Chevrolet Cruze road test review

Chevrolet Cruze road test review Reviews | admin | February 23, 2010 at 12:00 am

It’s been more than 85 years since humans first used a diesel engine in a proper automobile (a truck). For some reason, even after having sent a few rockets to moon, having the entire world covered within the range of N-tipped missiles and finding an artificial replacement for every part of the body, we have not been able to understand the simple fact that a city car’s engine spends ninety percent of its life between 1200-2000 rpm. Now most diesel engines would be as dead as a dodo below 1800 rpm, immediately after which they will jump out of bed and deliver a solid ‘Mike Tyson’ jab right into your nose to stun you. The turbos of these diesel mills just won’t spool before it’s too late. That’s why the Swift DDiS is such a beauty to drive, as it starts delivering the punch right from the bottom of the power reservoir. And that’s exactly the reason why we were not very happy with the engine of the Cruze. There is hardly anything below the 1800 mark, so you have to keep shifting every time you decide to attack a corner while going uphill, or while overtaking on a truck infested highway. The Cruze suffers from the LBE (Low Bottom End) syndrome.

However, once you cross the 1800 mark, and hit the open roads, the Cruze unleashes its wonderful abilities. With loads of torque at hand, a slight dab of the accelerator paddle pushes this baby ahead in a potent yet understated manner. There is always a big packet of power and twist available once you’re past the lower rev-range. The amazingly refined engine, along with a taut steering feel and a surprisingly well tuned suspension gives the feeling of a well engineered, solid car. The firm-ish suspension is the highlight, which although slightly bouncy at slow speeds on rough surfaces offers the optimum balance between comfort and sportiness once you’re past crawling speeds. The Cruze delights with its on-road behaviour. It swallows minor undulations without even letting you know about them and gags the unsettling clanks of bigger potholes into a muted thud and shows great manners around bends with its negligible body roll and reasonably precise steering. It’s not an absolute driver’s car, mind, but with its taut behaviour, punchy power and relatively stiffer, heavier steering may well guile the occasional driver into believing that it’s one. The tilt and telescopic steering will go a long way in adding to the euphoria of such mortals.

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