[car fanatics]

Car Fanatics
Photo credit: Michael Stuart
April 19, 2012
By: Michael Stuart

Introduction

It used to be called 'downsizing.' You went to a smaller car because ' you couldn't afford something nicer', 'the old one was too hard on gas' or 'the lease payments were KILLING me'.... It also meant cramped, loud, poorly built and a car you'd be happy to get rid of the moment you could. After a week spent with the 2012 Cruze Turbo and after what I've seen and read about other players in this segment, this stigma attached to smaller cars appears to be all but dead.

The vitals

First off, here is the Canadian window sticker - you can easily build one yourself on the U.S. website to get a comparison. It's an LT turbo with the RS Package:

This is most likely the version I would buy if I were to get one - I don't go in for too much 'fancy stuff' such as leather and nav, but I will pay for an upgraded suspension, brakes and motor. The RS package gives big 18" alloys and disc brakes along with a lowered and presumably tightened up suspension:

Note it came with Michelin X ice tires for the winter that wasn't:

Where's the exhaust??? Ah, there you are, along with the 'z link' suspension:

We don't do instrumented testing here yet, but Car & Driver tested an LTZ with the 1.4 and automatic and found it to be a tad slow (17 second quarter). My approach is that you can look up performance metrics on those sites if you wish, it's all been done, so I'm trying to focus on how it works in the 'real world'.

I had it for 7 days from April 10 - April 17th and put around 800 km on it. When I picked it up, the fuel economy display showed an average of 7.9 litres/100 km (around 30 MPG) and when I returned it that average had improved to 7.7 litres/100 km. How Car and Driver only got 25 MPG out if it is beyond me - they must beat the daylights out of these things constantly.

I'm a bit of a mileage skeptic, but was very impressed by the efficiency of this engine. I managed 39 MPG on a 120 mile round trip at 'real' highway speeds and remember, this was with winter tires.

The walk around
Styling is largely subjective, and while I won't say the car is a styling 'home run' (the rear end is a bit 'abrupt') it is a nice looking car from just about any angle:

Interior
The improvements to GM's interiors over the last 5 years or so is very impressive:

Aux jack and USB port are in the centre storage console. This is the first time I've tried using a USB port on a car:

The stereo was pretty good - no distortion, though I would have liked a bit more bass.

A little cramped between the gear selector and said centre console:

Reasonable back seat, with cup holders for your munchkins or carpooling buddies (uuuuuugggghhhhhhh coffeeeee):

And rest assured, you're always safe with R2D2 as your co-pilot:

There's just the right amount of brightness in the trim, without having reflective bits in bad places, as I found with the Sonata (putting glossy piano black bits directly below the side view mirror area = bad idea). Some have knocked Chevy for the cloth trim in the dash, but I liked it.

Controls
Everything seemed comfortable and well placed in the car. The HVAC is controlled by a mix of buttons and two dials (for heat and fan speed) and while it does make you take your eyes off the road to switch from defrost to regular settings, the markings were large and easy to read in all lighting conditions. The fan and heat dials have a small light on them to make it easy to see their settings at night.

Spring in Southern Ontario has seen temps go from 20 F to 80 F in two days. I used the heat, defrost and A/C all during the same week. They all worked flawlessly - in fact the rear window defrost was the quickest I've ever seen.

This model has the stereo, phone and cruise functions on the steering wheel. Great features, but I had the hardest time adjusting to the cruise being there - I kept reaching for the stalk. Some day, they need to standardize this stuff. The cruise works very well, you push the right side button to 'activate' it, then use a toggle to set/accelerate/decelerate. The left button cancels, but does not 'deactivate' cruise setting.

The turn signals give you the 'three blinks' for lane changes - a feature that I've really begun to appreciate.

Space, the final frontier
We've dealt with a few of the common criticisms of 'small' cars, and here's another one down. This thing isn't really that small. It passed the luggage test with flying colours and in fact, I think it has more useable trunk space (think vertical) than the Grand Prix or G8:

Most suitcases could be piled three high in the back with space for another row of luggage as well. The hinges pass very close to the sides so don't really pose a problem with crushing your stuff.

The cabin is also tall with considerable headroom - I'm guessing you'd need to be around 6'6 before you'd have any issues. The rear may be a bit tight for full size adults, but the seats are comfortable with padding in all the right places.

But, how does it drive?
I've driven some very fast cars, but never felt that this car was under powered during my time with it. Acceleration can best be described as 'onesecondo.k.HEREWEGOOOO' as the turbo and about 16 lbs of boost kicks in (yo?). I'd suggest this probably makes the car feel faster than it is and actually makes it more entertaining than many cars I've driven with 'flat' torque curves.

