Topic: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze: More Compact Car for the Money

[Ice]

Some other sites commented on the 6 speed auto not being properly matched with the characteristic of the 1.4T engine. Hopefully they can tune it properly to match the power coming on at 1800 rpm.

[CatsEye68]

well gm will be test driving the cruze in toronto at various malls and then the cne for next four weeks saturday and sundays.   bramalea, square one, markville and then the cne.  go check it out. 

I drove one at this event. Great car! Lovely interior, seems much more upmarket than the competition. Car I drove had the 1.4 turbo and how they generate that much power from a small engine amazes me, but this thing had a lot of punch. Scads of room inside, huge trunk, nice overall design, bigger than I expected. I could live with one of these quite nicely.

[Ice]

well gm will be test driving the cruze in toronto at various malls and then the cne for next four weeks saturday and sundays.   bramalea, square one, markville and then the cne.  go check it out. 

I drove one at this event. Great car! Lovely interior, seems much more upmarket than the competition. Car I drove had the 1.4 turbo and how they generate that much power from a small engine amazes me, but this thing had a lot of punch. Scads of room inside, huge trunk, nice overall design, bigger than I expected. I could live with one of these quite nicely.

How was the shifting with the 1.4T?  The critics seem to almost universally complain about the 6 speed auto having trouble with the unique profile of the turbo coming on at 1800 rpm?

[CatsEye68]

How was the shifting with the 1.4T?  The critics seem to almost universally complain about the 6 speed auto having trouble with the unique profile of the turbo coming on at 1800 rpm?

I didn't notice any difficulty. I wasn't driving aggressively though so maybe that is different. Or it could be that the writers of the items you are referring to are some of the usual suspects who post here and will never say anything good about any GM product. 

[TopGun]

I drove one at this event. Great car! Lovely interior, seems much more upmarket than the competition......

Last week, the AutoBlog guys gave that very same impression on it being a large and very nice interior.  They actually thought the styling of the Focus would turn some people off...and they might end up with the Cruze.  Will be good for that market in general.

After all, they sell lots of Corollas (bland) along-side Civics (strong styling beside a Corolla).

[rrocket]

After all, they sell lots of Corollas (bland) along-side Civics (strong styling beside a Corolla).

For sure.  But both of those have previous track records of being exceptionally reliable.  Whereas GMs cars in this segment....not so much.

Maybe this car will change the trend.

[TopGun]

For sure.  But both of those have previous track records of being exceptionally reliable.  Whereas GMs cars in this segment....not so much.

Maybe this car will change the trend.

Which is why it's been designed to be better than both of 'em - space, interior quality and driving dynamics...so say the reviews.

[rrocket]

For sure.  But both of those have previous track records of being exceptionally reliable.  Whereas GMs cars in this segment....not so much.

Maybe this car will change the trend.

Which is why it's been designed to be better than both of 'em - space, interior quality and driving dynamics...so say the reviews.

I guess we'll know if it's true in 5 years or so....

[dougjp]

But seriously though.....would anyone here actually buy this car with 1.4L TURBO. A new engine. From GM which itself may not be out of the woods. A small car costing over $ 20k (the 1.4), in a market where other "proven" vehicles are for sale? For the second largest purchase people make, isn't that more like rolling the dice at a casino?

And more important, will the general buying public actually buy this?

[PJungnitsch]

Last week, the AutoBlog guys gave that very same impression on it being a large and very nice interior.  They actually thought the styling of the Focus would turn some people off...and they might end up with the Cruze.  Will be good for that market in general.

After all, they sell lots of Corollas (bland) along-side Civics (strong styling beside a Corolla).

True, similar comparative dynamic. Something for everyone.

[TopGun]

But seriously though.....would anyone here actually buy this car with 1.4L TURBO. A new engine. From GM which itself may not be out of the woods. A small car costing over $ 20k (the 1.4), in a market where other "proven" vehicles are for sale? For the second largest purchase people make, isn't that more like rolling the dice at a casino?

And more important, will the general buying public actually buy this?

This forum doesn't reflect the general public (thankfully in many cases).  It's likely not the smartest thing to buy the 1st gen of anything...but lots of people do.

[PJungnitsch]

The engine has been out for a year in Europe already, whereas the Cruze itself has been in production since 2008. There's a decent chance the bugs are sorted.

[toolatecrew]

The engine has been out for a year in Europe already, whereas the Cruze itself has been in production since 2008. There's a decent chance the bugs are sorted.

