Chevrolet Cruze Test Drive Review India: Should you choose to Cruze ?
Did you know, the oldest automotive oxymoron was ‘a quick diesel’. The oil-burners of yore left us battered, bloody eared and being the butt of all jokes. Cheap diesel transport always came at an expense of sluggish performance, maintenance costs and ridiculous levels of under-refinement. That was then. The diesels have come a long way since Rudolf’s cognition. Fast forward to recent times and we see diesels take centre stage at Le Mans (with Audi) and at Bonneville (with JCB).
But unfortunately, the story is quite dismal when it comes to everyday cars. Now I wouldn’t know what was the name of the first diesel powered production car, partly because of ignorance but mostly because I couldn’t be bothered. To me, diesels belonged to tractors and off road livery. But Bavarian diesel powerplants set the ball rolling for good diesel powered saloon cars.
In India though, the sedan sector remains largely prejudiced to petrol, and fairly so. You get more bang (literally) for your buck. So you would imagine, launching a saloon with only a diesel version would be like visiting the bogs knowing you are out of bog roll. Chevy has taken the road less travelled and, I’m happy to say, that they have come out trumps.
Chevrolet Cruze Car Front
At first glance, the Chevrolet Cruze from General Motors India sports an aggressive stance. It’s distinctly handsome face is demarcated by a very yankee-ish muscular jawline. The chunky lines and solid feel extends on the sides as well. The grill though is an eye sore and seems like a mouse’s nose. But all in all, the Cruze is a fresh design that hasn’t gone wrong. This is a fresh face. If you had a look at the range Chevy sports in India, you would find spinach more interesting. The Cruze then, is like a sip of beer on a mid-summer afternoon.
That said, I think the designers at Chevy wore lazy and ran out of ideas by the time they got to the boot. They rummaged around in a Honda parts bin, found the tail lamp assembly of a Civic and fed it an American cheeseburger and stuck it on. Clearly, the front and the rear do not belong to the same car. Where the muscular the front looks like it’s ready for a drunken brawl, the rear is simply a meek surrender.
The doors shut with a reassuring thump and on the inside, you are greeted by a warm blue grin. No seriously, the instrument cluster with its Camaro-ish blue glow is super-cool. The steering is chunky and on the top end version, clustered with intuitive buttons. The swooping centre console is clean and the brushed aluminium-ish feel is touche. This is a welcome change from boring matt-black interiors of say the VW Jetta.
- Chevy Cruze Car Steering
On scanning the dash, I found the usual inhabitants like integrated stereo, climate control..and a button that says Start/Stop. An engine Start/Stop button. Hmm..interesting. The novel idea is met by extremely bad execution. The button looks so out of place that I’m sure it’s a result of a last minute ‘gadgets’ meeting. It’s unnecessary. The placement is non-intuitive. I’d much rather have it on the side panel next to the centre glove box or on the gear knob and make it big and red.
How cool would that be?
The seats are comfortable and there is room all around, even at the back(Boot). The top end Chevy Cruze LTZ variant features creature comforts like the steering integrated cruise and stereo controls, a sunroof, the ugly engine switch, a 6 CD changer, parking assists, leather seats and some more jazz.
Chevy Cruze Sedan Interiors
On starting the car, the familiar rumble of a diesel strikes you, albeit discreetly. Slot the chunky gear lever into gear and off we go. The engine is a 2.0 litre common rail diesel that churns out 148 hp of power and a whopping 327 torques. That’s a heady mix and you can feel it. Develop a lead foot and you can feel the surge of torque and unlike other diesels where the sweet spot lasts lesser than Karthikeyan’s F1 career, this actually lets you say ‘yes!’.
When compared to it’s German competitor, the VW Jetta’s 1.9 litre 103hp ‘powerplant’, the Cruze cruises to victory. The handling and brakes (discs all round) are good and the tyres offer grip in oodles. However, I feel that if the car was rear-wheel driven, the handling could’ve been as taut and solid as it’s stance.