Handling, even with the snow tires, was excellent. Steering was 'baby pinky' light, but precise and you can attack your favourite on/off ramp with absolute confidence. It felt like there was no body roll at all and toward the limits it really felt like it would do a nice '4 wheel slide' rather than plowing ahead. This car can handle far beyond what most people would dare to try. I believe its grip level is somewhere around .85 g which is very good.

The brakes were slightly soft, but very easy to modulate and grabbed hard when needed - no pull or fade, though I obviously wasn't 'tracking' the car.

The little 1.4 needs to be told in no uncertain terms that you want to go, but when asked to it does an admirable job, and you simply can't argue with its fuel economy. I never had any issues merging or passing on the highway, though you need to use full throttle for said occasions:

Once up to highway speeds, the car is amazingly quiet. The engine spins away silently at 2500 RPM at 70 MPH. In this respect, the car feels like anything but an 'economy' car. There has been much attention to keeping it quiet - triple seal doors, etc, and it works wonderfully.

Manual shift mode is available (and entertaining) by shifting the lever to the left. Forward for upshifts and back for downshifts. The only issue I had was the lack of elbow room between the shifter and the console.

On a side note - I never once heard the turbo. You'd never know it's there. Even better - all that boost does NOT need premium. Regular gas, and not too much of it, is all you need.

What others said
Passengers who rode along with me had nothing but praise for the car. Smooth, solid, comfortable, nice etc, etc. Not a negative comment.

Conclusion
This car has been a sales success for GM for good reason. It wipes away all those 'small car' preconceptions immediately and proves that you don't have to make any real sacrifices (unless you're a speed demon) to own a car like this. It was AJAC's 2011 Canadian Car of the Year for good reason.

The challenge from here on in for GM will be to keep this car relevant and updated. A hatch would be good to compete with the Focus and Mazda 3 and a performance variant (2.0 turbo please) would satisfy those of us wanting to get the most from this very capable chassis.

The competition in this segment is fierce, but this car is a fighter and will serve GM very well so long as they continue the attention to detail that so obviously went into the development of this car.

I'd welcome any comments/suggestions or questions you may have!

[ncguy]

Excellent write up and review!

[MOPAR74]

:2thumbsup:

[G8mike]

Thanks all. One thing I forgot to mention, the visibility is better than some of the cars I've driven lately (the G6 coupe was really bad) but the C pillar can swallow up a whole car if the angles are right. If you're backing up in a busy parking lot - be careful (but that kinda goes without saying...right?)

[zeep]

I'm really liking all these reviews coming out. Let's keep em coming.

[nell_z]

Nice job explaining some major points of the Cruze. Nice pics too. This car doesn't really have any unflattering angles. Kinda like what Casa said, this car is actually a bit more photogenic than the 3-Series.

[G8mike]

Thanks - I'm looking at the number of views in all our reviews and the numbers are looking pretty good!

[jspookss]

Excellent review

[SRTChallenger-Man]

Great review i loved the humor you tossed in, makes for an interesting read. Cruze is a great car, i drove my cousins and was surprised and how peppy it felt, and how smooth and quiet it was. I would highly consider one if i was in the market for something like that.

[G8mike]

The manual versions are probably much more entertaining I'm sure and this thing with a 2.0 t would be wicked. I'm thinking they may save that for the Verano only though...

[DougDrivesDodge]

nice write up. :2thumbsup:

one thing i noticed about the Cruze is that the steering is precise enough to let the car call out bad drivers as such. my neighbor owns one and you can really tell as a passenger when they aren't being smooth.

[iDream Theater]

I love the Cruze as it is a great car, but just to beat the same old drum: It needs a performance version ASAP! Even if it's only a more moderate one, like with 180-200HP would be nice if priced reasonably.

[BasiliskSt]

Good practical and realistic review of the excellent Cruze. Pictures are great and you hit the strengths.

Too many reviewers compare the subject to some fictional price no object ideal. Your point that Cruze hits a "no compromises" balance in a highly price competitive market is a great observation. Fuel efficient, attractive, comfortable, even spacious, practical, smooth ride and quiet interior at and affordable price is a real engineering accomplishment. Cruze is a hit and has earned the market attention by backing up its good looks with very polished performance, especially for the price.

Well done, to both Chevy and CF reviews!

[jspookss]

Lol R2D2

[jspookss]

This thing could easily be more fun with a larger turbo. It runs out of steam too soon! It rockets off the line and then weezes its way to redline.

I hope gm remedies this by either a larger turbo or a variable vane setup.