Interactive Review: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ RS

[Drew Dowdell]

Interactive Review:

2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ RS

For the trip to Detroit, Chevrolet sent us a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ RS. One of the first things I started looking for was the oft discussed transmission weirdness. I confirmed with the fleet manager that this Cruze has already been reflashed with the new transmission software. So far, the transmission just seems.... normal. Shifts are smooth and nearly imperceptible. It downshifts when I ask it to and generally goes about it's business as an automatic transmission should.

The engine jumps out as being very refined and quiet. Some of the objections about the need to run the engine up over 3,000 rpm frequently during acceleration are muted by the fact that the engine is so quiet for a 4-cylinder. At highway speeds, the engine is inaudible.

The interior is attractive, but I've found two ergonomic gripes already that I'll go into detail with later. The Pioneer sound system rocks.

When the front seat is adjusted for my 5'10" frame, I can fit in the back seat comfortably. It's not a LeSabre back there, but my knees aren't hitting the back of the front seat either.

We'll be monitoring fuel economy extra closely on this one, especially since it will be making a round trip trek to Detroit and possibly again to Lordstown.

This is my first hands on with the Cruze since last year's auto shows. It has gotten a lot of attention, both good and bad, from Cheers and Gears members so far, but I'm becoming more and more convinced, that with one exception, most of the rants against ring hollow.

Window sticker is in the media gallery.

So fire away guys, send your questions and picture requests in for this Interactive Review: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ RS

Media Gallery 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ RS

[Z-06]

Is it slower than a snail?

[FAPTurbo]

Is it slower than a snail?

If it takes nine seconds to reach 60mph, then this car is automatically terrible, underpowered, not worth anyone's time and consideration and unless it retails for ninety-nine, ninety-nine after rebates, we should all just drive Sonata Turbos.

[Drew Dowdell]

Is it slower than a snail?

not at all... in fact it feels rather zippy and I just got out of a 300hp SRX Turbo.

I don't have any illusions that I'd win a drag race, but buyers in this glass will be plenty pleased with the power.

One BIG advantage to reviewing the Cruze and taking it to Detroit, if the naysayers don't believe me about the transmission or rear seat room, they'll have a 2nd, 3rd, and possibly 4th opinion from long time C&Gers to go along with mine.

[William Maley]

If it takes nine seconds to reach 60mph, then this car is automatically terrible, underpowered, not worth anyone's time and consideration and unless it retails for ninety-nine, ninety-nine after rebates, we should all just drive Sonata Turbos.

You're buying everyone here on C&G a Sonata Turbo?

I want to know what the highway mileage, I've been reading people who have the Cruze are seeing under 30.

One BIG advantage to reviewing the Cruze and taking it to Detroit, if the naysayers don't believe me about the transmission or rear seat room, they'll have a 2nd, 3rd, and possibly 4th opinion from long time C&Gers to go along with mine.

I would agree with you. I had a Cruze LT1 a few months ago for a couple hours and was shocked GM could actually build a small car.

[Satty]

Is there room on the decklid for more letters? I want a Cruze LTZ RS GT-R Type S-EX.

[regfootball]

Let me know what you think about the ride quality with the Michelin 18". It turns and handles great, I just thought I am gonna try an RS LT2 with the conti pro contacts. I had those tires on my old SHO and not only were they good in snow but they were quiet and not hard either. I was scoping out a couple nice ones the other day. An LTZ with roof cocoa interior for 24k and an LT2 RS with sunroof for 23. I don't like the chrome door handles on the LTZ, I think I'd just be curious if you think the 18's are a tish stiff with the michelins. Otherwise I think the mpg is what I am also bicurious about. My favorite wheels are the ECO wheels. I can't imagine any ergonomic gripes you might have. The cabin is super convenient and everything is well laid out.

Edited January 8, 2011 by regfootball

[Drew Dowdell]

My ergonomic gripes:

1. The location of the temperature adjust for the climate control. It's in a great spot to reach, but I also regularly hit it with my knee and drop the temperature.

2. The seat back tilt lever is in a very awkward location, but that's not something you set every day.

[regfootball]

good points.. the climate control is low and you can hit it with your knee. the seat back lever is indeed a really dumb and stupid thing. You have to contort your hand and reach WAYYYYY back.

[Robert Hall]

Hadn't heard about an RS trim...what distinguishes it from a regular LTZ?

[Drew Dowdell]

Take a look at the windows sticker. It's in the media gallery.

[regfootball]

fog lights and a glue on spoiler.....lol

[daves87rs]

I figured they would hop on that reflash. Still good news to hear. I'll be interested in the gas milage you get on your way up here with the turbo. I want to see how it goes against the 1.8, which I hear is doing well on milage from owners (hearing near 40 on the highway)

Also, is the Cruze going to have some dealer aftermarket? Besides the LTZ rims, none fit my fancy. I'd be willing to shell out a few extra bucks for a nice set of rims, and maybe a spoiler...