GM Cruze Car Rear
To sum up, this is one Cruze that will not need a facelift when it grows old. Impressive then, considering that the GM Chevy Cruze car carries a price tag of Rs. 13 lakh (ex-showroom) which, when compared to the severely rubbish VW Jetta, is excellent value for money. More on the Jetta for another day. The present price range however rockets it into the orbit of the Civic and maybe a top end City too and those are excellent competitors. Sure, the Cruze is not a tower of torque like the Beemers, but for the money its well worth the lag.
I reckon, that if Chevy spruces up its service and gets more customer friendly, the Cruze will be an excellent buy for the Indian Car buyer. Time for quick diesels to shed the oxymoron tag then….and hand it over to ‘electric cars’.
Note: Click on any Pic to see larger Picture.
GM Chevrolet Cruze Car India: Road Test Review Photo Gallery:
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- Chevrolet Cruze Car Dashboard
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- Chevrolet Cruze Car Front
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- Chevy Cruze Car Photo India
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- Chevy Cruze Car Steering
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- General Motors Cruze Car Boot Space
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- GM Cruze Car Rear
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- Chevy Cruze Sedan Interiors
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- Chevrolet Cruze Sedan Car Console
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32 Responses to “Chevrolet Cruze Test Drive Review India: Should you choose to Cruze ?”
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The most interesting and informative review I have read so far about Chevrolet Cruze. Keep em comin’. Definitely gonna buy one, probably the AT version. Do enlighten us if you get any ideas about Automatic’s performace please. Once again..’a sunroof, the ugly engine switch..’ Nice. :)
Hi Milan, thanks for the good words. The Cruze is definitely a better product from Chevy. The name quite doesn’t catch my fancy, but err..Shourya isn’t exactly a humdinger of a name :) Watch this space. A word of advice though, keep your purse strings closed for now. With the Cruze petrol coming soon, expect things to get a little Durrrtaayyy :) Having said that, its the better diesel out there.
Cheers, Drive Safe! and watch this space !
Shourya
Noted, any ideas when Petrol version would be out? I think it would not match the Turbo charged HPower / torque in the diesel version but I would mostly be traveling between the busy roads of Noida and Delhi so it won’t be of much use to me either. I think my purse strings could hold for another good two months. Do let me know when Petrol ver. would be out. Do comment on Turbo lag and engine noise I heard about Cruze diesel. Thank you.
Hi Milan, as with any diesel car minus a supercharger, there is the problem of imminent turbo lag which makes it dicey in the city. Engine noise was familiar of a big diesel, nothing unexpected. The petrol version, am sad to say, may not be out till mid-year.
Thank you again. Though am not an expert but could you suggest if buying an Automatic Chevy Cruze would be worth it? Does it mar the mileage provided by manual cruze? Also, I am a buyer that would keep a car for long, say 8-9 years, so do let me know if I should prefer waiting for a Petrol version or an Automatic Diesel Cruze would do.
And also, please put some light on the onroad price for AT version in Delhi. :)
Hi Milan, you seem to be an eager beaver :). Fret not, we’ll help you out. To be frank, I haven’t tested the AT Cruze. It’s quite boring to test diesels you see and an AT at that would mean lullaby. But since I like the Cruze, I’ll give it a shot once it releases in Bangalore. Also, what is your budget? From where you are coming from, it seems to be 15-16 lakh. Do let us know if you want options from us for that money or if you are dead on the Cruze. Buying a diesel is for people who munch at least 50 km per day. Long term, a diesel has very low resale value.
Like I said, do give us a budget to play around with and we’ll make sure you enjoy your drive.
Drive Safe!
Cheers,
Shourya
Well…I come from a super rich family, NOT. The budget is around 15-16…um…14-15 to be precise (Cruze AT onroad is around 14.75 in Delhi). And Cruze has played Boggis, Bunce and Bean with my crave for other cars so am gonna stick to Cruze only. So far I have driven only petrol cars and after test driving a diesel I did feel susceptive lag, which I think would accrue with time. So I think I can be a nice opossum and wait till Petrol comes out for that matter..
Hi,
I test drove Laura, Jetta, Altis and Civic and finally decided to go with Cruze. It’s a power packed vehicle which is very reliable and maintainable.
