Diesel sets high bar for mileage
On either side of the highway, crops were beginning to sprout. The flat, boundless plains of the U.S. Midwest can be fertile ground for crops as well as beauty — in certain seasons, at certain times. This was not one of those times.
This trip to Indianapolis was plain boring, except for the fuel-economy gauge. With the cruise control of the 2017 Chevy Cruze diesel set to the safer side of 130 kilometres per hour, the mpg topped 46. If we were hitting that optimal fuel economy spot of just under 80 km/h, we might’ve averaged 50 mpg. But this was Indiana, and we had to get out. Aside from the fuel economy, the 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine was unnoticeable on the highway. The thrum of road noise and spasms of wind, as well as the recurring scenery, kept the cockpit of the Cruze compact sedan as insulated as slumber. At idle, the engine noise was as noticeable as a quiet companion, but it’s a great trade-off for 240 pound-feet of torque. The only time we considered the diesel is when we passed the gas station — cheaper than gas; no need to fill up — we were only 300 km into our drive, and had about two-thirds of a tank left.
The diesel was winning on all the fuel metrics. There might be no better car for the highway commuter concerned about fuel economy than the 2017 Chevy Cruze diesel. While the Cruze with the sixspeed manual gets 52 mpg on the highway, better than any nonhybrid or plug-in, my model with the smart, smooth-shifting nine-speed transmission gets an EPA-estimated 47 mpg highway. Fuel prices will rise, and the Cruze diesel will look even better.
General Motors is doubling down on diesels in the Cruze, 2018 Cruze hatch, Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers, to appeal to a small but loyal class of car buyer that prefers the greater torque and economy of diesel engines.
Diesel engines are more efficient than gas engines in part because diesel fuel has more energy and the engines have greater compression ratios. All this means is more bang for the buck of every pump of the piston. On the other hand, diesel fuel can cost more in the winter, though it is typically more constant than gas, and cars with diesel engines can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $6,000 more than a gas counterpart.
The Cruze diesel is about $4,000 more than a similarly equipped gas model. That extra coin gets you the second-best trim level Chevy offers, along with heated front seats with leather trim, remote start and other goodies. The Cruze diesel also has the nine-speed automatic transmission, which isn’t available with the gas engine.
The Cruze is generally better-equipped than the competition at comparable trim levels, but the tester’s near-$29,000 tag erodes some of the fuelefficient charm. You can’t get the diesel for under $24,000, no matter how you package it.
The Cruze sedan doesn’t stand out much on the outside. It looks like a normal car with basic proportions favoured by folks who doodle in the margins of grade-school notebooks. That’s not a bad thing, especially with the modern trend of expanding grilles into gaping catfish faces, or adding esthetic flourishes with no function (looking at you, Civic Hatch).
The normalcy carries over inside, where it becomes a subtle-but-defining positive. The use of space isn’t as expansive as the class-defining Honda Civic, but the controls are conveniently placed and logically arranged. The eight-inch touchscreen with MyLink is one of the better systems on the market, largely because the redundant steering controls mean you don’t really need to use the touchscreen. The icons are large, there are volume and tuning knobs, and climate control buttons. Chevy is doing away with native navigation in all but the Premier trim, instead opting for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which is far better than any automaker system. The only downside is the phone has to remain plugged in. The optional leather package, which includes a heated and leather-wrapped steering wheel, makes it feel much more refined than the usual compact and budget car standard.
The other competitive advantage that has fuelled Chevy’s resurrection as a maker of good cars is the advanced safety technology bundled under the “driver confidence” package. Rear park assist, cross traffic alert and blind zone alert are effective without being intrusive. My favourite feature in this package is the multicolour driver display in the instrument cluster. It’s a clear dropdown menu between the gauges that lets you access just about everything offered in the touchscreen without needing to take your hands off the wheel or eyes off the road for more than half a second. And it’s actually useful, instead of the technology-for-technology’s sake that is popping up in more and more cars.
The cost of ownership calculations of buying a diesel depend on many things, but if you’re planning on owning such a car for more than five years and plan on logging lots of highway miles, you can put those calculations to rest and consider the scenery.