual and 1.4T Cruze hatch manual. It's also 3.65 for the current MZ4 trans on the second gen diesel Cruze.
3.83 for all variations of the old Cruze, 3.65 for regular Sonic 1.4 trans. Sonic RS was 4.176.
Does appear to still be 3.83 on the new Cruze too if GM's pressroom stuff is to be believed (although they have the 2-3-4-5-6 ratios for 2016 wrong, so who knows). Would make more sense if they used the regular Sonic 1.4 transmission axle ratio, as they're similar weight and they moved that along alright in non-RS form.