I’ve booked Chevy Cruze LTZ and its due for delivery by another 2 weeks. Is there a Maintenance Package I can demand the Dealers here (may be for few extra bucks). I am expecting Maintenance package like the “Chevy promise”. Please Advice.
Maintenance packs and service packs cannot vary with dealers. The Cruze is a good car. If Chevy can promise you a 3 year service package then go for it. With caution.
Christopher,
‘Reliable and Maintainable’ sounds good. I am close to book my AT version by this month end.
Shourya,
Good to see you not yawning for cruze. ;). ‘Caution’ made me wonder..what should we keep in mind? Please elaborate.
Hi,
I’m quite confused as to what the turbo log actually is. Test drove the MT, and could not notice much. The clutch felt a bit hard though, and AC felt noisy.
Also, how much fuel efficiency can one expect in the AT version?
Cheers!
Hi Milan and Kunal, Good to see you both interested in a good car. Now to single your comments out:
@Milan: Chevy has not been able to win my confidence in terms of service. Nevertheless, we are Indians and thanks to our good Indian forgiving mentality, we often settle for a ‘chalta hain’ attitude. Let us make sure that they stick by their promise of customer is king. That’s where the ‘caution’ is because something about a free three-year service puts me off, especially considering their diesels are quite maintenance-dependent.
@Kunal: Turbo lag, well in lay-man terms is basically when the turbo acts like a tube-light, in this case, more like a sodium-vapour lamp. There is a considerable gap between throttling the car and the turbo kicking in. For better explanations, and am sure someone can do better than me, log on to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_lag#Turbo_lag
As per the AC and the clutch, sometimes the test drive cars are maintained worse than ever, maybe that was the problem. We haven’t done any long-term tests of the car and so we cant ascertain that. WE’ll let you know as soon as we ‘hear’ something about the loud A/C. Diesels generally come with a heavier clutch but I’m not sure I felt that in the Cruze.
Drive safe! Burrrp…
Shourya
Thanks a lot Shaurya, you’re a great help. Well I took the test drive at two different dealerships and funnily both the car’s ACs felt noisy. Maybe it’s just my ears. As per the clutch, the GM representative said that the Cruze has a hydraulic clutch pedal, as opposed to other cars, hence it feels harder, and will remain as hard, though will last much more than other cars. Dunno what to make of that.
Thanks for the info on the turbo-lag. Does the AT have that problem too? Also, any info on the fuel economy wrt the automatic?
Thanks :)
Hi Kunal,
I read that problem of Turbo Lag is not there in the AT version. I tried to arrange for a AT test drive but none of the dealers provide AT for test drives, so haan.. :(. Still hooking to AT.
er.. I dont know what I did.. but if you found it useful, cheers! All diesels will suffer from turbo lag, matter of fact, all turbos suffer from lag diesels just have it more profound. what is done to counter this is adding a supercharger.more on that, later. Hydraulic clutches are used to make the problem go away! thats no reason. Anyway, you have plenty of choices in your price range. If you’re a serious buyer, we could help you out.
Shourya
The only possible advantage of an AT is driving in traffic is a breeze. Apart from that, FE is generally more in an Manual. Also, I feel driving pleasure is stolen in a manual. thats my two cents.
Clutch is a nightmare!! I hope Shaurya is right about the Test drive cars, but am gonna get an Automatic so another haan….:) AC is noisy when it is set to ’6′ on the fancy screen (the max blower power), otherwise the noise could not be noticed. Actually, with manual gear shift, I would say Cruze is not very comfortable. Gear changing is not as smooth as I expected. But trust me….When I parked the car at my place (test drive car) and gave it a good look including the Super Mega Ultra interiors, I can give away my two girlfriends for it. Just kiddin’….I hope they don’t read it. ;)
Hey Guyz!
why don’t you look the URL given below for manual transmission Cruze car review this links surely help you decide…Great reviews gives you real feel of Cruze…
1.> http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/66820-chevrolet-cruze-ltz-2-0-diesel-testdrive-review.html
2.> http://www.carwale.com/research/roadtests/view.aspx?id=48
Hope this Helps!
