Cruze LT a quiet, comfy compact
It’s not exactly a carbon-copy ripoff of Honda’s top-selling Civic, but Chevrolet’s new Cruze eschews four-door plainness for a similar swoopy, coupe-like profile. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
An unequivocal success for General Motors since its 2008 debut, it’s never really gone headto-head with segment leaders like Civic and Hyundai’s Elantra.
The original Cruze was a decent — if unexciting — compact offering great value and fuel efficiency. It was exactly what GM needed for its first big launch after declaring bankruptcy. GM has moved more than four million of them in 75 markets worldwide, but it’s grown dated in comparison to its fresher competitors. In this bread-and-butter segment, no one can afford to be complacent.
Completely redesigned for 2016, the Cruze no longer looks as though it’s destined for the Budget rental lot. That new rakish roofline does compromise interior headroom by 2.5 centimetres. By way of consolation, the 6.8-cm longer wheelbase provides an extra five centimetres of rear knee room.
The cabin’s design is clean and uncluttered, but materials do reflect its status as an economy car. While most touch points are clad in soft-touch materials, there’s still an abundance of hard plastics surrounding the centre console, and panel gaps are inconsistent. Even the otherwise fat and well shaped steering wheel is clad with cheap plastics, although upper trim levels do offer leather wrap. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly acceptable environment with comfortable two-tone cloth seats.
A base L Manual Cruze can be had for only $15,995, and that’s with Chevrolet MyLink (seven-inch colour touch screen, Bluetooth, AM/FM, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay), but there’s no air conditioning. For that, you move up to the $18,845 LS Manual — and no automatic transmission.
The two middle trims, the LS and LT, are available with either six-speed manual or six-speed auto and the range-topping Cruze Premier is available only with auto.
The previous model’s multiple engine lineup gives way to a single choice for 2016: a 1.4-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder producing 153 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. There are plans for a diesel, and a five-door Cruze Hatchback arrives this fall.
Our tester this week is the Cruze LT, which GM says represents 65 per cent of all models sold.
It’s noteworthy that this model is $500 less than its predecessor, while gaining 16-inch wheels, heated front seats, start/stop technology and Apple CarPlay.
My tester came with the optional Preferred Equipment Group, True North Edition, adding $3,590 to the $21,295 starting price for this trim.
This package adds a host of tech features to the LT, including blind-spot alert, lane-change alert and rear cross-traffic alert, plus MyLink Radio eight-inch touch screen with Apple CarPlay.
For navigation, you’ve got to move up to the top-spec Premier Trim, which also gets you a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel, forward-collision warning, lane-keeping assist and following-distance indicator.
My reintroduction to the Cruze began with a 300-kilometre drive home from Ottawa via Highway 7.
Dog-tired and twitchy after a long day of over-caffeinated travel, I was cranky enough to bite someone.
Fortunately, I was alone, and the Cruze was, at the very least, an inoffensive mode of travel.
A long stretch of nearly empty blacktop on a warm, late-summer evening has a way of soothing even the foulest humour, especially when it loops through golden swaths of Ontario farmland, and traces the shorelines of tiny lakes, framed with whispering pines.
The Cruze isn’t the most exciting car, but it’s competent and pleasant, and pretty soon I was singing along to Motown cranked through a decent Bose audio system. The front strut, rear torsion beam suspension isn’t a sophisticated setup, but it’s firm enough to handle a curvy road, yet compliant enough for comfort without too much body roll.
According to GM, the Cruze uses the same electric rackand-pinion steering setup as the Camaro, but here it seems overly boosted, a little light and it doesn’t deliver much feedback.
It doesn’t come close to the Civic in terms of steering feel and engagement.
Where the Cruze does excel is in smoothness and lack of drama; it’s nearly Buick-quiet in its comportment. By the time I’d pulled over to admire the sinking sun reflected in the glasslike waters of Silver Lake, my mood was as tranquil as the ride I’d been enjoying.
Lack of navigation was a nonissue, as using Apple CarPlay to channel Google Maps through my iPhone and onto the eight-inch colour touch screen was a snap. The interface is a bit crude when compared to the high-definition resolution of most navigation displays today, but it did the job.
A conservative driver could probably achieve better fuel numbers, but I was impressed with my average of 6.7 L/100 km, and managed to hit 5.3 L on the highway — which is lower than the official rating of 5.6 L/100 km.
It’s a buyer’s market for the compact sedan driver, with several excellent vehicles all vying for the same dollars. If you’re looking for a touch of performance, the Civic or the Mazda3 is a far better bet. But the Cruze does a nice job of delivering great fuel efficiency, and a quiet, competent ride at a decent price.