[ZL-1]

Is there room on the decklid for more letters? I want a Cruze LTZ RS GT-R Type S-EX.

[ocnblu]

Does it feel solid over bumps? How does the HVAC system cope with winter weather?

I think you got the best looking options/color combo available for this car.

[Cory Wolfe]

RS package is worth the money, in my opinion.

[dwightlooi]

I figured they would hop on that reflash. Still good news to hear. I'll be interested in the gas milage you get on your way up here with the turbo. I want to see how it goes against the 1.8, which I hear is doing well on milage from owners (hearing near 40 on the highway)

Also, is the Cruze going to have some dealer aftermarket? Besides the LTZ rims, none fit my fancy. I'd be willing to shell out a few extra bucks for a nice set of rims, and maybe a spoiler...

Well, the Turbo in the Car is a Honeywell-Garrett GT15. You may be able to ramp the boost up in the mid-range and get the engine to about ~175 lb-ft at the cost of a good deal of linearity. But you really don't have the airflow capability from that 44mm compressor to get much over 138 hp... maybe 150 or so at about 4500 rpm or so from more boost, then its downhill from there. This turbo (all the really small ones from any maker for that matter) has a rather poor turbine efficiency (62%) which probably accounts for the so-so response and inability to hit the torque peak at say 1400~1500 rpm rather than the 1,850 rpm mark.

[Drew Dowdell]

Averaging 23 mpg around town in the first 3 days I've had it. Kinda annoyed that it doesn't have an instant MPG reader, only an average.

[daves87rs]

Averaging 23 mpg around town in the first 3 days I've had it. Kinda annoyed that it doesn't have an instant MPG reader, only an average.

That sucks...

[Drew Dowdell]

to be fair, this is purely city driving.

[regfootball]

Averaging 23 mpg around town in the first 3 days I've had it. Kinda annoyed that it doesn't have an instant MPG reader, only an average.

lay off the gas!

j/k. what kind of gas are you forced to put in it in your neck of the woods? Do you have to put in crappy oxygenated ethanol blend garbage like I have to in this corn state?

In fairness the cruze city rating is 24 and i forget the combined, its like 28? Usually a car will get pretty close to combined mileage figures but it sounds like you need to get out and wind it out a bit.

[Drew Dowdell]

Well I've been doing all back roads which are a lot more hilly around here. I've only had one very short (4 mile) run on the freeway yet.... and with 2 inches of snow a day, I've been rather liberal with the remote start feature in the morning. Given what I've been doing with the car, 22 isn't horrible. It's going to be all freeway driving tomorrow, so we'll see how it does.

Oh, and we're oxygenated here too.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cruze is loaded up and ready to go for tomorrow.

[Mike The Canadian]

Another thing to take into account is the temperature I think.

I was averaging 28 mpg in the summer; ever since it got cold I'm getting around 21 mpg..that or something is wrong with the Bu.

Given that it's probably could there (considering you mentioned snow) that doesn't sound too bad.

How many miles on the engine? If it's not broken in, it's bound to get better

[regfootball]

tire pressure in cold weather, keep it pumped up. if the pressure drops a couple your mpg can drop quite a bit.

[loki]

how much weight do you think you've added to the car? people, luggage...

[Drew Dowdell]

Not enough weight to bring the mpg down that much, at the moment, it's just two of us skinny guys and our overnight bags.

Highway mpg to Detroit (we've just about arrived) is a miserable for the class 29.1 mpg. Level roads, legal speeds.

[ocnblu]

Poorer than the maligned 155 hp, naturally-aspirated, 4 speed automatic Cobalt. Why'd we give up power and simplicity again?

Edited January 9, 2011 by ocnblu

[William Maley]

Not enough weight to bring the mpg down that much, at the moment, it's just two of us skinny guys and our overnight bags.

Highway mpg to Detroit (we've just about arrived) is a miserable for the class 29.1 mpg. Level roads, legal speeds.

Um Back to drawing board GM..

[Camino LS6]

Wow!

My LS1 Firehawk did better than that on the highway.

[Northstar]

Not enough weight to bring the mpg down that much, at the moment, it's just two of us skinny guys and our overnight bags.

Highway mpg to Detroit (we've just about arrived) is a miserable for the class 29.1 mpg. Level roads, legal speeds.

Did you reset the mpg before getting on the highway?

When we test drove a Cruze we got 36 MPG over a short stretch of highway.

[Drew Dowdell]

Did you reset the mpg before getting on the highway?

When we test drove a Cruze we got 36 MPG over a short stretch of highway.

We filled up and reset the mpg tracker 200 yards from the highway.

[Z-06]

Where is the turbo lag and the snail like tranny people are mentioning about this car?