Thanks!
Thank you Vijay for providing these links. To be frank I read all the reviews of Team BHP including their latest Cruze Automatic performance as well as car wale’s stuff and only then came to this calm place. Someone is unhappy about the plastic used in the interiors in one forum and engine performance is the issue in another forum. I have also checked the reviews of the BMW 6 series and people also have problems with it. I have no clue where it would end. So am gonna go with my made up mind (I just hope I don’t have to regret it later, even if I have to I don’t think I would be telling it here ;). The more the opinions the more confused I would be I guess.. Damn Delhi’s heat is doing something to me. :-<
Hey Milan, Still iffy?
Nah, booked it three days ago (10th), they say they will try to get it within 25 days. :)
Good on you mate, congrats..any freebies thrown in?
I purchased a Chevrolet Cruze on 22 feb 2010 from DPM sales Deharadun, day I bought it I wanted LTZ model but dealer was very perticular in giving LT model as according to him LTZ was not available but 4 LTZ was standing in front of us. Reason we didn’t want to puchase LT was, there was a bump(manufacturing defect) at the back of the car, but finally we bought that only because we didn’t want to go empty handed.
Well after all these things we were happy that we bought a nice car as so much of trust is there towards GM, that you seems to be one of the best manufacturers in the world.
But within few days that car started showing its true colors, some noise started coming from it, It started fusing smoke from the back., etc…
on 18/08/2010 first servicing of that car was done at (Virdajoyti, Meerut), after that I thought now it will run good, but within 2 days car stopped on the road and was not starting up,I was going for a very important meeting that I couldn’t attend then immediately I called to Deharadun office they took my car to the service center and on 21/08/2010 they replied back saying servicing was not done properly and some sensor was not working.
I told them how it can be possible one day back it is coming from service they replied we dont know.
Then I called to your Delhi Customer care department, there I got a very fantastic answer saying that – “we dont know what happend and we can not do anything regarding that, it is a mechanical ploblem it can happen to any car it doesn’t matter if it is coming from servicing, you do what ever you want I can not help it”
I am in a shock after listening to all this and in back of my mind I am planning to gift this car to Chevrolet team for making me fool….
You all know from what you are going through and after all this If you behave like this I don’t think so you people will exist in indian market for a long period.
I hope you have some brains regarding customer relationship and if not then pack your bags and make fool of some other country citizens.
Abhyudya Garg, S/O Mr.Rajesh Kumar garg
9986663531,9412210020
Car Number UK07 AD 4337
I personally and technically feel that Cruze might not be a good value for money for following reasons.
- GM’s shoddy build quality
- Low innovation
- Stiff ride
- Turbo lag
- Long term high maintenance
- Frequent service station trips
= Pain in the ***
So I would preferably go for Corolla, Civic, City, Skoda and even Ford … rather than GM
Hi i hve confused with selection of cars,now atlast i have got two option one is Fiet linea and other one is Cruze,suggest me which one is better with the maintenance cost and the resale value,,,,,
Am planning to go for Cruze Is it a right option can u pls explain about the maintenance cost,service and the exact milege in Cruze.my budget is around 10 to 13lakhs,my another option is Linea,suggest me the best..(and am not looking only the performance}
Hi Saran, The Linea is a far lesser of a performer than the Cruze but I think your budget might fall short of that of the cruze. The Linea is a beautiful car but not a sprightly performer.
world worst car poor network dealer nobody listen coustmers problems , coustmer care service is also very poor no spare parts in stock , if u ordered the parts of any choverlet car minimum time is reqired 5 months poor average , fan problem in cruze , hight problem in cruze space problem in cruze , shokkers problem in cruze
i`m confused wid selection of cars.at last i have two options cruze or skoda laura.plz suggest me which one better by performance,maintance cost,mileage,,,plz suggest me soon…now i have skoda octavia rider 2006 model..it is good by performance,mileage but `m little bit unhappy wid maintance cost…
Hi Shourya …its been a while. Well I settled for a completely different range. Then went abroad and was very occupied. I settled for Honda Accord. 2.4 A/T.