The all-new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze possesses a level of refinement not seen in previous compacts from GM. Judging by a test drive, great pains were taken by the division to make sure this car could complete with the Japanese offerings.By Steph Willems, EMC - The fanfare surrounding the launch of the all-new compact entry from Chevrolet is warranted, according to GM, because at last the division has a viable, competitive entry to challenge the Japanese vehicles that have long worn the compact crown.
So bold is GM that they're asking the driving public to forget about the previously unloved Cobalt and its predecessor the Cavalier; as part of their nation-wide launch of the Cruze, Chevrolet dealers are inviting the public to get behind the wheel to see for themselves the advancements in comfort and refinement that have gone into the new model.
Having followed the lengthy buildup to the Canadian launch (GM cites six million kilometres of all-climate testing as the reason for the delay in introducing the Cruze to this side of the Atlantic), I was curious to see how this car stacked up.
Two summers ago, I rented a Cobalt sedan for a western road trip. It was a basic, competent but overall underwhelming car, saddled with a sluggish 4-speed automatic that I cursed as the roads turned mountainous.
After driving a new Cruze (donated by Jim Tubman Chevrolet) on a loop of southern Ottawa, I can officially report that the new model is light years ahead of the Cobalt. The tester was a mid-level LT model, which comes equipped with GM's new 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine (its first North American application) and a 6-speed automatic transmission, something rarely seen in a compact car. The engine -- certainly the smallest displacement seen in a domestic car in some time - produces 138 horsepower and 148 foot-pounds of torque at a very low 1,850 RPM (thanks to the turbo).
Settling in behind the wheel, I found the front buckets to be supportive for both the back and legs. The seat is adjustable six ways, and goes back far enough to accommodate this 6'4" driver; couple that with a narrow console that doesn't intrude into leg space and a tilt and telescopic steering wheel and you've got a car that will accommodate a wide range of driver physiques. No need to lean forward to grasp the wheel when the seat is in the rearmost position.
Once settled into that seat, the driver of a Cruze has good visibility all around; the car has a generous greenhouse with few of the blind spots that have been creeping into drivers' vision in recent domestic models.
Interior materials and fit and finish are vastly improved over previous compact Chevy's as well; fabric inserts in the dash breaks up the expanse of plastic while adding some visual flair to the interior. Depending on what seat fabric one orders, that dash can become two-tone as well, making the cabin a visually stimulating place to spend time.
Controls for the radio and stereo are intuitive, not hard to figure out, and the same goes for controls like the power window switches, lights and wipers.
Getting underway, acceleration in the Cruze LT turbo is brisk and effortless; the transmission has an extra-low first gear that gets the car moving and then upshifts almost instantly, while the engine -- like all turbos -- has plenty of low-end torque to bring the vehicle up to speed. The small-displacement engine emits very little noise, making the trip to highway speeds not only quick, but free of noise and drama. With so many gears to choose from, it doesn't take a flooring of the accelerator in order to get the transmission to down-shift for a boost of power. Because of the turbo, more torque is available at low RPM's, aiding acceleration.
Passing (accelerating from 60 to, ahem, just above the highway speed limit) brings the tachometer to 5500 RPM -- the quick to downshift transmission and good mid-range torque makes this easy. Even at this high rpm, engine noise is muted, as is other noises originating from outside the vehicle.
The test was performed south of the airport, past open fields on a windy day. During the test, very little road noise penetrated the cabin, and the wind gusts were heard more than the noise generated by the car's airlfow. Nor was the car blown around the road by these crosswinds. The Cruze stayed planted and went where it was aimed.
This was helped by the steering, which was on-centre and precise, with no need for constant correction. No play in this wheel. Steering effort seemed to be designed for comfort -- moderately soft at low speed and moderately firm at high speed.
The 6-speed automatic featured a manual shift gate to allow the driver to choose his or her own gears. While this feature in a conventional automatic will never match the instantaneous shifts of a dual-clutch transmission, it would certainly be useful for holding gears on hills and passing or decelerating. Without a twisty or hilly course to navigate during the test, this feature wasn't used much. Certainly I would have been glad for it if the Cruze had been my Rocky Mountain rental.
In the automotive landscape, the Cruze is classified as a compact car, but it occupies the larger end of this spectrum. At 3,146 pounds the Cruze LT turbo is no lightweight, but that weight is an asset when it comes to rough roads and high winds. Leitrim, Bowesville and Rideau Roads are definitely the roughest roads you'll find in south Ottawa, and that weight, plus a solid (but not overly stiff) suspension kept those harsh bumps in check.
Trunk space in the Cruze, at 15 cubic feet, is spacious.
The efficiency (and strength) of the diminutive turbo engine, coupled with the 6-speed transmission, means that the weight and size of the car isn't something that could concern prospective drivers worried about economy.
An 'Eco' model of the Cruze, which will begin production at the time of this publication, will boost the already excellent fuel economy of the 1.4-litre with the aid of weight-saving measures, aerodynamic improvements and a tweaking of the gear ratios of the standard 6-speed manual transmission.
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