Based on the limited driving I have done on the test vehicle, it is quite peppy for a small underpowered mill it has.

[regfootball]

The ecotecs always take a few thousand to break in.

[daves87rs]

still could be better...

[BuddyP]

Yeah fresh motor and COLD outside. 29 ok good at this point. Figure your loosing at minimum 3-4 mpg's over summertime temps.

[minnguy34]

I bought a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu 1LT demo car 3 months ago and am, so far, disappointed with the fuel economy. But, I think it is because I am driving in winter and I am doing city driving. My average speed for the last tank of gas was 21 MPH, according to the trip computer. That average speed resulted in an MPG number of 20.4. When I did some highway driving as part of one tank, the average speed increased to 38 MPH and the MPG went to 24.6. The computer's average MPG seems to be spot on compared with manually computing the fuel economy. Could you reset the trip computer for average speed number for each of your average MPG numbers resets? I ran across this method of reporting MPG forthe Cruze on another website and found it very informative. Their Cruze test car got 26.5 MPG with an average speed of 42.2 MPH, per the trip computer.Thanks for the updates, this interactive review format is great.

Edited January 10, 2011 by minnguy34

[Chicagoland]

Brand new engines usually don't get good MPG numbers until they are broken in. Also, I agree that LTZ RS is too long, why not just call it RS? Ford will have Focus ST, not SEL ST XYZ.

[Northstar]

Brand new engines usually don't get good MPG numbers until they are broken in. Also, I agree that LTZ RS is too long, why not just call it RS? Ford will have Focus ST, not SEL ST XYZ.

Because you can get RS on any trim, or at least on 1LT and 2LT as well. I think it's fine. Car names nowadays are usually pretty bizarre anyways.

[Z-06]

At the Auto Show I sat in the ECO Cruze. It has one of the smoothest shifting manual transmission I have been in. Competes with the vaunted Honda transmissions.

[Drew Dowdell]

I bought a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu 1LT demo car 3 months ago and am, so far, disappointed with the fuel economy. But, I think it is because I am driving in winter and I am doing city driving. My average speed for the last tank of gas was 21 MPH, according to the trip computer. That average speed resulted in an MPG number of 20.4. When I did some highway driving as part of one tank, the average speed increased to 38 MPH and the MPG went to 24.6. The computer's average MPG seems to be spot on compared with manually computing the fuel economy. Could you reset the trip computer for average speed number for each of your average MPG numbers resets? I ran across this method of reporting MPG forthe Cruze on another website and found it very informative. Their Cruze test car got 26.5 MPG with an average speed of 42.2 MPH, per the trip computer.Thanks for the updates, this interactive review format is great.

Thanks for the compliment! We appreciate the feedback.

On the trip back from Deroit, we'll reset the average speed counter as well.

We do have one hypothesis that we may have caused the fuel economy drop on our own. On the trip up, both cigarette lighters had chargers plugged in AND one of the chargers was a 90 watt power supply for my laptop. That, combined with the very cold weather and the low miles on the car may have all conspired to lower the mileage on us.

So we'll find out on the way back.

If you're only averaging 38 mph, only Hybrids are going to get good mileage at those speeds.

[Drew Dowdell]

The Cruze performed tremendously better on the way back from Detroit.

34.0 mpg at an average speed of 55mph (according to the DIC) but on the ohio TPK we were usually around 65mph. We were traveling through a fairly strong snow storm.

After I dropped Cory off, I had to limp home at between 25mph and 45mph to to completely uncleared roads covered with 3 to 4 inches of snow and varying degrees of white out conditions. The MPG gauge only dropped to 33.1

One of the main differences was that on the trip back, I wasn't using my 90 watt power inverter to charge my laptop.

[ocnblu]

Electricity uses too much gas.

[surgeont]

Whats uglier than a damned hyundais?

[FAPTurbo]

Whats uglier than a damned hyundais?

Your mangling of the English language, for one! LOL!!

[MyerShift]

Hi guys!

Random note from today going to the local GM dealership in Coldwater, MI where they had a couple of Cruzes and Regals unlocked...

The Cruze has better rear seat accommodations for space PARTICULARLY with head room over the Regal, and I am only 5' 71/2" tall so I could only imagine the dismay to be experienced by taller passengers. I hadn't hit my head on the ceiling of a sedan before!

[Croc]

Hi guys!

Random note from today going to the local GM dealership in Coldwater, MI where they had a couple of Cruzes and Regals unlocked...

The Cruze has better rear seat accommodations for space PARTICULARLY with head room over the Regal, and I am only 5' 71/2" tall so I could only imagine the dismay to be experienced by taller passengers. I hadn't hit my head on the ceiling of a sedan before!

I'm taller than you and had no problem in the back of a Regal. I also don't slouch.