Supposedly that's the main reason why the introduction of the Cruze was delayed for NA for so long. To sort bugs in transmission shifitng among other things. I'd still be wary of any 1st year model becuase while it may have been available this is the first year of PRODUCTION in a NA plant  meaning the bugs in production could still surface.

People still buy 1st year models ,the general public is more excited than wary. Heck I've done it (much to my regret)

[drederick]

For sure.  But both of those have previous track records of being exceptionally reliable.  Whereas GMs cars in this segment....not so much.

Maybe this car will change the trend.

Which is why it's been designed to be better than both of 'em - space, interior quality and driving dynamics...so say the reviews.

I guess we'll know if it's true in 5 years or so....

Why wait 5 years - haven't we already found out how 'wonderful' the latest Corolla (and Toyotas in general) are?

Time to stop living in the past.

Lets say the Cruze has the same issues (don't even pretend there aren't any like brakes, steering etc etc etc) as the latest 'Rolla - at least you'd have a car with better fuel economy, more power, better looking inside and out, right?

[wing]

Weren't all these same comments had when the Cobalt showed up?  Much better than the outgoing cavalier, a game changer, better quality etc etc.  But it all was for not.

I really do hope things are changing, Ford is doing it GM can too.  Too bad about it being a Daewoo though..

[Erik]

Weren't all these same comments had when the Cobalt showed up?  Much better than the outgoing cavalier, a game changer, better quality etc etc.  But it all was for not.

I really do hope things are changing, Ford is doing it GM can too.  Too bad about it being a Daewoo though..

I just stumbled recently across a very complimentary road test by Car and Driver of the new Cobalt back in 2004 or something. They seemed to think it compared very favourably with the other small cars available at the time.

[CatsEye68]

Weren't all these same comments had when the Cobalt showed up?  Much better than the outgoing cavalier, a game changer, better quality etc etc.  But it all was for not.

I really do hope things are changing, Ford is doing it GM can too.  Too bad about it being a Daewoo though..

I just stumbled recently across a very complimentary road test by Car and Driver of the new Cobalt back in 2004 or something. They seemed to think it compared very favourably with the other small cars available at the time.

Seems to me this site said some nice things too:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/2005/09/22/test-drive-2005-chevrolet-cobalt-ls-coupe.htm

It's tough to rewrite history nowadays...

[wing]

Yup, that's all I'm saying is that it's a cycle..

But some manufacturers are better at designing a vehicle that can compete after 5-6 years while other's have their car seem dated after only 2

[toolatecrew]

Weren't all these same comments had when the Cobalt showed up?  Much better than the outgoing cavalier, a game changer, better quality etc etc.  But it all was for not.

I really do hope things are changing, Ford is doing it GM can too.  Too bad about it being a Daewoo though..

I just stumbled recently across a very complimentary road test by Car and Driver of the new Cobalt back in 2004 or something. They seemed to think it compared very favourably with the other small cars available at the time.

Seems to me this site said some nice things too:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/2005/09/22/test-drive-2005-chevrolet-cobalt-ls-coupe.htm

It's tough to rewrite history nowadays...

Yes it is ..so it would be appropriate if you quuoted what they said:

Chevrolet’s long-overdue replacement for the Cavalier has found itself one step closer to the imports in the areas of overall performance and refinement, but still isn’t a contender when measured against those criteria. It does, though, retain traditional domestic values – lots of space, lots of power, and a low price – that are sure to keep sales strong

NOT A CONTENDER.
LOW PRICE

Yes it was better than the Caviler but even on introduction it was a step behind the competion and that gap widened quickly as the competion introdcued new updated cars while the Coablt soldiered on getting further outdated and selling on cheap price and big incentives.

[toolatecrew]

Chev got themselves between a rock and a hard place on this one.

According to reports they had tranny issues for the North American model so they delayed it . Otherwise it may have launched to less than stellar reviews.
However by delaying they lose the window where they are "newer and better" than the competition. The Civic Corolla and Mazda 3 Focus are all a year old or more. Its nice to have a few month honeymoon where you can be praised as being above the competition (which is usually the case with a new vs old design). Now instead of being compared to the 10 year old Focus they will go head to head with the brand new one.

Frankly even if it is a decent carfI think they Scared the pooch on the way they introduced this. So much hype and publicity aimed at the Volt that there really sin't much excitement in the media about the Cruze, the delays in its introduction have certainly stolen some of the thunder and now the focus (pun intended) is aimed towards Ford and their new small car as a more anticipated product.