A car review in an technology blog? Frequent readers will know that because of some issues with my Toyota Matrix, I’ve looked at other cars and as a result I’ve previously reviewed the Ford Fusion on these pages. Today, I’m reviewing the Chevrolet Cruze which is GM’s first serious attempt at making a compact car that would compete with the likes of Honda (Civic) and Toyota (Corolla). The key word is serious because anyone who’s driven an Caviler or a Cobalt knows that GM hasn’t taken this market seriously because those two cars quite frankly were crap. But I guess GM’s near death experience has told it that it has to get serious about this market if they plan on surviving long term. Thus they went to their European division to come up with the Cruze. I’m here to say that they’ve succeeded.
I test drove the LTZ – RS trim level which is the top end of the food chain for this car. It came with every option I could possibly want. Leather, power everything, Bluetooth, excellent audio system, the list goes on. The key thing that you should care about is the powertrain. It has a 1.4L turbocharged engine that puts out 138 HP and 148 lb.-ft. of torque. The horsepower doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s irrelevant as you should care about the torque. When you buy a car, you want torque as that’s what’s going to get you off the line quickly and get you past a transport truck on the highway. The turbo engine still gives you great fuel economy as it is paired with a six speed transmission in both manual and automatic flavors. Drive it and you’ll be a believer. Not only does it drive well, it handles well. The car has a front MacPherson strut setup with rear compound-crank with Z- link design. In English it means that GM saved a few bucks on the design of the suspension. However it doesn’t matter because it handles very well. Compared with my Toyota Matrix which has a double wishbone suspension which is supposed to be better than what GM has done with the Cruze, I have to say it drives just as well. It soaked up the bumps on Toronto’s rather bad roads. Plus it zips from lane to lane with little or no body roll.
How about the interior? In a word nice. Like I said, it comes with pretty much every option you could possibly ask for. Plus it looks good and is well put together. The other thing I should note is that the car is very quiet, which is impressive given that you don’t typically find that in the compact class. The only thing I will complain about is the headroom. I’m 6 feet tall and the sunroof seriously cut into the headroom. For me, that’s a problem as I like my headroom. I should also mention that the trunk is huge. I’m not an expert, but you could get three bodies back there easily. Plus you have split folding rear seats to get longer items into the car.
What about safety? Besides all the usual electronic nannies, it has 10 airbags. That’s not a misprint. It has front and rear side impact airbags as well as front knee airbags among others. Last time I checked, that’s either unique or close to it in this class.
So would I get one? If they had a wagon or hatchback version of this, it would be on my list. A hatchback version does exist in Europe and there are rumors that is coming to Canada soon. However, what’s available in Canada from car companies is often dictated by the US and Americans tend to shy away from hatchbacks for whatever reason. But if it does arrive here, it will be on my list to look at.
GM can’t be considered afterthoughts in the compact car space anymore. The Cruze is an excellent effort from GM and is worth a look if you want a compact car.