GammaRadiation

There is already a picture of a titanium  '16+ with black heliums but here's my wife's car. 
 
15x6.5 +40
 
BFgoodrich sport comp 2 
195/50 15
 
Handles like a kart. It won't brake traction at all off the line with dry pavement and on wet the light might flash once. Turn in is amazing, grip is really good in comparison. Nothing like a set of 200TWs though. Tire hum is gone but these tires are still not perfectly quiet. I need to find some puddles to test hydroplane resistance. 
 

This car will exceed any speed limit for an entire tank and just ask for another quick fill up. It's surprisingly stable at high speed. The low front air dam and well designed undercarriage really helps, I think. However, it takes a long time to accelerate above 60 so don't expect to be passing. Also your mileage suffers considerably. Sub 30mpg for sure. Maybe 250 mi per tank. If you're really road tripping in a hurry consider time lost for fuel stops. 

Just want to give a Bravo for the work and documentation you're putting in. Thank you and keep it up. It's certainly appreciated.

You guys are racking the miles. I have just under 19,000 in just over two years. Its always good to see someone else putting as many miles on a car as I have planned before I sell it. I plan to never have to replace the spark plugs, that'll be a good diy job for the teenager that will probably buy it as their first car.lol

Nice build. What kind of power numbers are you hoping for?

The CVT in these cars is a regular 2 speed auto coupled to a CVT. How do you know it is not going into low? 
 
Here are a few quirks I have with mine. We have put approximately 9,000 miles on it and are fairly satisfied with the performance of the CVT overall. It takes some getting used to.
 
1.) It occasionally hesitates from a stop. This is not a throttle response issue (or doesn't seem to be, even though it is fly by wire). This typically happens after coming from a stop from cruising at a very high gear ratio and then "punching" it. I hypothesize that the 2spd is in low gear, but the CVT is stuck in a high(er) gear ratio. It takes a few feet of roll out to allow the CVT belt to slip down to a low gear ratio. If I always allow a few feet of roll out at idle before hitting the gas this does not happen (from my recollection). I learned this the hard way when we took the spark to the autocross. It easily cost me a few tenths lugging off the line. 
 
2.) When accelerating hard and then suddenly lifting the car experiences a momentum bump as it upshifts the CVT. After lifting the throttle it will accelerate FASTER than it does under WOT for a few mph. I have to be cognizant of this when accelerating quickly to the speed limit. I always lift 4-5mph before the speed limit.
 
3.) It does not "crawl" well at all. We have a steep driveway. Steep enough that it cannot idle up. Upon ingress with low momentum (necessary to prevent scraping of the front air dam) it will stall and more throttle is necessary. If too much throttle is given it will often "jump", accelerating very quickly. 
 
4.) The simulated shifts annoy me, as they are not necessary. I understand this is not a race car, but it is a small hatch so I enjoy driving it spiritedly (my other car is a Miata). It will also see several autocross events in its lifetime. Because the motor is low torque I would prefer the transmission take simple priority in its behavior: maximum acceleration at WOT, maximum MPG at constant speed, constant gear ratio at partial throttle. The simulated gear shifts do fool the average consumer. Among friends and family who do not know it has a CVT and are used to driving standard automatics; none have felt the transmission is different in any way. 
 
These are small fish compared to my real world numbers of 35mpg average, 45+ mpg highway (and both my wife and I have lead feet). It also out-accelerates the manual version and is plenty quick to 35-45mph (it is, after all, a city car). It also handles high speed cruising surprisingly well (though it takes some time to get there, that's the engine's fault). 
 
If your issues are outside of these common quirks I recommend you take it into the dealership for a service department test drive. While you are there ask to test drive a new spark for comparison. My 2016 has already been back for a new oil pan gasket and a noisy bushing. I almost feel bad for the dealership given I paid less than $10,000 for the car and 3rd party financed. That being said, I bought a new car with a warranty so I don't have to think about these things (I have two other vehicles with 100K+ and 200K+ to fill my automotive maintenance itch). 

Good tip.
I am familiar with the heliums because my other car is an NA miata. They are some of the lightest low budget 15's and 6.5" is all you need for a spark. The spark is her DD (I drive when we are together and plan to autocross it regularly) so if she doesn't like them I would gladly put them on my car. It's a shame the center bore isn't smaller, I have an extra set of NA alloy 14's that weigh 11-12lb and I read 14's can fit the brakes. 

Some of these huge rims are HEAVY. Unsprung mass and rolling diameter make or brake this car's ride quality, acceleration, and handling. 
 
What's the stock wheel weight? I am looking for either a set of OEMs (currently on steel) to wrap with S drives like you, or if the weight saving over OEM is significant I will drop a little more coin on some Konig Helium 15x6.5s and wrap them in 195/50s in the 300TW area. 

You seem quite knowledgeable. Do you have more info on the transmission? I'd love to find out the max recommended torque input and whether it can be reprogrammed to nix the simulated shifts. If this car serves me well I plan on tinkering with it once the powertrain warranty expires. There is ample room for a turbo, but my fear is the transmission is the weak link as well. My dad just bought a Sonic sedan and they dont offer CVT, only 6spd auto. There is probably a good reason for that.

I agree with that. We just took it on its first road trip. 39mpg through Tampa rushhour traffic and FL thunderstorms to NoFla. 32mpg on the way back with me TRYING to get terrible mpg. This thing feels great at 90mph, I dont go over that on public highways. 
 
We also took it to its first autocross
 
Not a bad handler, when it lets go it's nice and neutral. 
 
 
 

Mine is on track with that. I drive the piss out of it when I'm in it, based on current usage I am looking at a 7500 mile oil change. 

It does. At 70 it's around 2000 RPM. The torque curve on this engine is like a ruler. I suggest driving a '16, it's definitely a marked improvement over the previous year models. 
 
The CVT's highest gear ratio is certainly overdrive. It took me a bit to get used to and except for the occasional hesitation out of the hole, which can be partially mitigated by turning the traction control off, I prefer it over the old slush boxes. Even with the simulated shifts (wish it didnt do that) you can tell the difference. The CVT is also faster 0-60 than the manual!